| RefNo | EC/1981/01 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XXI, 1 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Barker, John Adair: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Date | 1977 |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Barker's early research was on the thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of solutions. He devised a method for computing thermodynamic results from total pressure measurements which is still widely used, and a theoretical model for solutions of associated and hydrogen-bonded liquids. More recently, with Dr.D.Henderson, he developed the first qualitatively satisfactory theory of the liquid state, a perturbation theory which uses the properties of the hard-sphere fluid as a starting point. From this work has sprung the vast amount of work on perturbation theories of liquids and solutions in which he has taken a full part. Barker has made detailed studies of pair and many-body intermolecular forces in simple systems, which involved the development of computational procedures for evaluating transport properties of gases (both classically and quantally) and virial co-forces in rare gases. He has used these potentials to calculate properties of solid and liquid inert gases, using both ordinary lattice dynamics and "self-consistent phonon" methods for solids, and computer simulation and perturbation methods for liquids. Agreement with experiment is excellent over a wide range of conditions, including pressures up to 20kbar. This has provided a stringent test of the theories of statistical mechanics and of the accuracy of many experimental methods, since it has permitted cross-checking of different kinds of measurements. His most recent work has been on the surface structure of liquids and the statistical mechanics of small systems. Monte Carlo and perturbation calculations have shown that the pair and triplet potentials used for bulk argon also gave excellent agreement with experiment for the surface tension of the liquid. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA2098 | Barker; John Adair (1925 - 1995) | 1925 - 1995 |