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| Name |
Birgeneau, Robert J. |
| Location
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University of California, Berkeley |
| Primary Field
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Applied Physical Sciences |
| Secondary Field
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Physics |
 Election Citation
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From Canada, Birgeneau has made seminal contributions to the understanding of magnetic critical phenomena. In particular, he pioneered the use of neutron and synchrotron X-ray scattering to demonstrate the importance of dimensionality and randomness in magnetic systems. |
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Research Interests
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I am a condensed matter physicist who carries out experiments on a variety of different solid and liquid crystal systems. Our primary experimental methods are neutron and synchrotron x-ray scattering. We typically synthesize our own materials and characterize their macroscopic properties with standard techniques. Our focus historically has been on complex materials whose properties are determined in a fundamental way by the effects of dimensionality, quantum fluctuations and/or microscopic quenched disorder. Two systems which we are currently exploring are high temperature superconductors and smectic liquid crystals embedded in dilute silica gel networks. The former is a well researched problem which nevertheless is proving to be remarkably difficult to unravel at a fundamental level. Our own emphasis has been on the microscopic antiferromagnetic fluctuations and their interaction with the superconductivity. The latter represents a new area of research in which disorder and dimensionality effects play a central role. We are currently trying to gather enough basic empirical information to be able to elucidate the fundamental principles which determine the properties of these novel gels. |
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