Philip Moss Platzman

Philip Moss Platzman, a widely acclaimed contributor to condensed-matter physics, died at his home in Short Hills, New Jersey, on 7 February 2012. Though he was challenged during the last decade of his life by quadriplegia resulting from a home accident, he continued his active physics research through his last day.

Phil was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 1 May 1935. He studied physics at MIT and received his BS in 1956. He pursued his graduate work at Caltech as a Hughes fellow under the guidance of Richard Feynman and received his PhD in 1960. He subsequently joined Bell Labs and remained there until his retirement in 2001.

For much of his Bell Labs career, Phil was head of the scattering and low-energy physics research department. In addition to carrying on his own research program and supporting the research of members of his department, Phil was highly successful at recruiting and mentoring early-career physicists. Most went on to distinguished research careers, and many assumed leadership positions in academia and government labs. Though Phil’s confrontational style was widely known, he was the consummate collaborator, with both Bell colleagues and scientists from many other institutions. For example, he collaborated to create several of the earliest state-of-the-art synchrotron beamlines. His extracurricular activities included frequent participation in Aspen and Brookhaven summer programs; a year’s sabbatical at the University of California, Berkeley; a long-standing adjunct appointment at UC, San Diego; and many shorter-term academic affiliations.

Even though Phil’s dissertation research concerned a problem in high-energy physics, the Bell Labs environment quickly attracted him to condensed-matter physics. A major theme throughout his career was plasma effects in solids. With collaborators, he was the first to use Fermi liquid theory to predict the existence of several new collective modes, including spin and orbital waves in the three-dimensional electron gas. He predicted the existence of the magneto-roton excitation in the fractional quantum Hall effect. He also clarified the interplay between the Wigner solid and quantum Hall liquids in 2D electron gases.

Another major theme, derived from his PhD experience in high-energy physics, was x-ray interactions with solids. Phil promoted and analyzed foundational work on inelastic x-ray scattering, Compton scattering, and collective modes. A group he led was the first to suggest using x rays to probe magnetic phenomena. He shared the Advanced Photon Source’s 1997 Arthur H. Compton Award with Peter Eisenberger for their contributions to x-ray scattering.

In another career highlight, Phil used the Feynman path integral approach to analyze polaron mobility, bound polarons, and electrons bound to liquid helium surfaces. That led much later to his proposal and analysis of electrons on helium as qubits for quantum computing. He also made many contributions to positron and positronium interactions with solids and surfaces. What best characterized Phil’s career was the breadth of his knowledge and impact.

Following his accident, Phil redoubled his efforts to maintain an active research career. His key research tool remained his telephone, supplemented by voice-recognition software and occasional stenographic assistance. He moved into new research areas, such as deep-inelastic neutron scattering from water protons. Indeed, in his last decade Phil added about 20 papers to his pre-accident oeuvre of roughly 200. His attitude was incredibly positive. On frequent occasions, he remarked that the accident kept him focused on doing new physics; otherwise, he might have spent those years “just running all over talking about my old stuff.” His ability to rise above his adversity was an incredible inspiration to those who knew him.

A close second to Phil’s love for physics was his love for his venue—Bell Labs. Soon after his accident, he embarked on another project to supplement his physics research: writing a book about his time at the Labs during its golden years. In a series of interviews with former colleagues, he recorded their reminiscences and anecdotes. Unfortunately, “Bell Labs and the Birth of the Technology Revolution” never progressed beyond those ongoing recordings and a brief written outline. His view of Bell Labs is only now beginning to be appreciated by the broader public, and we take the liberty of quoting from his outline:

The model that Bell Labs used in the 60’s & 70’s—hiring new PhDs in essentially a tenured job—had never been done before and may never happen again. It laid the foundation for major university departments and the whole field of condensed matter physics. Bell Labs hired the best young people—not only in condensed matter physics, but also in other areas like high-energy physics. . . .They were offered . . . space, money, and an environment boiling with other young people. . . .The university route involved a progression from post doc to assistant to associate to full professor; at Bell Labs, everyone was a professor!

Athletic activity formed a major counterpoint to Phil’s science. His varsity basketball at MIT continued into pick-up games at Bell Labs, gradually to be replaced by tennis, which he played the rest of his active life. He loved the outdoors, from winter ski trips to mountain hikes to weeklong backpacking trips in western wilderness areas. An avid sports fan, Phil followed his favorite teams in baseball, basketball, and football. Two days before his death, as he sat enthralled by the final tense moments of the 2012 Super Bowl, he made an unprecedented statement: “This has been such a good game that I don’t even care if the Giants lose!” Metaphorically, that summarized his life in physics—he loved the game. And he scored his own share of winning touchdowns.