Stephen Blundell

Last updated
Stephen Blundell
Born
Stephen John Blundell

1967 (age 56–57) [1]
Alma mater University of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Spouse Katherine Blundell
Awards Daiwa Adrian Prize
Scientific career
Fields Physics
Institutions University of Oxford
Thesis Spin-dependent transport in artificial structures  (1993)
Website users.ox.ac.uk/~sjb

Stephen John Blundell (born 1967) [1] is a professor of physics at the University of Oxford. He was previously head of Condensed Matter Physics at Oxford, and is also a professorial fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford. His research is concerned with using muon-spin rotation and magnetoresistance techniques to study a range of organic and inorganic materials, particularly those showing interesting magnetic, superconducting, or dynamical properties. [2]

Contents

Education

Blundell completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Cambridge, attending Peterhouse, Cambridge for his undergraduate degree in physics and theoretical physics and doing his PhD at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. [3]

Career and research

He was subsequently offered a Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) research fellowship which involved a move to the Clarendon Laboratory at Oxford; he was later awarded a junior research fellowship at Merton College, Oxford, where he began research in organic magnets and superconductors using muon-spin rotation. In 1997 he was appointed to a university lectureship in the Oxford Physics Department and a tutorial fellowship at Mansfield College, Oxford, and was subsequently promoted to Reader.[ when? ] In 2004 he was awarded the title of Professor of Physics. [4]

Blundell has authored two textbooks, the first being Magnetism in Condensed Matter, [5] which covers the quantum mechanical nature of magnetism. Most recently he has co-authored, with his wife and colleague, astrophysicist Katherine Blundell of St John's College, Oxford, a textbook entitled Concepts in Thermal Physics. [6] It provides an introduction to the topics of thermal physics and statistical mechanics covered in a typical undergraduate course in physics. Additionally, he has authored the Superconductivity: A Very Short Introduction, [7] part of the Very Short Introductions series published by Oxford University Press, as well as a pedagogical book on quantum field theory with Tom Lancaster.

He has authored or co-authored over 300 articles [2] ranging right across the world of solid-state physics. [8]

Awards and honours

He was a joint winner of the Daiwa Adrian Prize in 1999 for his work on organic magnets. [6]

Personal life

Blundell lives in Oxford with his wife, Professor Katherine Blundell. In 2001, he was quoted in Science as saying, "Ultimately your marriage is more important than your career." [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condensed matter physics</span> Branch of physics

Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases that arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms and electrons. More generally, the subject deals with condensed phases of matter: systems of many constituents with strong interactions among them. More exotic condensed phases include the superconducting phase exhibited by certain materials at extremely low cryogenic temperatures, the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of spins on crystal lattices of atoms, the Bose–Einstein condensates found in ultracold atomic systems, and liquid crystals. Condensed matter physicists seek to understand the behavior of these phases by experiments to measure various material properties, and by applying the physical laws of quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, and other physics theories to develop mathematical models and predict the properties of extremely large groups of atoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superconductivity</span> Electrical conductivity with exactly zero resistance

Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases gradually as its temperature is lowered, even down to near absolute zero, a superconductor has a characteristic critical temperature below which the resistance drops abruptly to zero. An electric current through a loop of superconducting wire can persist indefinitely with no power source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National High Magnetic Field Laboratory</span> Magnetism research institute in the United States

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) is a facility at Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, that performs magnetic field research in physics, biology, bioengineering, chemistry, geochemistry, biochemistry. It is the only such facility in the US, and is among twelve high magnetic facilities worldwide. The lab is supported by the National Science Foundation and the state of Florida, and works in collaboration with private industry.

Victor John Emery was a British specialist on superconductors and superfluidity. His model for the electronic structure of the copper-oxide planes is the starting point for many analyses of high-temperature superconductors and is commonly known as the Emery model.

Ramanuja Vijayaraghavan is an Indian physicist, specializing in condensed matter physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Kuzemsky</span> Russian physicist

Alexander Leonidovich Kuzemsky is a Russian theoretical physicist.

Gregory Scott Boebinger was the director of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida, and is currently a professor of physics at Florida State University.

A spin model is a mathematical model used in physics primarily to explain magnetism. Spin models may either be classical or quantum mechanical in nature. Spin models have been studied in quantum field theory as examples of integrable models. Spin models are also used in quantum information theory and computability theory in theoretical computer science. The theory of spin models is a far reaching and unifying topic that cuts across many fields.

The Nevill Mott Medal and Prize is an award presented in selected years by the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom, for distinguished research in condensed matter or materials physics. It was first established in 1997 thanks to a donation from Sir Nevill Mott's family. Sir Nevill Mott was one of the outstanding British condensed matter theorists and won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977. He died in 1996. The award consists of a silver medal and a prize of £1000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piers Coleman</span> British-American physicist

Piers Coleman is a British-born theoretical physicist, working in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics. Coleman is professor of physics at Rutgers University in New Jersey and at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Stanley Howard Autler was an American physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason WA Robinson</span>

Jason Joseph William Alexander Robinson is a British academic, and Professor of Materials Physics at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy. He is also a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He has worked extensively in the areas of superconductivity, superconducting spintronics, spintronics, magnetism, quantum materials, and nanoelectronics. Particular research topics include the superconductor proximity effect, unconventional superconductivity, quantum and topological transport.

Eduardo Hector Fradkin is an Argentinian theoretical physicist known for working in various areas of condensed matter physics, primarily using quantum field theoretical approaches. He is a Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he is the director of the Institute for Condensed Matter Theory, and is the author of the books Quantum Field Theory: An Integrated Approach and Field Theories of Condensed Matter Physics.

Mohit Randeria is a US-based Indian condensed matter physicist and a professor of physics at Ohio State University. Known for his research on condensed matter theory and superconductivity, Randeria is an elected fellow of the American Physics Society. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to physical sciences in 2002. He was awarded the 2002 ICTP Prize of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste and the 2022 John Bardeen Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Blundell</span> Professor of Astrophysics

Katherine Mary Blundell is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a supernumerary research fellow at St John's College, Oxford. Previously, she held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, and fellowships from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and Balliol College, Oxford.

John Kenneth Hulm was a British-American physicist and engineer, known for the development of superconducting materials with applications to high-field superconducting magnets. In 1953 with George F. Hardy he discovered the first A-15 superconducting alloy.

Richard L. Greene is an American physicist. He is a distinguished university professor of Physics at the University of Maryland. He is known for his experimental research related to novel superconducting and magnetic materials.

Maria Roser Valentí is a Spanish-Catalonian professor of theoretical condensed matter physics at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Heinz Bennemann</span> German physicist

Karl Heinz Bennemann is a German condensed matter physicist. He has contributed to the advance on the understanding of traditional BCS and high Tc superconductors, the magnetic properties of alloys, the magnetic properties of low dimensional systems, the physicochemical properties of surfaces, the physicochemical properties of nanostructured materials, ultrafast phenomena, and non-linear optics, among others. His work was recognized through an Alfred P. Sloan fellowship in 1969.

Amit Keren is an Israeli Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He is an experimentalist investigating mostly the properties of magnetic and superconducting material.

References

  1. 1 2 Stephen J. Blundell at Library of Congress
  2. 1 2 Stephen Blundell publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  3. ↑ Blundell, Stephen John (1993). Spin-dependent transport in artificial structures. lib.cam.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC   557401624. EThOS   uk.bl.ethos.309331.
  4. ↑ "Recognition of Distinction 2003-2004", Supplement (1) to The Oxford University Gazette, no. 4706 (23 September 2004). Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Blundel, Stephen (2001). Magnetism in Condensed Matter. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780198505914.
  6. 1 2 Blundell, Stephen J.; Blundell, Katherine M. (2010). Concepts in thermal physics (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562091.001.0001. ISBN   9780199562107. OCLC   607907330.
  7. ↑ Blundel, Stephen (2009). Superconductivity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199540907.
  8. ↑ "Stephen Blundell Publications". users.ox.ac.uk.
  9. ↑ Jamieson, Valerie (October 3, 2001). "Love and the two-body problem". sciencemag.org: 37.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.