Sigurd Zienau (1921–1976) was a physicist notable for the theory of the polaron.

Sigurd Zienau
Bornc. 1921
Died18 October 1976
NationalityBritish
Alma materBirkbeck College
Known forTheory of the polaron
Scientific career
FieldsPhysicist
InstitutionsUniversity College London
University of Liverpool
Academic advisorsWalter Heitler
Wolfgang Pauli
Herbert Fröhlich
Doctoral studentsPaul C. W. Davies
Hugh Osborn

Education

edit

His undergraduate studies were in mathematics at Birkbeck College. His further studies in physics were very much in the 'old school' European style at the time and he variously studied under Walter Heitler, Wolfgang Pauli, and Herbert Fröhlich.

Career

edit

In 1954, he became an ICI Fellow and lecturer at the University of Liverpool. Then in 1965, he became a Reader in Physics at University College London until his early death at the age of 55. As well as his work on polarons he is remembered for his insightful revisions of Walter Heitler's book Quantum Theory of Radiation and Nevill Francis Mott & Harrie Massey's book The Theory of Atomic Collisions.

See also

edit

References

edit
  • E. A. Power and F. F. Heymann, "Sigurd Zienau," (Obituary) Nature, Vol. 266, pp. 201–202, 1977.

Notes

edit
edit