IOP Groups
The Low Temperature Group
The Low Temperature Group was founded in 1945, and holds whole-day meetings and conferences each year on a wide variety of topics linked by the common theme of low temperature physics. These topics include superfluidity, superconductivity, the techniques relevant to the production and maintenance of low temperatures, magnetic cooling, thermometry, milli-Kelvin and micro-Kelvin techniques, as well as the study of the electrical, thermal and magnetic properties of solids. The Group also has interests in systems operating at low temperatures - for example, infrared detectors, devices based on the Josephson effect, cryopumps and superconducting magnets. Close links are maintained with the Superconductivity Group. The group operates within the Condensed Matter Division of the Institute and contributes to the Condensed Matter and Material Physics (CMMP) and other conferences.
Two popular events in the Group's calendar are a one-day course each November on techniques, aimed at postgraduate students and technicians, and a general conference at the AGM, usually in June. The highlights of these conferences are talks on outstanding developments in the field by invited international speakers.
Each year the group awards a number of bursaries for PhD students attending low temperature physics-related conferences. These are awarded on a merit basis, subject to available funds. Students may apply for travel bursaries, preferably via email, to the Group Secretary, Paul McDonald (pcm@soton.ac.uk). Only one award per lifetime of a PhD course will be made and successful applicants must be members of the Low Temperature Group. There is no fixed deadline, but please apply as soon as possible.
The Group is also responsible for the award of the Simon Memorial Prize which was established in 1956 to mark the outstanding work of Sir Francis Simon who was a key figure among those who founded the Group. It is given every two or three years for distinguished work in experimental or theoretical low temperature physics. To date, the recipients have been:
- Dr H London (1959)
- Dr I M Lifschitz (1961)
- Professor H E Hall and Professor W F Vinen jointly (1963)
- Professor J C Wheatley (1965)
- Dr K A G Mendelssohn (1968)
- Professor W Meissner (1970)
- Academician P L Kapitza (1973)
- Dr D M Lee, Dr D D Osheroff and Dr R C Richardson jointly (1976)
- Professor A J Leggett (1981)
- Professor D O Edwards (1983)
- Professor Yu V Sharvin (1986
- Dr R A Webb (1989)
- Dr E Varoquaux and Dr O Avenel jointly (1992)
- Professor A Andreev (1995)
- Professor A M Guenault and Professor G R Pickett jointly (1998)
- Professor G Frossati (2001) and Professor G E Volovik (2004)
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