Peter Schofield (physicist)

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Peter Schofield (London, 14 September 1929 - 15 April 2018) was a British physicist specializing in neutron scattering. [1]

Neutron scattering physical phenomenon

Neutron scattering, the irregular dispersal of free neutrons by matter, can refer to either the naturally occurring physical process itself or to the man-made experimental techniques that use the natural process for investigating materials. The natural/physical phenomenon is of elemental importance in nuclear engineering and the nuclear sciences. Regarding the experimental technique, understanding and manipulating neutron scattering is fundamental to the applications used in crystallography, physics, physical chemistry, biophysics, and materials research.

Schofield began his career 1956 in the Theoretical Physics Division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. A paper from 1962, written with Peter Egelstaff, on the evaluation of the velocity auto-correlation function has become a classic in the field. [2] In 1979, Schofield became chairman of the Neutron Scattering Group of the Institute of Physics. In 1991-94, he served as UK Associate Director of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble.

The Atomic Energy Research Establishment, known as AERE or colloquially Harwell Laboratory, near Harwell, Oxfordshire, was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Harwell may refer to:

The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a scientific charity that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 50,000. The IOP supports physics in education, research and industry. In addition to this, the IOP provides services to its members including careers advice and professional development and grants the professional qualification of Chartered Physicist (CPhys), as well as Chartered Engineer (CEng) as a nominated body of the Engineering Council. The IOP's publishing company, IOP Publishing, publishes more than 70 academic journals and magazines.

Schofield loved classical music. He was an accomplished pianist and accompanist, wrote opera critics magazines, and published a book on The Enjoyment of Opera.

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References

  1. Mike Hutchings (2018) Peter Schofield (1929–2018), Neutron News, 29:3-4, 20-21, DOI: 10.1080/10448632.2018.1551002
  2. P. A. Egelstaff & P. Schofield (1962) On the Evaluation of the Thermal Neutron Scattering Law, Nuclear Science and Engineering, 12:2, 260-270, DOI: 10.13182/NSE62-A26066.