Anderson, Philip Warren (1923)

US physicist who shared the 1977 Nobel Prize for Physics with his senior colleague John Van Vleck for his theoretical work on the behaviour of electrons in magnetic, noncrystalline solids. Anderson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and educated at Harvard University. In 1949 he joined Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, and later took on additional academic posts. In the early 1960s he investigated the interatomic effects that influence the magnetic properties of metals and alloys, devising a theoretical model (now called the Anderson model) to describe the effect of the presence of an impurity atom in a metal. He also described the movements of impurities within crystalline substances by a method now known as Anderson localization. In addition, Anderson has studied the relationship between superconductivity, superfluidity, and laser action, and predicted the existence of resistance in superconductors. His studies of disordered glassy solids indicate that they could be used instead of the expensive crystalline semiconductors now used in many electronic devices, such as computer memories, electronic switches, and solar energy converters.