Gilbert "Gil" George Lonzarich (born 1945) is a

solid-state physicist Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state phy ...

and Emeritus Professor of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He is particularly noted for his work on superconducting and magnetic materials carried out at the

Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...

Life

Lonzarich received his BA degree from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(1967), his M.S. from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

(1970) and his Ph.D. degree from

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(1973). Starting as a postdoc, he has held positions at the University of Cambridge. Since 1997 he is a professor at the

, where he heads the quantum matter group.

Research

The research of Lonzarich focuses on solids where the interaction between electrons can lead to unconventional states of matter. His work has addressed different material classes, including itinerant magnets (such as MnSi), heavy-fermion materials, and ferroelectrics. One groundbreaking result for the field of

unconventional superconductivity Unconventional superconductors are materials that display superconductivity which is not explained by the usual BCS theory or its extension, the Eliashberg theory. The pairing in unconventional superconductors may originate from some other mech ...

was the demonstration that the suppression of antiferromagnetic order in heavy-fermion materials, i.e. a quantum-critical point, can induce superconductivity. Important aspects of the experiments of Lonzarich's group are crystal growth, ultra-low temperatures (mK temperatures), high-pressure experiments, and quantum oscillations (continuing the work of

David Shoenberg David Shoenberg (4 January 1911 – 10 March 2004) was a British physicist who worked in condensed matter physics. Shoenberg is known for having developed experimental and theoretical principles to study the De Haas–Van Alphen effect to charact ...

). Notable former students in the group of Lonzarich include

Piers Coleman Piers Coleman (born 1958) is a British-born theoretical physicist, working in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics. Coleman is professor of physics at Rutgers University in New Jersey and at Royal Holloway, University of London. Edu ...

, Louis Taillefer, Andrew MacKenzie, and Christian Pfleiderer.

Awards

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(1989) * EPS Europhysics Prize (1989) * Max Born Prize (1991) * Guthrie Medal (2007) *

Rumford Medal The Rumford Medal is an award bestowed by the Royal Society for "outstanding contributions in the field of physics". The award is named in honour of British scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, who is noted for his works on thermody ...

(2010) * Kamerlingh Onnes Prize (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonzarich, Gilbert George Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge American physicists Scientists of the Cavendish Laboratory Living people University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Minnesota alumni University of British Columbia alumni Academics of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society 1945 births