Hans J. van Ommeren Dekker (born 18 January 1947 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch theoretical physicist in the line of Dirk Polder, Ralph Kronig, and Nico van Kampen. His scientific work inter alia involves laser theory, path integrals in curved spaces, nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, dissipation in quantum mechanics, and hydrodynamic turbulence. He was director of the Private Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam and is professor emeritus at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Amsterdam.
Biography
Dekker studied physics at Delft University of Technology, in Delft, Netherlands, where he did research in acoustics in the group of Cornelis W. Kosten, and in electron optics with :nl:Jan Bart Le Poole.
In 1968 he was also chief editor of the Delft student periodical Het Orakel (for which he inter alia wrote a story H. Dekker, Hartstocht [Heart passage/passion], Orakel (Delftse Uitgeversmaatschappij, 1960) May 28, p. 8. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333448952 about the first successful heart transplant by Christiaan Barnard, Kaapstad, South Africa) while he spent the summer of 1970 with an IAESTE/Nuffic grant working on thermoluminescent dosimeters J. R. Cameron, N. Suntharalingam and G. N. Kennedy, Thermoluminescent Dosimetry (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1968). at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States.H. Klebanoff, Americans Search for Reasons to be Proud [Says Holland Student], The Florence Times (Florence/Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA) August 5, 1970, p. 4.
He completed his studies in theoretical physics under the supervision of Dirk Polder (solid-state physicsH. Dekker, Enkele aspekten van helikongolven (Some aspects of helicon waves), Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Science Report, 43 pages (1969) ), Ralph Kronig (quantum electrodynamics), and Jaap Kokkedee J.J.J. Kokkedee, Academic Tree (quantum field theoryhttps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/301480588 and general relativityH. Dekker, Algemene Relativiteits Theorie (General Theory of Relativity), Lecture notes, Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Science, J.J.J. Kokkedee, 1974) ).
Dekker then joined the staff of the Netherlands Physics Laboratory TNO,TNO in The Hague, where he became head of the Theoretical Physics Group in 1971. Of prime interest at that time was the quantum theory of the laser and in the early seventies he thus got involved in the SynergeticsH. Dekker, Synergetica: Coöperatieve verschijnselen in complexe systemen, Intermediair, 31 (1975) 11, 32 (1975) 31. summerschools in Erice, Sicily, Italy, on co-operative phenomena in complex systems,H. Dekker, Coöperatieve Verschijnselen in Complexe Systemen, TNO Project 4, 6 (1976) 239-243. and in 1976 he was visiting scientist at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, in the group of Hermann Haken. In the later seventies his interest in stochastic laser theory lead to several papers on path integrals for nonlinear processes, also in curved Riemannian spaces.H. Dekker, Quantization in Curved Spaces: Functional Integration and the Quantum Action Principle in Riemannian Geometries, in "Functional Integration: Theory and Applications", Edited by JP. Antoine & E. Tirapegui (Plenum, New York, 1980) 207-224. Meanwhile he also proposed a mathematical model in theoretical biology on rodent population dynamics.H. Dekker, On the Master Equation Approach to Rodent Population Cycles, General Systems, Vol. XXII (1977) 113-118
In 1980 he received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Nico van KampenN.G. van Kampen, Academic Tree at Utrecht University, Netherlands, concerning the systematic expansion of the master equation for Markov stochastic processes including a critical point (see also ). At about the same time Dekker wrote his monograph 'Classical and quantum mechanics of the damped harmonic oscillator', published in 1981 as a Physics Reports volume, which has become a standard reference for dissipation in quantum mechanics.
During 1981–1982 Dekker was NATO/Fulbright visiting professor at the Department of Chemistry, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, United States, with :de:Irwin Oppenheim, and at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), in La Jolla, United States, with Kurt E. Shuler.K.E. Shuler, Biography He further was guest scientist at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights United States, in 1988, with Rolf Landauer (on nonequilibrium stochastic processes) and Martin Gutzwiller (on functional integration). From 1985 through 1991 he also was external reviewer in the group of Rudolf de Bruyn Ouboter at the :nl:Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium (Leiden University) concerning research on macroscopic quantum interference phenomena in Josephson junction devices.
In 1989 he became Lorentz-:nl:van Iterson Professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (at the time headed by Hans Capel) of the University of Amsterdam. His inaugural lecture H. Dekker, Zekere Beperkingen, Oratie Universiteit van Amsterdam 1992 (Printed Edition: FEL-TNO, Den Haag) p. 1-23. (English title: ‘Certain limitations’) is a plea for the concept of stochastic processes, both classical and quantum mechanical (see, e.g., the Capita selecta on 'Dissipative quantum processes' H. Dekker, Poster/synopsis of Lectures on 'Dissipatieve quantum processen', University of Amsterdam, 1990/1994 and also the book chapter ‘An educated game of chance in physics’ H. Dekker, From Microscopia to Macroscopia: An Educated “Game of Chance” in Physics, in: “Chance and Uncertainty”, Edited by H.W. Capel et al. (Vossiuspers/Amsterdam University Press AUP, Amsterdam, 1995) p. 87-105. ).
Dekker inter alia was visiting professor at the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy, in 1987 and 1996 (with Lawrence Schulman, on dissipative quantum tunneling;H. Dekker, The Frozen False Vacuum, in: Path Summation - Achievements and Goals, Edited by S. Lundqvist, A. Ranfagni, V. Sa-yakanit, and L.S. Schulman (World Scientific, Singapore, 1988) p. 147-167. H. Dekker, Multilevel Mesoscopic Tunneling, in: Tunneling and its Implications, Edited by D. Mugnai, A. Ranfagni, and L.S. Schulman (World Scientific, Singapore, 1997) p. 66-79. see also H. Dekker, Dissipative Quantum Decay at Weak Bias: Finite Temperature Tunneling through Almost Degenerate Barriers, in: Path Integrals from meV to MeV, Edited by V. Sa-yakanit, W. Sritrakool, J.O. Berananda, M.C. Gutzwiller, A. Inomata, S. Lundqvist, J.R. Klauder, and L.S. Schulman (World Scientific, Singapore, 1990) p. 329-354. H. Dekker, Dissipative Quantum Processes, in: Path Integrals in Physics, Edited by V. Sa-yakanit, J.O. Berananda, and W. Sritrakool (World Scientific, Singapore, 1994) p. 137-153. ) and invited lecturer at the Centennial Meeting of the Fondation Schlumberger/Louis de Broglie in :fr:Les Treilles, France, in 1992 Poster of the Louis de Broglie Centennial Meeting, France, 1992 (with Tony Leggett, on 'Mesoscopic physics: from dissipative quantum mechanics to non-equilibrium thermodynamics' H. Dekker, Multilevel macroscopic quantum tunneling: coherence and dissipation, in: Controllable dissipative tunneling - Tunnel transport in low-dimensional systems, Edited by A.J. Leggett (Fizmatlit, Moscow, 2012) p. 327-341 ).
From 1998-2018 Dekker also was director of the Private Institute for Advanced Study, in Amsterdam, where he inter alia worked on the stochastic theory of hydrodynamic turbulenceH. Dekker, Theory of hydrodynamic turbulence: External scales and irrotational fields, in: Progress in Statistical Mechanics Research, Edited by J.S. Moreno (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2008) p. 349-372 H. Dekker, Mathematical Modelling of Hydrodynamic Turbulence: Large Scale Sweeping and the Emergence of Small Scale Kolmogorov Spectra, in: Mathematical Modelling, Edited by C.R. Brennan (Nova Science Publishers, New York, 2012) p. 351-425. .
Awards Nuffic Physics Award and Grant (1970) J.B. Le Poole :nl:Jan Bart Le Poole Science Award (Delft, 1971) Royal Dutch Society of Science Award (1981) Fulbright Foundation Science Award (1981) NATO Fellowship Award (1981/1982) Van Schooneveld TNO Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research Prize and Medal (The Hague, 1992) Panta Rhei Award (J.M. Burgers :nl:Jan Burgers (natuurkundige) Centre , 1994) Lawrence Schulman Award (ICTP Trieste, 1996) AkzoNobel Science Prize Nomination (1999) J.E. Hamilton Foundation Physics Award (2009)
Publications About 120 articles in refereed journals, and 60 in conference proceedings etc.
Book Classical and Quantum Mechanics of the Damped Harmonic Oscillator (North-Holland: Physics Letters Series Vol. 80, Amsterdam, 1981)
References
External links https://www.uva.nl/profiel/externe-medewerkers/fnwi/d/e/hans-dekker/hans-dekker.html (University of Amsterdam) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hans-Dekker-3 (Research Gate) https://sites.google.com/view/hadekk944/homepage (Google Sites) https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-dr-ir-hans-dekker-a435b1160 (LinkedIn)