Frank Henry Read (born 6 October 1934) is a British physicist. He is an Emeritus Professor of Physics at the
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
.
Research
Read is known for his experimental studies of
electron
The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
collisions with
atom
Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...
s and
molecule
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...
s, for associated work in
instrument design, and for theoretical work on the interpretation of the experimental results. He made advances in the study of
threshold effects in electron collisions, and of post-collision interactions in the near-threshold
excitation of
resonance states.
His studies of the influence of molecular
rotation
Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...
and
vibration
Vibration () is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. Vibration may be deterministic if the oscillations can be characterised precisely (e.g. the periodic motion of a pendulum), or random if the os ...
on the angular distribution of
scattered electrons enabled him to deduce the
electronic configuration
In atomic physics and quantum chemistry, the electron configuration is the distribution of electrons of an atom or molecule (or other physical structure) in atomic or molecular orbitals. For example, the electron configuration of the neon atom ...
s of short-lived molecular negative
ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
states. He also used the technique of
delayed coincidences between electrons and
photon
A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...
s for the precision measurements of
lifetimes for atomic and molecular states.
Books
Electrostatic lenses(1976)
Electromagnetic radiation(1980)
Awards and honours
Read was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1984.
[ One or more of the preceding sentences may incorporate text from the royalsociety.org website where "all text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License." ] In 2000, he was awarded the
Holweck Prize ''for his work on atomic and molecular physics.''
References
Living people
British physicists
Fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of the Institute of Physics
Alumni of the University of London
Alumni of the University of Manchester
Academics of the University of Manchester
1934 births
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