Obituary of Malcolm Haines (1936-2013)

Professor Malcolm G. Haines, a long-time Professor of Physics and Head of the Plasma Physics Group at Imperial College London, and former Dean of the Royal College of Science, died at his home in Cambridge UK on 13 January 2013 after a long illness. He was a leading international expert in Z-pinch physics, laser plasma interactions and in tokamak physics. He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

Malcolm was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1936 and grew up in Wales. He first came to Imperial College London in 1953 and remained there for the rest of his life. He earned a BSc in 1957 and a PhD in 1960 at Imperial and immediately thereafter was appointed to the faculty of the Physics Department. He retired in 2002, but remained very active at Imperial College and within the Plasma Physics Group as an Emeritus Professor.

Malcolm had a world-renowned career in theoretical plasma physics, making significant contributions to research in both magnetic and inertial fusion as well as with regard to fundamental plasma physics. His PhD thesis and indeed his first paper in 1959 were on inverse skin currents in Z-pinches. His interest in Z-pinches continued throughout his career, and culminated with the publication of a major review article in 2011. Uniquely, he was able to translate his theoretical ideas into actual experiments and so out of this work came the Polytron, a magnetic confinement device based on Hall acceleration of plasmas in cusped magnetic fields. Later he led the establishment of the Magpie Z-pinch facility at Imperial College which continues investigations at the frontier of plasma physics research to this day. He also had a particular interest in plasma rotation in magnetic fields and worked on rotation in both theta pinch and tokamak plasmas. During his career he published over 250 papers in all areas of plasma physics, including contributions on fundamental topics such as kinetic theory, transport and stability as well as on applied plasma physics problems such as plasma thrusters. A distinguishing mark of his broad and enduring contribution was that Malcolm was also a co-author on many experimental papers. His work on magnetic field generation in laser plasma interactions, absorption of intense laser beams in plasmas, and the electro-thermal instability are a few examples.

Under Malcolm’s leadership the Imperial Plasma Physics Group pioneered the use of pulsed power and fast discharges for plasma research and consequently aided the subsequent development of large scale experiments at the Kurchatov Institute in Russia and at Sandia National Laboratories in the US. In recognition of these achievements he was awarded the Alfvén prize by the European Physical Society in 2005, along with Valentin Smirnov of the Kurchatov and Tom Sanford of Sandia.

In addition, during the 1970’s, Malcolm was closely involved in the establishment of the Laser Division at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, which is now one of the world’s premier laser facilities. He was a consultant to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (mainly Culham Laboratory) for 50 years and for the past twenty years was also a consultant in inertial confinement fusion research to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester and more recently to the University of California, San Diego.

In 1975, Malcolm became Head of the Plasma Physics Group at Imperial College and remained so for 26 years. In addition to his remarkable achievements in research, his contributions to the development of the field of plasma physics within the UK cannot be overstated. As Head of Group he established Imperial College as a world-leading center for plasma physics providing a forum for research in both magnetic and inertial fusion and indeed fostered a unique dialogue between the two communities. One of his most remarkable achievements was the mentoring of over 300 PhDs in plasma physics, from whom have come many leaders of the plasma physics community both within the UK and abroad. In particular, a remarkable number of these Imperial College trained physicists have crossed the Atlantic to make significant contributions to science at American national laboratories and universities.

Malcolm was also an accomplished organist and pianist, playing a significant role in the musical life at Imperial College London. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and was famous for his organ recitals at plasma physics conferences around the world.

Physics was not only Malcolm’s profession but also his vocation, and the universe always obliged by providing him with an unending series of mysteries. Solving these mysteries was an essential part of his life and, in particular, sustained him during his long illness. Malcolm believed that ideas knew no national, political or institutional boundaries and that questions and understanding could come from anywhere. His love of physics and his commitment to such understanding – in addition to his integrity, humor and charm – inspired several generations of students and colleagues. He was unique in that he taught, not only through lectures, textbooks and examinations, but also by demonstrating every day what it means to be a scientist.

Malcolm is survived by his wife; Polly, two children; Paul and Elizabeth, and two grandchildren; Oscar and Francis.