Eugene Paul Gross (27 June 1926 – 19 January 1991) was a theoretical

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 ...

and Edward and Gertrude Swartz

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, known for his contribution to the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) collision model used in the

Boltzmann equation The Boltzmann equation or Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) describes the statistical behaviour of a thermodynamic system not in a state of equilibrium; it was devised by Ludwig Boltzmann in 1872.Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd Edition), R. G ...

and in

lattice Boltzmann methods The lattice Boltzmann methods (LBM), originated from the lattice gas automata (LGA) method (Hardy- Pomeau-Pazzis and Frisch- Hasslacher- Pomeau models), is a class of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for fluid simulation. Instead of s ...

and to the Gross–Pitaevskii equation which describes the ground state of a quantum system of identical

boson In particle physics, a boson ( ) is a subatomic particle whose spin quantum number has an integer value (0, 1, 2, ...). Bosons form one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particle, the other being fermions, which have half odd-intege ...

Education and work

Gross obtained his Ph.D. at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

in 1948, where he was one of the first graduate students of

David Bohm David Joseph Bohm (; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American scientist who has been described as one of the most significant Theoretical physics, theoretical physicists of the 20th centuryDavid Peat Who's Afraid of Schrödinger' ...

. Gross was

Carnegie Fellow Carnegie may refer to: People *Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name **Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie * ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

from 1948 to 1949 and research associate at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

from 1950 to 1951. Subsequently, until 1954, he was a staff member at the Laboratory for Insulation Research and from 1954 to 1956 assistant professor at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. In 1956 Gross was appointed associate professor at Brandeis University, where he became full professor in 1961. From 1963 to 1964 he was a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

at the University of Rome in Italy, and from 1969 to 1970 visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He held the Edward and Gertrude Swartz chair of Theoretical Physics since 1976 and chaired Brandeis University's department of physics from 1977 to 1979. With Prabhu L. Bhatnagar and Max Krook, Gross introduced the

Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook operator The Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook operator (abbreviated BGK operator) term refers to a collision operator used in the Boltzmann equation and in the lattice Boltzmann method, a computational fluid dynamics technique. It is given by the formula : \O ...

in a paper in

Physical Review ''Physical Review'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The journal was established in 1893 by Edward Nichols. It publishes original research as well as scientific and literature reviews on all aspects of physics. It is published by the Ame ...

in 1954. In 1961 Gross and separately

Lev Pitaevskii Lev Petrovich Pitaevskii ( ; 18 January 1933 – 23 August 2022) was a Russian theoretical physicist, who made contributions to the theory of quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, low-temperature physics, plasma physics, and condensed matter physi ...

presented what is now known as the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. His fields of research pertained to quantum liquids, plasmas,

solids Solid is a state of matter where molecules are closely packed and can not slide past each other. Solids resist compression, expansion, or external forces that would alter its shape, with the degree to which they are resisted dependent upon the ...

liquid helium Liquid helium is a physical state of helium at very low temperatures at standard atmospheric pressures. Liquid helium may show superfluidity. At standard pressure, the chemical element helium exists in a liquid form only at the extremely low temp ...

and the

kinetic theory of gases The kinetic theory of gases is a simple classical model of the thermodynamic behavior of gases. Its introduction allowed many principal concepts of thermodynamics to be established. It treats a gas as composed of numerous particles, too small ...

. Gross published over 80 scientific articles, including work with Bohm published 1949/1950 and work with P. L. Bhatnagar and M. Krook of 1954.

Education and work

References

Further reading