Obituary of Myron Paul Garfunkel

Myron (Mike) Paul Garfunkel, who, along with collaborators, made significant discoveries pertaining to band gaps in superconductors in the 1950’s, died September 3 2009, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania at age 86.

Mike was born in New York City in 1923, and grew up in New York City, Jersey City, and Olean, NY. After completing military service in 1946 and a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering at Rutgers, he was encouraged to pursue physics. He completed his Ph.D. on normal-superconducting phase boundary formation with Bernard Serin at Rutgers in 1951, and then went to Pittsburgh, with his wife Ruth, to start an appointment at the new Westinghouse Research Labs. There, from 1951 to 59, he continued low temperature physics research with a small group of co-workers that produced several important and exciting findings. Mike and coworkers developed improved thermometry and a more precise temperature scale, for the 1-5ºK range, that would be required to accurately compare specific heat data to exact model predictions. (The methods were used by Mike’s colleagues Satterthwaite et al for measurements on vanadium, providing the earliest empirical evidence of band gaps for superconductors.)

Mike’s primary work was in the area of microwave properties of superconductors. Partly as a result of the specific heat finding, Mike and coworkers anticipated that there may be unique absorption of microwave energy in the vicinity of hv~kT_c, the estimated band gap. With a microwave source tunable to wavelengths down to 5mm, Mike along with collaborators Manfred Biondi and Arthur McCoubrey were able to study aluminum, which had a low transition temperature T_c (1.2K) and thus a more accessible critical wavelength regime near λ=hc/T_ck=12.3mm. Below Tc they discovered a distinct onset of increased microwave absorption for frequencies v>kT_c/h, indicating an energy gap had been exceeded; the novel results published in 1956 were interpreted as additional and compelling key evidence of a band gap. These empirical findings among others contributed to the very successful and novel BCS theory of superconductivity published in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer.

In 1959 Mike accepted a professorship at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Physics and Astronomy, where he established a strong research program that continued to refine the understanding of microwave absorption and superconductivity. At Pitt he became very active and committed to the teaching and community responsibilities of the university. In 1962, with a group of other concerned citizens and academics from Pittsburgh, he co-chaired a regional study on the projected effects of nuclear war on the Pittsburgh area. Deeply principled, very thoughtful, and honest, Mike was caring and supportive of his colleagues and community in a wonderful way. He was animated and outgoing with a good sense of humor, but also concerned and engaged in issues in the world around him. As a longstanding and devoted professor at the university (strongly promoting its teaching obligations), he played an important role in the development of the Physics and Astronomy Department, of which he was Chair from 1976-82. His undergraduate and PhD students knew him as a dedicated and caring advisor, and he continued mentoring students well after he retired. A compassionate man and an avid student of history and current affairs, what Mike enjoyed most was lively probing discussions on science, society, politics, and life. Mike was admired and adored by all who knew him. He is survived by his wife Ruth, 3 children, and 5 grandchildren.