Derek Abbott
Encyclopedia
Derek Abbott is a physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

 and electronic engineer. He is a Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. He is notable for motivating theoretical work in the development of Parrondo's paradox
Parrondo's paradox
Parrondo's paradox, a paradox in game theory, has been described as: A losing strategy that wins. It is named after its creator, Spanish physicist Juan Parrondo, who discovered the paradox in 1996...

, contributions to the field of stochastic resonance
Stochastic resonance
Stochastic resonance is a phenomenon that occurs in a threshold measurement system when an appropriate measure of information transfer is maximized in the presence of a non-zero level of stochastic input noise thereby lowering the response...

, and experimental contributions to T-ray imaging.

Early years

In the period 1963-1965 Abbott attended the famous Norland College
Norland College
Norland College, founded in 1892 by Emily Ward, is a provider of childcare training and education. Norland trainees are employed world-wide as nannies, nursery nurses and in other positions in a variety of settings for childcare....

 pre-school, Chislehurst
Chislehurst
Chislehurst is a suburban district in south-east London, England, and an electoral ward of the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, UK, as a boarder. Then during 1965-1967 he attended Oakfield School
Oakfield School
Oakfield Preparatory School is an independent coeducational preparatory school, situated near Tulse Hill, Dulwich, Lambeth.Oakfield is a member of the Independent Schools Association...

, Dulwich
Dulwich
Dulwich is an area of South London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth...

, UK, at the same time as the singer Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...

. In 1968, he attended the Ecole Seminaire de Collonges-sous-Salève (now Ecole Maurice-Tièche)
Collonges-sous-Salève
Collonges-sous-Salève is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is located very closely to Geneva, Switzerland. Its population is about 3000 . The name of Collonges designates a colony of farmers situated on land granted, along with certain...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and then the, Ecole de Ferney-Voltaire (now Ecole Florian)
Ferney-Voltaire
Ferney-Voltaire is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.It lies between the Jura mountains and the Swiss border and forms part of the metropolitan area of Geneva.-History:...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. In 1969 he did a stint at Bassett House School
Bassett House School
Bassett House School is a preparatory school for children aged 3 to 11 years old based in North Kensington. The children continue at Bassett House until the age of eleven, when they move to their senior schools. Bassett House has two sister schools, Orchard House School in Chiswick and Prospect...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK.

In the 1969-1971 period, he was a boarder at Copthorne Preparatory School
Copthorne Prep School
Copthorne Preparatory School is situated near Crawley in West Sussex, for pupils aged between 2 and 13. It consists of a nursery for infants from 2½. A junior department is for children under the age of eight . Older pupils work in the two prep school buildings, the 'New Block' which is the main...

, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, UK. He attended Copthorne Preparatory School
Copthorne Prep School
Copthorne Preparatory School is situated near Crawley in West Sussex, for pupils aged between 2 and 13. It consists of a nursery for infants from 2½. A junior department is for children under the age of eight . Older pupils work in the two prep school buildings, the 'New Block' which is the main...

 at the same time as the deputy editor of Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...

,
Francis Wheen
Francis Wheen
Francis James Baird Wheen is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster.-Early life and education:Wheen was born into an army family and educated at two independent schools: Copthorne Preparatory School near Crawley, West Sussex and Harrow School in north west London.-Life and career:Running...

.

During 1971-1978 he attended the infamous Holland Park School
Holland Park School
Holland Park School was opened in London, UK, in 1958. It became the flagship for comprehensive education, and in its heyday had over 2000 in the student body. It became known as the "socialist Eton", and a number of high-profile socialists sent their children to Holland Park School, adding to its...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK, known as the "socialist Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

." At Holland Park School
Holland Park School
Holland Park School was opened in London, UK, in 1958. It became the flagship for comprehensive education, and in its heyday had over 2000 in the student body. It became known as the "socialist Eton", and a number of high-profile socialists sent their children to Holland Park School, adding to its...

, the singer Yazz
Yazz
Yazz is a British pop singer, who remains best known for her successful 1988 dance track, "The Only Way Is Up". Some of her records were credited to Yazz & The Plastic Population...

 was one of his classmates. Here, he was taught English Literature by the comedian Mike Walling
Mike Walling
Mike Walling is an English comic actor and screenwriter.He began his career as an English teacher at Holland Park School in London. In the mid-1970s, while still a teacher, he won a British TV talent contest, New Faces, with a comedy double act called "Mr Carline & Mr Walling." He immediately...

 and music by Andy Mackay
Andy Mackay
Andrew "Andy" Mackay is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founder member of the art-rock group Roxy Music....

 who later became the saxophonist of Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

. In the early 1970s he lived next door to Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....

' drummer Gerry Conway
Gerry Conway (musician)
Gerald Conway is an English folk and rock drummer/percussionist, best known for having performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and currently a member of Fairport Convention as well as his side projects...

 in Holland Park
Holland Park
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London, England.Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Career

In late 1977, he began work at GEC Hirst Research Centre
Hirst Research Centre
GEC Hirst Research Centre was one of the first specialised industrial research laboratories to be built in Britain, and was part of the General Electric Company plc empire...

, Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...

, UK, performing research in the area of CCD
Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...

 and microchip
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...

 design for imaging
Imaging science
Imaging science is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the generation, collection, duplication, analysis, modification, and visualization of images . As an evolving field it includes research and researchers from physics, mathematics, electrical engineering, computer vision, computer science,...

 systems. Whilst working, he graduated in 1982 with a BSc in Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 from Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

, where his key intellectual influence was Nicholas J. Phillips
Nicholas J. Phillips
Nicholas John Phillips was an English physicist, notable for the development of photochemical processing techniques for the color hologram...

. In 1986, at the time when the mysterious GEC deaths
Marconi Scientists
The GEC-Marconi scientist deaths conspiracy theory states that between 1982 and 1990 twenty-five British-based GEC-Marconi scientists and engineers who worked on the Sting Ray torpedo project, and other US Strategic Defense Initiative related projects died under mysterious circumstances...

 started, he began work as a microchip designer at Austek Microsystems
Austek Microsystems
Austek Microsystems Pty. Ltd. was an Australian company founded by Craig Mudge to commercialize technology developed by CSIRO through their VLSI programme. It had a design office in Adelaide, and a marketing and support office in Silicon Valley....

 in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. In 1987, he joined the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...

 completing his PhD thesis in Electrical & Electronic Engineering in 1995, entitled GaAs MESFET
MESFET
MESFET stands for metal semiconductor field effect transistor. It is quite similar to a JFET in construction and terminology. The difference is that instead of using a p-n junction for a gate, a Schottky junction is used...

 Photodetector
Photodetector
Photosensors or photodetectors are sensors of light or other electromagnetic energy. There are several varieties:*Active pixel sensors are image sensors consisting of an integrated circuit that contains an array of pixel sensors, each pixel containing a both a light sensor and an active amplifier...

s for Imaging Array
Image sensor
An image sensor is a device that converts an optical image into an electronic signal. It is used mostly in digital cameras and other imaging devices...

s
, under Kamran Eshraghian
Kamran Eshraghian
Kamran Eshraghian is an electronic engineer notable for being a key early pioneer of VLSI in Australia. He is one of the fathers of CMOS VLSI design and his books have been influential on a par with the Mead & Conway revolution.-Education:...

 and Bruce R. Davis
Bruce R. Davis
Bruce Raymond Davis was born in Adelaide, 1939, and is an electronic engineer notable for his research in mobile communication systems, satellite communications, and high frequency data communication systems.-Education:...

.

Honours and awards

  • Stephen Cole the Elder Prize (1999)
  • Fellow of the Institute of Physics
    Institute of Physics
    The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....

     (Life) (2001)
  • Tall Poppy Award for Science (2004)
  • SA Great Award for Science & Technology (2004)
  • Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
    Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
    The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...

     (2005)

Erdős number

Abbott's Erdős number
Erdos number
The Erdős number describes the "collaborative distance" between a person and mathematician Paul Erdős, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers.The same principle has been proposed for other eminent persons in other fields.- Overview :...

 is 4. His path to Erdős is as follows:
  • E. S. Key, M. M. Kłosek, and D. Abbott, "On Parrondo's paradox: how to construct unfair games by composing fair games," ANZIAM J., 47, no. 4, pp. 495–511, (2006).
  • M. M. Kłosek, B.J. Matkowsky, Z. Schuss, "First-order dynamics driven by rapid Markovian jumps," SIAM J. Appl. Math., 49, no. 6, pp. 1811–1833, (1989).
  • R. O. Davies and Z. Schuss, "A proof that Henstock's integral includes Lebesgue's," J. London Math. Soc., 2, pp. 561–562, (1970).
  • R.O. Davies and P. Erdös
    Paul Erdos
    Paul Erdős was a Hungarian mathematician. Erdős published more papers than any other mathematician in history, working with hundreds of collaborators. He worked on problems in combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, classical analysis, approximation theory, set theory, and probability theory...

    , "Splitting almost-disjoint collections of sets into subcollections admitting almost-transversals," Colloq. Math. Soc. Janos Bolyai, 10, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 307–322, (1975).

Scientific books by Abbott

  • Mark D. McDonnell
    Mark D. McDonnell
    Mark Damian McDonnell born 28 February 1975, Adelaide, Australia, is an electronic engineer and mathematician notable for his work on stochastic resonance and more specifically suprathreshold stochastic resonance.-Education:...

    , Nigel G. Stocks
    Nigel G. Stocks
    Nigel Geoffrey Stocks, born 6 September 1964, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK, is a physicist notable for discovering suprathreshold stochastic resonance and its application to cochlear implant technology.-Education:...

    , Charles E. M. Pearce
    Charles E. M. Pearce
    Charles Edward Miller Pearce is a New Zealand/Australian mathematician.He is currently the Elder Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide.-Education:...

    , and Derek Abbott, Stochastic Resonance
    Stochastic Resonance (book)
    Stochastic Resonance: From Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance to Stochastic Signal Quantization, is a science text, with a foreword by Sergey M. Bezrukov and Bart Kosko, which notably explores the relationships between stochastic resonance, suprathreshold stochastic resonance, stochastic...

    , Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press
    Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

    , 2008, ISBN 9780521882620.

  • Derek Abbott, Paul C. W. Davies, and Arun K. Pati
    Arun K. Pati
    Arun Kumar Pati is a physicist notable for his research in quantum information and computation, the theory of geometric phases and its applications, and the foundations of quantum mechanics.-Career:...

     (Eds.), with Foreword by Roger Penrose
    Roger Penrose
    Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...

    , Quantum Aspects of Life
    Quantum Aspects of Life
    Quantum Aspects of Life is a 2008 science text, with a foreword by Sir Roger Penrose, which notably explores the open question of the role of quantum mechanics at molecular scales of relevance to biology. The book adopts a debate-like style and contains chapters written by various world-experts;...

    , Imperial College Press
    Imperial College Press
    Imperial College Press was formed in 1995 and is a partnership between Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London and World Scientific publishing....

    , 2008, ISBN 9781848162532.

Popular books by Abbott

  • Derek Abbott, Wickedictionary, CreateSpace, 2011, ISBN 1463668260.

Selected publications

  • D. Abbott, "Keeping the energy debate clean: How do we supply the world’s energy needs?" Proceedings of the IEEE
    Proceedings of the IEEE
    The Proceedings of the IEEE is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers...

    , Vol. 98, No. 1, pp. 42–66, 2010.
  • G. P. Harmer and D. Abbott, "Losing strategies can win by Parrondo's paradox," Nature
    Nature (journal)
    Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...

    , Vol. 402, No. 6764 p. 864, Dec. 1999.
  • J. M. R. Parrondo
    J. M. R. Parrondo
    Juan Manuel Rodríguez Parrondo is a Spanish physicist best known for the strikingly counterintuitive Parrondo's paradox, where switching between losing strategies can, in some cases, win on average. In 1996, he developed games of chance, now called Parrondo's games, that exhibited this apparently...

    , G. P. Harmer and D. Abbott, "New paradoxical games based on Brownian ratchets," Physical Review Letters
    Physical Review Letters
    Physical Review Letters , established in 1958, is a peer reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society...

    , Vol. 85, No. 24, pp. 5226–5229, Dec. 2000.
  • G. P. Harmer, D. Abbott, "Parrondo's paradox," Statistical Science
    Statistical Science
    Statistical Science is a review journal published by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. The founding editor was Morris H. DeGroot.-External links:*...

    , Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 206–213, May 1999.
  • G. P. Harmer and D. Abbott, "A review of Parrondo's paradox," Fluctuation and Noise Letters
    Fluctuation and Noise Letters
    Fluctuation and Noise Letters is a journal published by World Scientific since 2001. It is at present the only journal solely dedicated to interdisciplinary articles on fluctuations and noise in physical, biological and technological systems, and encourages open public debate.Some topics covered...

    ,
    Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. R71-R107, Jun 2002.
  • S. Mickan, D. Abbott, J. Munch, X.-C. Zhang
    Xi-Cheng Zhang
    Xi-Cheng Zhang, is a Chinese-American Physicist. He was born in China, People's republic. Zhang is currently the J. Erik Jonsson ’22 Professor of Science in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has joint appointments in the Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, and the Department of...

     and T. van Doorn, "Analysis of system trade-offs for terahertz imaging," Microelectronics Journal, Vol. 31, No. 7, pp. 503–514, Jul. 2000.
  • A. P. Flitney and D. Abbott, "Quantum version of the Monty Hall problem," Physical Review A
    Physical Review A
    Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published twelve times per year by the American Physical Society in print, online, and CD formats. The main focus of interest is atomic, molecular and optical physics. The editor-in-chief is...

    , Vol. 65, Art. No. 062318, 2002.
  • G. P. Harmer, B. R. Davis
    Bruce R. Davis
    Bruce Raymond Davis was born in Adelaide, 1939, and is an electronic engineer notable for his research in mobile communication systems, satellite communications, and high frequency data communication systems.-Education:...

    , and D. Abbott "A review of stochastic resonance: circuits and measurement," IEEE Trans. Instrum. & Meas., Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 299–309, Apr. 2002.
  • A. P. Flitney, J. Ng, and D. Abbott, "Quantum Parrondo's games," Physica A, Vol. 314, pp. 35–42, 2002.
  • D. Abbott, P. C. W. Davies
    Paul Davies
    Paul Charles William Davies, AM is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, currently a professor at Arizona State University as well as the Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science...

    , and C. R. Shalizi
    Cosma Shalizi
    Cosma Rohilla Shalizi is an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh....

    , "Order from disorder: the role of noise in creative processes," Fluctuation and Noise Letters
    Fluctuation and Noise Letters
    Fluctuation and Noise Letters is a journal published by World Scientific since 2001. It is at present the only journal solely dedicated to interdisciplinary articles on fluctuations and noise in physical, biological and technological systems, and encourages open public debate.Some topics covered...

    , Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. C1-C12, 2002.
  • D. Abbott, B. R. Davis
    Bruce R. Davis
    Bruce Raymond Davis was born in Adelaide, 1939, and is an electronic engineer notable for his research in mobile communication systems, satellite communications, and high frequency data communication systems.-Education:...

    , N. J. Phillips
    Nicholas J. Phillips
    Nicholas John Phillips was an English physicist, notable for the development of photochemical processing techniques for the color hologram...

    , and K. Eshraghian
    Kamran Eshraghian
    Kamran Eshraghian is an electronic engineer notable for being a key early pioneer of VLSI in Australia. He is one of the fathers of CMOS VLSI design and his books have been influential on a par with the Mead & Conway revolution.-Education:...

    , "Simple derivation of the thermal noise formula using window-limited Fourier transforms," IEEE Trans. Education, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 1–13, 1996.

See also

  • Parrondo's paradox
    Parrondo's paradox
    Parrondo's paradox, a paradox in game theory, has been described as: A losing strategy that wins. It is named after its creator, Spanish physicist Juan Parrondo, who discovered the paradox in 1996...

  • J. M. R. Parrondo
    J. M. R. Parrondo
    Juan Manuel Rodríguez Parrondo is a Spanish physicist best known for the strikingly counterintuitive Parrondo's paradox, where switching between losing strategies can, in some cases, win on average. In 1996, he developed games of chance, now called Parrondo's games, that exhibited this apparently...

  • Quantum Aspects of Life (book)
    Quantum Aspects of Life
    Quantum Aspects of Life is a 2008 science text, with a foreword by Sir Roger Penrose, which notably explores the open question of the role of quantum mechanics at molecular scales of relevance to biology. The book adopts a debate-like style and contains chapters written by various world-experts;...

  • Taman Shud Case
    Taman Shud Case
    The Taman Shud Case,While the words that end The Rubaiyat are "Tamam Shud", it has always been referred to as "Taman Shud" in the media, presumably due to a spelling error that persisted. In Persian "tamam" is a noun that means "the end". "shud" is an auxiliary verb indicating past tense, so "tamam...

  • Unsolved problems of Noise (international conference series)

Further reading

  • Who's Who in South Australia, Ed. Suzannah Pearce, Publ: Crown Content Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia, 2007, p. 1, ISBN 978-1-74095-142-5

Abbott videos


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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