Michael Ellis Fisher (born 3 September 1931 in Trinidad) is a physicist, as well as chemist and mathematician, known for his many seminal contributions to statistical physics, including but not restricted to the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena. Events 36 BC - In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ˈtrɪnɪdæd ən təˈbeɪgoʊ is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American Statistical physics is one of the fundamental theories of Physics, and uses methods of Statistics in solving physical problems In Thermodynamics, phase transition or phase change is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase to another

Academic background

Michael E. Fisher received his Ph D in physics from King's College London in 1957. King's College London is a British Higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the federal University of London. He was appointed to the faculty as a lecturer the following year, becoming a full professor in 1965. In 1966 he moved to Cornell University where he became professor of chemistry, physics, and mathematics, chairing the chemistry department from 1975 to 1978. In 1971, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 In 1973, he and Jack Kiefer were the first two Cornell faculty elected as Horace White Professors. Jack Carl Kiefer ( January 25, 1924 – August 10, 1981) was an American statistician. Horace White ( October 7, 1865 Buffalo, Erie County New York - November 26, 1943 New York City) was an ^[1] In 1983, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, chemistry section. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS is a corporation in the United States whose members serve Pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science Since 1987 he has been at the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland, College Park. The University of Maryland College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland UMD, UMCP or simply Maryland) is a public research

Michael Fisher is a recipient of the Wolf Prize 1980 (together with Kenneth G. Wilson and Leo Kadanoff), the ACS Irving Langmuir Prize 1971 in Chemical Physics, the IUPAP Boltzmann Medal 1983, the APS Lars Onsager Prize 1995, among other honors. Kenneth Geddes Wilson (born June 8, 1936) is an American Theoretical physicist. Leo Kadanoff is a professor of physics (emeritus as of 2004 at the University of Chicago and the current President of the American Physical Society (APS The American Chemical Society ( ACS) is a Learned society ( Professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry Irving Langmuir ( January 31, 1881 in Brooklyn New York – August 16, 1957 in Woods Hole Massachusetts) was an The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics ( IUPAP) is an international Non-governmental organization devoted to the advancement of Physics. The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to Physicists that obtain new results concerning Statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist The American Physical Society was founded in 1899 and is the World 's second largest organization of physicists behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. Lars Onsager ( November 27, 1903 &ndash October 5, 1976) was a Norwegian – American physical chemist and

Michael Fisher currently lives in Maryland with his wife Sorrel. They have four kids, two of them followed in their fathers footsteps by working in the physics field, both are theoretical physicists, Daniel S. Fisher currently works at Stanford, while Matthew P. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in A. Fisher used to teach at UCSB. The University of California Santa Barbara ( UCSB) is a selective research-oriented public university located on the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara County California Michael Fisher has six grandchildren ranging [in May 2008] from the ages of 13-21 (i am his 16 year old grandson, thats why i know all of this)

Wolf Prize 1980

"Professor Michael E. Fisher has been an extraordinarily productive scientist, and one still at the height of his powers and creativity. Fisher's major contributions have been in equilibrium statistical mechanics, and have spanned the full range of that subject. He was mainly responsible for bringing together, and teaching a common language to chemists and physicists working on diverse problems of phase transitions. "

Boltzmann Medal 1983

"Michael Fisher first entered the field of statistical mechanics in the late 1950s. The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to Physicists that obtain new results concerning Statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Within a few years he had established a reputation as the leading authority in the field of critical phenomena, a position which he has maintained ever since. In Thermodynamics, phase transition or phase change is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase to another During the past two decades he has been a major driving force behind the very great progress which has taken place.

It is not possible in the short time available to do justice to flood of papers with which Michael Fisher has been associated. Some of these have initiated new areas of research; for example the exact susceptibility of the two-dimensional Ising model, correlation in the three-dimensional Ising model and critical scattering, renormalization of critical exponents resulting from hidden variables, finite size scaling, the droplet model, partial differential approximants, the ANNNI model. In Electromagnetism the magnetic susceptibility ( Latin: susceptibilis “receptiveness” is the degree of Magnetization of a material in response The Ising model, named after the physicist Ernst Ising, is a mathematical model in Statistical mechanics. The Ising model, named after the physicist Ernst Ising, is a mathematical model in Statistical mechanics. Scattering is a general physical process whereby some forms of Radiation, such as Light, Sound or moving particles for example are forced to deviate from Critical exponents describe the behaviour of physical quantities near continuous Phase transitions. A drop or droplet is a small volume of Liquid, bounded completely or almost completely by Free surfaces Surface tension In mathematics and more specifically in Differential calculus, the term differential has several interrelated meanings The abbreviation ANNNI model stands for 'Axial Next-Nearest Neighbor Ising model' Others, review articles, have become classics to which successive generations of graduate students and other researchers in the field have turned for guidance; for example the Boulder lectures on critical phenomena, the 1964 Journal of Mathematical Physics review of correlation in fluids and magnets, the often-quoted 1967 review in Reports on Progress in Physics, and the 1973 Reviews of Modern Physics review of renormalization group. FLUID ( F ast L ight '''U'''ser '''I'''nterface D esigner is a graphical editor that is used to produce FLTK Source code A magnet (from Greek grc μαγνήτης λίθος " Magnesian stone" is a material or object that produces a Magnetic field. In Theoretical physics, renormalization group (RG refers to a mathematical apparatus that allows one to investigate the changes of a physical system as one views Each and every of one of his papers contains new information of significance, and his collaborators will all verify that nothing is allowed to appear in print without Michael Fisher personally assuring himself that it measures up to his high standards. It would need quite an effort to list the research papers that have been sparked by footnotes in Michael Fisher's publications.

Of not less importance than his publications has been the personal influence which he has exercised as teacher on his many graduate students and collaborators; the invited lectures which he delivered so faultlessly and impeccably at countless national and international gatherings; the comments and criticisms which he has made during conference discussions (the atmosphere at conference is always more tense and exciting when Michael Fisher is present); and his many discussion with and directive to experimental workers in the field.

From the historical point of view the peak of his achievement to date has undoubtedly been the role which he played in the emergence of the renormalization group. In Theoretical physics, renormalization group (RG refers to a mathematical apparatus that allows one to investigate the changes of a physical system as one views Kenneth Wilson has stated publicly that all his knowledge of critical phenomena was acquried from Michael Fisher. In Thermodynamics, phase transition or phase change is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase to another Michael's presence at Cornell was essential ingredient of his major achievement of the present era.

The Boltzmann medal for 1983 is awarded to Michael Fisher for his many illuminating contributions to phase transitions and critical phenomea during the past 25 years" (Boltzmann medal 1983, laudatio by Cyril Domb). The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to Physicists that obtain new results concerning Statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to Physicists that obtain new results concerning Statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Cyril Domb (born 9 December 1920) is a British scientist now living in Israel.

Lars Onsager-Prize 1995

"For his numerous and seminal contributions to statistical mechanics, including but not restricted to the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, scaling laws, critical exponents, finite size effects, and the application of the renormalization group to many of the above problems". Lars Onsager ( November 27, 1903 &ndash October 5, 1976) was a Norwegian – American physical chemist and

External links

• Homepage at University of Maryland
• Wolf prize citation
• Boltzmann medal citation
• Lars Onsager prize citation

References