Douglas Dean Osheroff (born August 1, 1945) is an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

known for his work in

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the ...

, in particular for his co-discovery of superfluidity in

Helium-3 Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...

. For his contributions he shared the 1996

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

along with David Lee and Robert C. Richardson. Osheroff is currently the J. G. Jackson and C. J. Wood Professor of Physics, Emeritus at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

Life and work

Osheroff was born in

Aberdeen, Washington Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occa ...

. His father, William Osheroff, was the son of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

immigrants who left Russia. His mother, Bessie Anne (Ondov), a nurse, was the daughter of Slovak immigrants (her own father was a Lutheran minister).Biography on the Nobel Foundation website
/ref> from the Felvidék,Upper Hungary,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. Osheroff was confirmed in the Lutheran Church but he was given the chance to choose and decided not to attend any longer. He has stated "In some sense it seemed that lying in church is the worst place to lie. I guess at some emotional level I accept the idea of God, but I don't know how God would manifest itself." Osheroff earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1967 from

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, where he attended lectures by

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfl ...

and did undergraduate research for

Gerry Neugebauer Gerhart "Gerry" Neugebauer (3 September 1932 – 26 September 2014) was an American astronomer known for his pioneering work in infrared astronomy. Neugebauer was born in Göttingen, Germany and was the son of Otto Neugebauer, an Austrian-Am ...

. Osheroff joined the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...

as a graduate student, doing research in low-temperature physics. Together with David Lee, the head of the laboratory, and Robert C. Richardson, Osheroff used a Pomeranchuk cell to investigate the behaviour of ³He at temperatures within a few thousandths of a degree of absolute zero. They discovered unexpected effects in their measurements, which they eventually explained as phase transitions to a superfluid phase of ³He. Lee, Richardson and Osheroff were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 for this discovery. Osheroff received a Ph.D. from

in 1973. He then worked at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

in Murray Hill, New Jersey for 15 years, continuing to research low-temperature phenomena in ³He. In 1987 he moved to the Departments of Physics and Applied Physics at

, where he also served as department chair from 1993-96. His research is focused on phenomena that occur at extremely low temperatures. Osheroff was selected to serve on the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' investigation panel, serving much the same role as Richard Feynman did on the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' panel. He currently serves on the board of advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government. Douglas Osheroff photographing along CA-1 May 2011 003

Douglas Osheroff photographing along CA-1 May 2011 003

Osheroff is left-handed, and he often blames his slight quirks and eccentricities on it. He is also an avid photographer and introduces students at Stanford to medium-format film photography in a freshman seminar titled "Technical Aspects of Photography." In addition, he has taught the Stanford introductory physics course on

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

and

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particl ...

on multiple occasions, most recently in Spring 2008, as well as undergraduate labs on low temperature physics. Among his physics outreach activities, Osheroff participated in the

science festivals A science festival is a festival that showcases science and technology with the same freshness and flair that would be expected from an arts or music festival and primarily targets the general public. These public engagement events can be varied, ...

for middle and high school students, is an official guest of honor at the International Young Physicists' Tournament 2013. He married a biochemist, Phyllis Liu-Osheroff, in 1970. Osheroff is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May of 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-relat ...

’s

Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in t ...

, the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, and the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

Awards and honors

(1996) * Simon Memorial Prize (1976) * Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1981) * MacArthur Fellowship Program (1981) * Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

(1997)

References

External links

Stanford Physics Department - Osheroff
* including the Nobel Lecture, December 7, 1996 ''Superfluidity in ³He: Discovery and Understandning''

- Osheroff released this recording from his answering machine, which showed his initial annoyance with a 2.30am phone call.
Freeview video interview with Douglas Osheroff by the Vega Science Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osheroff, Douglas Dean 1945 births Living people Nobel laureates in Physics American Nobel laureates 21st-century American physicists Jewish physicists Jewish American scientists Scientists at Bell Labs Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society MacArthur Fellows Cornell University alumni Cornell Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics Stanford University Department of Applied Physics faculty California Institute of Technology alumni People from Aberdeen, Washington American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Slovak descent Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners Superfluidity

Life and work

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links