| Authorised form of name | Pickett; George Richard; physicist |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | 10 April 1939 |
| Place of death | Lancaster, Lancashire, England |
| Date of death | 21 July 2024 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Funeral: Beetham Hall Crematorium |
| Occupation | Phyicist |
| Research field | Quantum physics |
| Low temperature physics |
| Superfluidity |
| Nuclear refrigiration |
| Nuclear physics |
| Physics |
| Activity | Education:
Bedford Modern School (1948-1958); Magdalen College, Oxford (BA 1962; DPhil)
Career:
Professor of low temperature physics, Lancaster University (1970-2024), starting as Senior Visiting Fellow; Reader (1983); personal chair (1988); and subsequently Distinguished Professor.
Memberships:
Finnish Academy of Science and Letters
Russian Academy of Sciences
Awards/Medals:
Simon Memorial Prize 1998 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 15/05/1997 |
| Age at election | 58 |
| RSActivity | Commitees and Panels:
Sectional Committee 2: Astronomy and physics 2000-2003 |
| Relationships | Spouse: Deborah Pickett.
Children: Two daughters, Elizabeth & Catherine. |
| PublishedWorks | RCN 52149 |
| OtherInfo | renowned for his pioneering development of the nuclear refrigeration technique and its application to the investigation of superfluid helium-3 in the ballistic excitation regime below 200 microkelvins. Early heat capacity measurements at Oxford were followed at Helsinki by investigations of rare earth hyperfine heat capacities as well as precision measurements of the lambda point and phase separation anomalies in liquid helium isotopic mixtures. At Lancaster, George and Tony Guénault developed a novel form of nuclear refrigeration, using finely divided copper immersed in liquid helium-3 to overcome thermal boundary resistances. This led, in due course, to the lowest temperatures yet achieved in pure helium-3, in isotopic solutions, and in metals. The vibrating wire viscometer was ingeniously exploited to discover new nonlinear effects in superfluid helium-3 associated with the ballistic propagation of excitations, and satisfying explanations of the phenomena were devised.
Was fluent in several Scandinavian and eastern European languages. |
| Source | References:
B Bleaney and O V Lounasmaa, 'Nuclear orientation and nuclear cooling experiments in Oxford and Helsinki. Part 2. Progress from 1945 to 1970' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 323 - 330
B Bleaney and O V Lounasmaa, 'Nuclear orientation and nuclear cooling experiments in Oxford and Helsinki. Part 3. Progress from 1975 to 2001' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 331 - 344
The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor George Pickett FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/george-pickett-12096/; last accessed: 19/02/2025]
Telegraph Obituaries, 'George Pickett, physicist whose team achieved the lowest temperature ever recorded', 13 August 2024, [URL: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/08/13/prof-george-pickett-physics-lowest-temperature-obituary/?msockid=2a73f819c5b260c62463eb95c44961c3; last accessed: 19/02/2025]
Lancaster Guardian, George Pickett Obituary, [URL: https://www.legacy.com/uk/obituaries/lancasterguardian-uk/name/george-pickett-obituary?id=55790564; last accessed: 19/02/2025] |
| Code | NA5885 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1997/24 | Pickett, George Richard: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| IM/003584 | Pickett, George Richard | 1997 |