Richard Liboff
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Richard Lawrence Liboff (December 30, 1931 – March 9, 2014) was an American
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 authored five books and over 100 other publications in variety of fields, including
plasma physics Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including th ...
, planetary physics,
cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...
,
quantum chaos Quantum chaos is a branch of physics focused on how chaotic classical dynamical systems can be described in terms of quantum theory. The primary question that quantum chaos seeks to answer is: "What is the relationship between quantum mechanics ...
, and quantum billiards.


Career

He earned his Ph.D., 1961 from
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
. His advisors were
Harold Grad Harold Grad (January 23, 1923 in New York City – November 17, 1986) was an American applied mathematician. His work specialized in the application of statistical mechanics to plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics. Work In statistical mechan ...
in mathematics (13 moment method) and B. Zumino in physics (TCP theory). During his graduate years, he was a research assistant at the
Courant Institute The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU). Founded in 1935, it is named after Richard Courant, one of the founders of the Courant Institute ...
. After graduation, he stayed on as assistant professor of physics. In 1965, he was appointed associate professor in the College of Engineering at
Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...
. Later appointments at Cornell included membership in the Center for Applied Mathematics and the Department of Applied & Engineering Physics.
Fulbright Program 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 people ...
and Solvay Fellowships supported three sabbatical leaves abroad. He was appointed full professor in 1970. His research was supported by AFSOR and ARO. In 1969, he chaired the first International Meeting in Kinetic Theory, sponsored by the
NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party * National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political g ...
and co-chaired by N. Rostoker. He was a distinguished professor of physics at the
University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...
. He died 9 March 2014 in New York, NY, US.


Bibliography


Notable publications

Among his publications, two works are of particular note: *With a student (G. K. Schenter) he analytically solved a second order non-linear differential equation. One of the three solutions they gave had physical relevance, as it is a generalized Fermi–Dirac distribution relevant to high-field transport in a semiconductor. *An ideal dynamical system was shown to be irreversible.


Books

Richard Liboff is the author of five books, three of which are still available: * * * An earlier edition of the Kinetic Theory text was translated into Russian and an earlier edition of the Quantum Mechanics text was translated into Korean. The second ed. of the q.m. text has been translated into
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
.


Selected articles

1. "Solution to a New Non-Linear Equation for the Distribution of Charge Carriers in a Semi-conductor", Phys. Rev. B35, 7063 (1986). Co-author with G.K. Schenter.
2. "Irreversible Wall Collisions and Thermalization of a Gas of Inert Atoms", Phys. Lett. A 202, 177 (1995).
3. "Quantum Chaos for the Radially Vibrating Spherical Billiard", Chaos 10, 366 (2000). Co-author with
Mason Porter Mason A. Porter is an American mathematician, physicist, and social scientist currently at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was elected to the 2018 class of fellows of the Am ...
.
4. "Quantum Billiard Chaos", Phys. Letters A265,230 (2000).
5. "Excess Radiation from the Large Planets." Astronomical J, 134, (2007)


In popular culture


Film

In
Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles ...
,
Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of ...
(played by
Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born 27 June 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for starring as Peter Parker (2002 film series character), Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi's trilogy, ''Spider-Man'' tr ...
) is seen dropping some of his books at Columbia University. Among the books is the Fourth Edition of Liboff's Introductory Quantum Mechanics.


References

1931 births 2014 deaths American physicists Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society {{US-physicist-stub