John 'Jack' Connor is a British theoretical physicist whose research focussed on understanding the physics of nuclear fusion.
Education
editAfter studying for an undergraduate degree in Mathematical Physics at the University of Birmingham he gained a PhD in Elementary Particle Physics at the same university.[1]
Career
editIn 1967 he began working at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire where he remained until he retired in 2007.[1] In 2004 he was awarded the Hannes Alfvén Prize alongside Jim Hastie and Bryan Taylor due to their wide contributions to the development of theories critical to magnetic confinement fusion.[2]
Recognition
editIn 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his contributions to the field, in particular for his work in the 1970s demonstrating that a plasma confined in a tokamak can produce its own current, termed the bootstrap current.[3][4] This discovery is the basis of all modern tokamak reactors, including ITER.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b "Our Team". Tokamak Energy. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ Lister, Jo (December 2004). "Award of the 2004 Hannes Alfvén Prize of the European Physical Society to J W Connor, R J Hastie and J B Taylor". Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. 46 (12B). Bibcode:2004PPCF...46.....L. doi:10.1088/0741-3335/46/12B/E02. S2CID 250876267. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ "Jack Connor". The Royal Society. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ Sloan, Liam (7 June 2010). "Scientist elected to leading society". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ "2008 Payne-Gaposchkin medal and prize". Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 1 October 2021.