Peter Littlewood
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Peter Brent Littlewood, FRS (born 18 May 1955) is a British
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 Professor of Physics at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
. He was the 12th Director of
Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Lemont, Illinois, Lemont, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the United Sta ...
. He previously headed 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 ...
as well as the Theory of Condensed Matter group and the Theoretical Physics Research department at
Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several lab ...
. Littlewood served as the founding chair of the board of trustees of the
Faraday Institution The Faraday Institution is the United Kingdom's research institute aiming to advance battery science and technology. It was established in 2017 as part of the UK's wider Faraday Battery Challenge. It states its mission as having four key areas ...
from 2018 to 2024.


Career

He gained a first-class degree in
Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
at 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 ...
in 1976, and was then awarded a
Kennedy Scholarship Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scho ...
to work 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 ...
for two years. He returned to Cambridge in 1977 to complete his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
. Beginning in 1980, he worked at
Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
, finishing his time there as head of the theoretical physics research after assuming the position in 1992. He continued to be a member of technical staff until 2001. In 1997, he became a professor 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 ...
in Cambridge, and was head of the
Theory of Condensed Matter group 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 ...
, and served as Matthias Scholar at
Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...
during a 2003-04 sabbatical. In 2005, he returned to Cambridge to become head of 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 ...
, before being named in 2011 the Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering at the
Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Lemont, Illinois, Lemont, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the United Sta ...
. On March 25, 2014, Littlewood was named to the director's post. In January 2017, he retired as director to resume his research at the University of Chicago. Since 2022, he also holds a partial appointment at the School of Physics and Astronomy of the
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
in Scotland, UK. Peter Littlewood holds various advisory roles at Faraday Institute and Flatiron Institute. Littlewood holds six
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
s, has published more than 200 articles in
scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...
s and has given more than 200 invited talks at international conferences, universities and laboratories.


Honours and positions

From his
curriculum vitae In English, a curriculum vitae (,
, 2010. * Fellow, Royal Society of London, 2007 * Fellow, Institute of Physics, 2005 * Matthias Scholar, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2003-2004 * Consultant, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 2004- * Consultant, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 2004- * Fellow, Trinity College Cambridge, 1997 * Fellow, American Physical Society, 1989 * Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, AT&T Bell Laboratories, 1989 * Professeur Associé and visiting scientist, CNRS, Grenoble, 1986 * Denman Baynes Student, Clare College, Cambridge 1979-80 * Kennedy Scholar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976–77 * Senior Scholar, Trinity College Cambridge, 1974–76


Work

Littlewood's research has variously included studying the phenomenology and microscopic theory of high-temperature
superconductors Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases ...
,
transition metal oxides An oxide () is a chemical compound containing at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. "Oxide" itself is the dianion (anion bearing a net charge of −2) of oxygen, an O2− ion with oxygen in the oxidation state o ...
and other correlated electronic systems, and the optical properties of highly excited semiconductors. He has applied his methods to engineering, including
holographic storage Holographic data storage is a potential technology in the area of high-capacity data storage. While magnetic and optical data storage devices rely on individual bits being stored as distinct magnetic or optical changes on the surface of the record ...
, optical fibers and devices, and new materials for particle detectors.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littlewood, Peter Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge British physicists Living people 1955 births British theoretical physicists University of Chicago faculty Scientists at Bell Labs Santa Fe Institute people Argonne National Laboratory people Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the Institute of Physics Scientists of the Cavendish Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People educated at St Olave's Grammar School