Amikam Aharoni (; 5 August 192921 January 2002) was an Israeli

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 cau ...

who has made numerous contributions to the fields of

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...

. He is the author of over a hundred works, with his research of

ferromagnetism Ferromagnetism is a property of certain materials (such as iron) that results in a significant, observable magnetic permeability, and in many cases, a significant magnetic coercivity, allowing the material to form a permanent magnet. Ferromagne ...

being most accredited.

Education

Born in

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

, Aharoni received a M.A. in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

in 1953 and a Ph.D. in

from the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

in 1957. His thesis was on magnetoresistive memory elements. His postdoc work with

John Bardeen John Bardeen (; May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American solid-state physicist. He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Houser Brattain for their inventio ...

took him to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

during 1958-1959. In 1971-1972, 1977–1978, and 1992 he was a senior research fellow in the Department of Metallurgy at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1972 he was promoted to professor in the Department of Electronics at

, and in 1978 he was appointed the Richard Kronstein Professor of Theoretical

Magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...

Research

His research significantly advanced the theoretical understanding of magnetic phenomena. Aharoni's work on micromagnetics and the phenomenological theory of ferromagnets provided deep insights into the behavior of magnetic materials Aharoni's 1996 book, "Introduction to the Theory of Ferromagnetism" has been described as an authoritative introduction to micromagnetism.

Private life

Aharoni's mother was a school teacher, and third-generation Israeli. His father was a teacher of mathematics (and distinguished chess master) who had emigrated from Russia, arriving in Israel in 1920. The family was religious, and Aharoni was able to recite from memory passages from both the bible and the talmud of considerable length. In 1947, Aharoni's studies were disrupted by Israel's War of Independence. Aharoni joined the "Students' Brigade" and was deployed in and around Jerusalem, taking part in numerous actions during the city's 1947–1948 siege. At the

, Aharoni met his wife Henia, and the two were married in 1955. The couple had three sons and, in time, nine grandchildren. Aharoni formally retired in 1994.

Awards

Distinguished Lecturer of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Magnetics Society of 1993.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aharoni, Amikam 1929 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Israeli physicists Academic staff of Weizmann Institute of Science Israeli Jews Jewish physicists Weizmann Institute of Science alumni

Education

Research

Private life

Awards

See also

References