- Bill Unruh
William G. Unruh (born
August 28 ,1945 ) is aCanadian physicist at theUniversity of British Columbia ,Vancouver , who discovered theUnruh effect . Unruh was born inWinnipeg ,Manitoba . He obtained his B.Sc. from theUniversity of Manitoba in1967 , followed by an M.A. (1969 ) and Ph.D. fromPrinceton University ,New Jersey (1971 ).Areas of research
Unruh has made seminal contributions to our understanding of
gravity ,black holes , cosmology, quantum fields in curved spaces, and the foundations of quantum mechanics, including the discovery of what is now known as theUnruh effect . Most recently, he has been noted for his thoughtful online postings regardingQuantum computing andQuantum cryptography . Today, Unruh continues active research in the field ofQuantum gravity . He is skeptical ofString theory .The Unruh effect
The Unruh effect, which Unruh discovered in
1976 , is the prediction that an accelerating observer will observeblack-body radiation where an inertial observer would observe none. In other words, the accelerating observer will find himself or herself in a warm background. Thequantum state which is seen as ground state for observers in inertial systems is seen as athermodynamic equilibrium for the uniformly accelerated observer. The Unruh effect therefore means that the very notion ofvacuum depends on the path of the observer throughspacetime .The Unruh effect can be expressed in a simple equation giving the equivalent energy "kT" of a uniformly accelerating particle, as:
: kT = frac{hbar a}{2pi c}
Awards
*
Rutherford Memorial Medal of theRoyal Society of Canada , 1982
*Herzberg Medal of theCanadian Association of Physics , 1983
*Steacie Prize , 1984
*Steacie Fellowship , 1984–1986
*BC Science Council Gold Medal, 1990
*Appointed aFellow of the Royal Society ,July 13 ,2001 Publications
* [http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v14/p870 "Notes on Black Hole Evaporation", Phys. Rev. D 14, 870 (1976), W.G. Unruh.]
* [http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v40/p2598 "Time and the Interpretation of Canonical Quantum Gravity", Phys. Rev. D 40, 2598 (1989), W.G. Unruh and R. Wald.]
* [http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v40/p1071 "Reduction of a wave packet in quantum Brownian motion", Phys. Rev. D 40 1071, W.G. Unruh and W.H. Zurek.]
*"An introduction to the Multi-Grid Method for Numerical Relativists", General Rel. & Grav. 18, 813 (1985), M. Choptuik and W.G. Unruh.Trivia
Unruh also appears to be interested in music and teaches the Physics of Music.
External links
* [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/view_fellow.cfm?FID=1752 Royal Society ID Page]
* [http://www.physics.ubc.ca/physoffice/profs/unruh.html University of British Columbia Physics Dept. page]
* [http://www.rsc.ca/index.php?lang_id=1&page_id=155#TOC23 Rutherford Medal]
* [http://bh0.phas.ubc.ca/b/ Unruh & Wald Fest (A Celebration of the Careers & 60th Birthdays of WG Unruh & RM Wald )]
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