J. D. Jackson
Encyclopedia
John David Jackson is a Canadian–American physics
professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley
and a faculty senior scientist emeritus at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
. A theoretical physicist, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences
, and is well known for numerous publications and summer-school lectures in nuclear and particle physics
, as well as his widely used graduate text on classical electromagnetism
.
, Canada
, Jackson attended the University of Western Ontario
, receiving a B.Sc. in honors physics and mathematics in 1946. He went on to graduate study at MIT, where he worked under Victor Frederick Weisskopf
, completing his Ph.D. thesis in 1949.
, thanks to Philip Russell Wallace, a prominent Canadian theoretical physicist, (January 1950–1957); then the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1957–1967); and finally the University of California, Berkeley
(1967–). At McGill, he was Assistant and Associate Professor of Mathematics; at Illinois and Berkeley, he was in the Physics Departments. At the latter, he held appointments on campus and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
. Since retiring from teaching at the beginning of 1993, he has continued to be active at LBNL.
While on leave at Princeton University
, he found a fruitful collaboration with Sam Treiman
and H. W. Wyld on weak interactions, particularly the various observable decay correlations in allowed nuclear beta decay
involving the electron's momentum, its spin, the neutrino's momentum, and the nuclear spin that provide information about parity
conservation or non-conservation and time reversal
conservation or not. He also published an early paper on the then recently discovered muon-catalyzed fusion
of hydrogen isotopes.
in 1963–64, he collaborated with Kurt Gottfried on production and decay of unstable resonances in high-energy hadronic collisions. They introduced the use of the density matrix to connect production mechanisms to the decay patterns and described the influence of competing processes ("absorption") on the reactions.
During this period Jackson lectured at three summer schools—on dispersion relations at the first Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics, 1960; on weak interactions at the Brandeis Summer Institute, 1962; and on particle and polarization decay distributions at the Summer School of Theoretical Physics, Les Houches
, 1965. He also published three books, one on particle physics
, based on lectures at the Canadian Summer School in Edmonton and Jasper, 1957; the second, a small book on mathematics for quantum mechanics (1962), and the third, also in 1962, the first edition of his text on classical electrodynamics.
project, he served as deputy director of operations of the SSC Central Design Group that did the R&D culminating on the 20 TeV design accepted by President Reagan in 1987.
In the 1960s and 1970s his research alone and with students focused in journal publications and conference papers on models of high energy processes, radiative and resolution corrections for resonances in electron–positron annihilation, spin-flip synchrotron radiation
and the polarization of electrons in a storage ring
, and, after November 1974, the spectroscopy of the charm–anticharm particles. In 1973, he lectured again at the Scottish Universities Summer School, on hadronic interactions at high energies, and in 1976 at the SLAC Summer Institute, on charmonium spectroscopy. In 1973–74 he ran the nascent theory group at Fermilab
and co-edited the proceedings of the 1973 "Rochester" Conference.
In January 1977 Jackson began a 17-year stint as Editor of Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. In much of the 1980s he was involved with many others in the high-energy physics community in activities aimed at the next step up in accelerators. Then in 1983 he became active in the R&D for the SSC, and on the program advisory committee for the SSC Laboratory, when it began in Texas in 1988.
, a Master's student, went on to international prominence as an astrophysicist in France. John T. Donohue (now in Bordeaux, France) and Gordon L. Kane
(University of Michigan) stand out among his Ph.D. students at Illinois. The Berkeley trio, Bob Cahn (LBNL), Rick Field (University of Florida), and Chris Quigg
(Fermilab
), are prominent particle theorists.
, a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences
. In 1989 he received an Honorary D. Sc. from his alma mater, the University of Western Ontario. In 2009, in recognition of his own contributions to classroom teaching and his influential textbook, the American Association of Physics Teachers
created the "J. D. Jackson Award for Excellence in Graduate Education," with the first award in February 2010 to Eugene Commins.
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...
professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and a faculty senior scientist emeritus at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
. A theoretical physicist, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, and is well known for numerous publications and summer-school lectures in nuclear and particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
, as well as his widely used graduate text on classical electromagnetism
Classical electromagnetism
Classical electromagnetism is a branch of theoretical physics that studies consequences of the electromagnetic forces between electric charges and currents...
.
Education
Born in London, OntarioLondon, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Jackson attended the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
, receiving a B.Sc. in honors physics and mathematics in 1946. He went on to graduate study at MIT, where he worked under Victor Frederick Weisskopf
Victor Frederick Weisskopf
Victor Frederick Weisskopf was an Austrian-born Jewish American theoretical physicist. He did postdoctoral work with Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr...
, completing his Ph.D. thesis in 1949.
Academic career
Jackson held academic appointments successively at McGill UniversityMcGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, thanks to Philip Russell Wallace, a prominent Canadian theoretical physicist, (January 1950–1957); then the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (1957–1967); and finally the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
(1967–). At McGill, he was Assistant and Associate Professor of Mathematics; at Illinois and Berkeley, he was in the Physics Departments. At the latter, he held appointments on campus and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...
. Since retiring from teaching at the beginning of 1993, he has continued to be active at LBNL.
McGill and Princeton
At McGill in the 1950s, in addition to appreciable teaching, Jackson found time for research on atomic processes and nuclear reactions at intermediate energies and the beginnings of his book on classical electricity and magnetism.While on leave at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, he found a fruitful collaboration with Sam Treiman
Sam Treiman
Sam Bard Treiman was an American theoretical physicist who produced important research in the fields of cosmic rays, quantum physics, plasma physics and gravity physics. He made major contributions to the understanding of the weak interaction and he and his students are credited with developing...
and H. W. Wyld on weak interactions, particularly the various observable decay correlations in allowed nuclear beta decay
Beta decay
In nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted from an atom. There are two types of beta decay: beta minus and beta plus. In the case of beta decay that produces an electron emission, it is referred to as beta minus , while in the case of a...
involving the electron's momentum, its spin, the neutrino's momentum, and the nuclear spin that provide information about parity
Parity (physics)
In physics, a parity transformation is the flip in the sign of one spatial coordinate. In three dimensions, it is also commonly described by the simultaneous flip in the sign of all three spatial coordinates:...
conservation or non-conservation and time reversal
T-symmetry
T Symmetry is the symmetry of physical laws under a time reversal transformation: T: t \mapsto -t.Although in restricted contexts one may find this symmetry, the observable universe itself does not show symmetry under time reversal, primarily due to the second law of thermodynamics.Time asymmetries...
conservation or not. He also published an early paper on the then recently discovered muon-catalyzed fusion
Muon-catalyzed fusion
Muon-catalyzed fusion is a process allowing nuclear fusion to take place at temperatures significantly lower than the temperatures required for thermonuclear fusion, even at room temperature or lower...
of hydrogen isotopes.
Illinois and CERN (1963–64)
While at the University of Illinois (1957–1967) Jackson initially continued work on weak interactions as well as strange particle interactions at low energy with Wyld and others. On sabbatical leave at CERNCERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
in 1963–64, he collaborated with Kurt Gottfried on production and decay of unstable resonances in high-energy hadronic collisions. They introduced the use of the density matrix to connect production mechanisms to the decay patterns and described the influence of competing processes ("absorption") on the reactions.
During this period Jackson lectured at three summer schools—on dispersion relations at the first Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics, 1960; on weak interactions at the Brandeis Summer Institute, 1962; and on particle and polarization decay distributions at the Summer School of Theoretical Physics, Les Houches
Les Houches
Les Houches is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-Overview:It is a ski-resort, and is located 6 kilometres from Chamonix with a ski domain which extends from an altitude of 950 metres up to 1900 metres...
, 1965. He also published three books, one on particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
, based on lectures at the Canadian Summer School in Edmonton and Jasper, 1957; the second, a small book on mathematics for quantum mechanics (1962), and the third, also in 1962, the first edition of his text on classical electrodynamics.
Berkeley
Moving to Berkeley in 1967, Jackson taught on campus, did his research at LBNL, and served in administrative positions at both (Chair, UCB Physics Department, 1978–1981; Head, LBNL Physics Division, January 1982 – June 1984). In the formative years of the ill-fated Superconducting Super ColliderSuperconducting Super Collider
The Superconducting Super Collider was a particle accelerator complex under construction in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas that was set to be world's largest and most energetic, surpassing the current record held by the Large Hadron Collider. Its planned ring circumference was with an energy...
project, he served as deputy director of operations of the SSC Central Design Group that did the R&D culminating on the 20 TeV design accepted by President Reagan in 1987.
In the 1960s and 1970s his research alone and with students focused in journal publications and conference papers on models of high energy processes, radiative and resolution corrections for resonances in electron–positron annihilation, spin-flip synchrotron radiation
Synchrotron radiation
The electromagnetic radiation emitted when charged particles are accelerated radially is called synchrotron radiation. It is produced in synchrotrons using bending magnets, undulators and/or wigglers...
and the polarization of electrons in a storage ring
Storage ring
A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating for a long period of time, up to many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, energy and usually charge of the particle being stored...
, and, after November 1974, the spectroscopy of the charm–anticharm particles. In 1973, he lectured again at the Scottish Universities Summer School, on hadronic interactions at high energies, and in 1976 at the SLAC Summer Institute, on charmonium spectroscopy. In 1973–74 he ran the nascent theory group at Fermilab
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
and co-edited the proceedings of the 1973 "Rochester" Conference.
In January 1977 Jackson began a 17-year stint as Editor of Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. In much of the 1980s he was involved with many others in the high-energy physics community in activities aimed at the next step up in accelerators. Then in 1983 he became active in the R&D for the SSC, and on the program advisory committee for the SSC Laboratory, when it began in Texas in 1988.
Retirement years
Jackson retired from teaching in December 1992, but retained his connection with LBNL. In the 1990s and beyond his time was increasingly devoted to semi-historical talks and publications on a variety of topics, with a foray into the controversial (for some) topic of EMF's as a possible cause of cancers (Jackson arguing against a correlation). Noteworthy are a continuing series of papers in the American Journal of Physics on diverse topics in electromagnetism, including rebuttals of mistaken ideas. History of physics publications include the historical roots of gauge invariance, examples of the misattribution of discoveries in physics, and the editing of a sequel to R. T. Birge's history of the Berkeley Physics Department.Students
Among his students at McGill, Hubert ReevesHubert Reeves
-External links: *...
, a Master's student, went on to international prominence as an astrophysicist in France. John T. Donohue (now in Bordeaux, France) and Gordon L. Kane
Gordon L. Kane
Gordon Kane has been the Victor Weisskopf Collegiate Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan and the Director of the Michigan Centerfor Theoretical Physics , a leadingcenter dedicated to the advancement of theoretical...
(University of Michigan) stand out among his Ph.D. students at Illinois. The Berkeley trio, Bob Cahn (LBNL), Rick Field (University of Florida), and Chris Quigg
Chris Quigg
Chris Quigg is a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory . He graduated from Yale University in 1966 and received his Ph.D. in 1970 under the tutelage of J. D. Jackson at the University of California, Berkeley...
(Fermilab
Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics...
), are prominent particle theorists.
Memberships and honors
Jackson is a Fellow of the American Physical SocietyAmerican Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
, a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
. In 1989 he received an Honorary D. Sc. from his alma mater, the University of Western Ontario. In 2009, in recognition of his own contributions to classroom teaching and his influential textbook, the American Association of Physics Teachers
American Association of Physics Teachers
The American Association of Physics Teachers was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members that reside in over 30 countries. AAPT publications include two peer-reviewed journals, the American...
created the "J. D. Jackson Award for Excellence in Graduate Education," with the first award in February 2010 to Eugene Commins.