physics

Karl F. Lindman

Karl F. Lindman is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Karl F. Lindman rather than just read about it. In short: Karl Ferdinand Lindman (7 June 1874 – 14 February 1952) was a Finnish physicist and educator. Best known for his work on chiral media, he has performed the experimental demonstration of optical rotation of microwaves in an artificial chiral medium in 1914.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Karl Ferdinand Lindman (7 June 1874 – 14 February 1952) was a Finnish physicist and educator. Best known for his work on chiral media, he has performed the experimental demonstration of optical rotation of microwaves in an artificial chiral medium in 1914. For the most of his career, he was a professor of physics at Åbo Akademi University.

Biography Karl Ferdinand Lindman was born on 7 June 1874 in Ekenäs, Grand Duchy of Finland to Karl Gustav and Lovisa Lindman. His father was a farmer with clerical duties. Receiving a degree of physics in 1895, Lindman obtained his PhD degree from University of Helsinki in 1901. He briefly resided in Leipzig from 1899 to 1901; his thesis work was partially done in Leipzig University. Following his doctoral stufies, Lindman served as a secondary school teacher and authored textbooks in physics, chemistry and astronomy in Swedish and Finnish. He was a lecturer at Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors, where he introduced laboratory courses. In 1907, he took sabbatical in England and Scotland to study teaching methods. Becoming a faculty member at Åbo Akademi University in 1918, he was appointed as the chair in physics in 1921, and served as the vice rector from 1921 to 1929. He also served as the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences during his tenure. Despite retiring in 1942, he carried a full teaching load until 1945. Lindman was married to Hilma Lovisa Tallqvist. He died on 14 February 1952 and was survived by his son, Sven Lindman, who was a professor of political science in Åbo Akademi. A conference in honor of Lindman was organized in 1991 at Abo Akademi by Finnish chapters of URSI and IEEE. Electromagnetic Waves in Chiral and Bi-isotropic Media, a 1994 monograph on chiral and bi-isotropic media by Ismo Lindell and his colleagues, is dedicated to his honour.

Research and contributions to chiral media

Lindman was mainly an experimental physicist and his research work focused on electromagnetics: he is best known for his work on chiral media. In 1914, he has demonstrated the optical rotation in an artificial chiral medium experimentally. He has constructed the artificial medium from left- and right-handed copper helices that are suspended in cotton; he has observed that this composite material rotates the linearly polarized microwave signal in a circular waveguide apparatus. He has also shown that same number of left- and right-handed helices does not cause any polarization rotation. His observations were first reported in the same year in the proceedings of Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters; these were subsequently published in 1920 and 1922 in the German-language journal Annalen der Physik. Even though this experiment came after the Jagadish Chandra Bose's 1898 study on optical rotation of microwaves, it has acted as a progenitor to artificial dielectrics and metamaterials. The experiment was repeated in 1950s with more advanced apparatus and was subsequently adapted to terahertz waves in 2009. Following his publications from 1914 to early 1920s, Lindman continued his experiments in chirality and proposed different configurations to induce optical activity. Lindman was also active in other areas of electromagnetics. His doctoral studies in University of Leipzig focused on the resonances and standing waves in a dipole antenna. In addition to resonances of wire antennas, Lindman has studied millimeter and infrared wave propagation, diffraction grids, scattering and waveguides. In 1940s, he studied the wave propagation in circular waveguides and parallel plates: these studies coincided with the flurry of interest in microwave propagation of waveguides for radar applications, stemming from the World War II. Even though he did not publish any original research regarding the theory of relativity, he was critical of it and expressed his criticisms in his textbooks.

Selected publications Lindman, Karl F. (1902). "Ueber stationäre elektrische Wellen". Annalen der Physik (in German). 312 (4): 824–850. Bibcode:1902AnP...312..824L. doi:10.1002/andp.19023120409. Lindman, Karl F. (1914). "Om en genom ett isotropt system av spiralformiga resonatorer alstrad rotationspolarisation av de elektromagnetiska vågorna" (PDF). Öfversigt af Finska Vetenskaps-Societetens Förhandlingar (in Swedish). 57 (3). Lindman, Karl F. (1920). "Zur Frage nach der Existenz wahrer Pyroelektrizität". Annalen der Physik (in German). 367 (10): 107–112. Bibcode:1920AnP...367..107L. doi:10.1002/andp.19203671003. Lindman, Karl F. (1920). "Über eine durch ein isotropes System von spiralförmigen Resonatoren erzeugte Rotationspolarisation der elektromagnetischen Wellen". Annalen der Physik (in German). 368 (23): 621–644. Bibcode:1920AnP...368..621L. doi:10.1002/andp.19203682303. Lindman, Karl F. (1922). "Über die durch ein aktives Raumgitter erzeugte Rotationspolarisation der elektromagnetischen Wellen". Annalen der Physik (in German). 374 (20): 270–284. Bibcode:1922AnP...374..270L. doi:10.1002/andp.19223742004.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Karl F. Lindman

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Karl F. Lindman claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Karl F. Lindman before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Karl F. Lindman ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Karl F. Lindman

In research: Karl F. Lindman appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Karl F. Lindman in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Karl F. Lindman is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1874 births, 1952 deaths, 20th-century Finnish educators, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Karl F. Lindman outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Karl F. Lindman in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Karl F. Lindman means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Karl F. Lindman in simple terms?

Why does Karl F. Lindman matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Karl F. Lindman?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Karl F. Lindman.