Rudolf Ernst Peierls (born 5.06.1907) is an English theoretical physicist, a Fellow of the Royal Society (1945). He was born in Berlin. He studied at the universities of Berlin, Munich and Leipzig. In 1929—32 he worked at the Zurich Polytechnic, then at the universities of Manchester (1933 — 35) and Cambridge (1935-37). In 1937-63 he was professor at the University of Birmingham (in 1940-45 he carried out research on atomic energy in Birmingham, New York and Los Alamos). In 1963—74 he was professor at the University of Oxford.
His research concerned mathematical physics, quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, the theory of the solid state and magnetism. He extended the quantum theory of thermal conductivity in non-metallic crystals (1931) and the general theory of diamagnetism in metals. Together with F. Bloch he considered the behaviour of electrons in a crystal lattice, and with F. London he introduced the concept of the intermediate state of superconductors. In 1933 he gave a qualitative theory of the de Haas — van Alphen effect. Together with others he laid the foundations of the modern quantum theory of the magnetic properties of matter and of the theory of excitons. In 1929, independently of Ya. I. Frenkel, he put forward the idea of hole conduction. He is also known for the “Peierls — Nabarro model”.
In 1934, with H. Bethe, he considered the possibility of detecting the neutrino experimentally in inverse beta decay and constructed (1934 — 35) a theory of the “neutron — proton” system. Together with O. Frisch he estimated the critical mass of uranium-235. He worked out methods of calculating the nuclear fission chain reaction and the separation of the isotopes of uranium.
In 1930, together with L. D. Landau, he studied in detail the limitations that relativistic requirements impose on the quantum-mechanical description. In 1948 he constructed a classical electrodynamics with an interaction of a particular type, and in 1954 he tried to formulate a non-local electrodynamics that would satisfy the requirement of gauge invariance. He developed (1959) the formalism of scattering theory.
The Royal Medal (1959), the H. Lorentz (1962) and M. Planck (1963) medals, the E. Fermi Prize (1980) and others.