Hendrik Casimir

Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (July 15, 1909 in 's-Gravenhage, Netherlands – May 4, 2000 in Heeze) was a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect (together with D. Polder) in 1948. He studied theoretical physics at the University of Leiden under Paul Ehrenfest, where he received his Ph.D. in 1931. His PhD thesis dealt with the quantum mechanic... more

Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (July 15, 1909 in 's-Gravenhage, Netherlands – May 4, 2000 in Heeze) was a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect (together with D. Polder) in 1948. He studied theoretical physics at the University of Leiden under Paul Ehrenfest, where he received his Ph.D. in 1931. His PhD thesis dealt with the quantum mechanics of a rigid spinning body and the group theory of the rotations of molecules. During that time he also spent some time in Copenhagen with Niels Bohr. After receiving his Ph.D. he worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli at Zürich. In 1938, he became a physics professor at Leiden University. At that time, he was actively studying both heat conduction and electrical conduction, and contributed to the attainment of millikelvin temperatures. In 1942, during World War II, Casimir moved to the Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, the... less