Hendrik Casimir

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**Henk Casimir**
Hendrik "Henk" Brugt Gerhard Casimir
Born	July 15, 1909 The Hague, Netherlands
Died	May 4, 2000 Heeze, Netherlands
Residence	Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Field	Physicist
Institution	University of Leiden Philips Research Laboratories
Alma mater	University of Leiden
Academic advisor	Paul Ehrenfest
Known for	Casimir effect Casimir invariant Casimir pressure

Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (July 15, 1909 in The Hague, Netherlands – May 4, 2000 in Heeze) was a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect (together with D. Polder) in 1946.

1 Biography
2 Publications
3 See also
4 References and further reading
5 External links

[edit] Biography

He studied at the University of Leiden under Paul Ehrenfest, where he received his Ph.D. in 1931. His PhD thesis, dealt with the quantum mechanics of a rigid spinning body and the group theory of the rotations of molecules. During that time he also spent some time in Copenhagen with Niels Bohr. After receiving his Ph.D. he worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli at Zürich. In 1938, he became a physics professor at Leiden University. At that time, he was actively studying both heat conduction and electrical conduction, and contributed to the attainment of millikelvin temperatures.

In 1942, during World War II, Casimir moved to the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He remained an active scientist and in 1945 wrote a well-known paper on Lars Onsager's principle of microscopic reversibility. He became a co-director of Philips Research Laboratories laboratories in 1946 and a member of the board of directors of the company in 1956. He retired from Philips in 1972.

Although he spent much of his professional life in industry, Hendrik Casimir was one of the great Dutch theoretical physicists. Casimir made many contributions to science during his years in research from 1931 to 1950. These contributions include: pure mathematics, Lie groups (1931); hyperfine structure, calculation of nuclear quadrupole moments, (1935); low temperature physics, magnetism, thermodynamics of superconductors, paramagnetic relaxation (1935 - 1942); applications of Onsager's theory of irreversible phenomena (1942 - 1950). He helped found the European Physical Society and became its president in 1972. In 1979 he was one of the key speakers at CERN's 25th anniversary celebrations

While at Philips Research Labs, in 1948 Casimir, collaborating with Dik Polder, predicted the quantum mechanical attraction between conducting plates now known as the Casimir effect, which has important consequences in Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), among others.

[edit] Publications

Haphazard Reality : half a century of science by H.B.G. Casimir (Sloan Foundation Series; New York: Harper & Row, 1983). His autobiography.
Casimir, HBG; Polder, D (February 1948). "The Influence of Retardation on the London-van der Waals Forces". Phys. Rev. 73 (4): 360–372. DOI:10.1103/PhysRev.73.360.
Casimir, HBG (1948). "On the attraction between two perfectly conducting plates". Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences 51: 793-795.

[edit] See also

[edit] References and further reading

Schuurmans, Martin (September 2000). "Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir". Physics Today 53 (9): 80.
Rechenberg, Helmut (July 2001). "Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (1909-2000). The Physicist in Research, Industry and Society". Eur. J. Phys. 22 (4): 441-446. DOI:10.1088/0143-0807/22/4/320.