Cornelis Jacobus Gorter (14.08.1907-30.03.1980) was a Dutch physicist, a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1946) and its president in 1960 — 66. He was born in Utrecht. He graduated from the University of Leiden (1932). In 1936 — 40 he worked at the University of Groningen, in 1940—46 he was professor at the University of Amsterdam and director of the P. Zeeman Laboratory, and in 1946 — 73 professor at the University of Leiden and director of the H. Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory.
His work concerned solid-state physics, low-temperature physics, superconductivity and magnetism. In 1934, together with H. Casimir, he developed a phenomenological theory of superconductivity (the Casimir — Gorter two-fluid model). He predicted the Meissner effect, and discovered paramagnetic relaxation (1936) and antiferromagnetic resonance (1951). He proposed (1934) the method of nuclear adiabatic demagnetisation for cooling. He contributed to the understanding of the second-order phase transition in liquid helium II (the Gorter — Mellink equation). He studied antiferromagnetism and the properties of ferrites, and constructed a theory of antiferromagnetism in substances with double sublattices. In 1948 he developed a method of polarising cobalt-60 nuclei.
He founded a school of physicists. A member of a number of academies of sciences.