physics

Paul Chaikin

Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin rather than just read about it. In short: Paul Michael Chaikin (born November 14, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American physicist known particularly for many significant contributions to the field of soft condensed matter physics. Education and research career After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Paul Chaikin earned his B.S. in physics from California Institute of Technology in 1966, and his Ph.D. in physics from the Universi…

Key takeaways

Paul Chaikin belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paul Chaikin to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paul Chaikin from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paul Michael Chaikin (born November 14, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American physicist known particularly for many significant contributions to the field of soft condensed matter physics.

Education and research career After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Paul Chaikin earned his B.S. in physics from California Institute of Technology in 1966, and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971 working with Kondo superconductors. He joined the physics faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1972 and studied thermopower, density waves, and high field phenomena mostly in organic superconductors. The lure of actually seeing the microscopics of a system led him to soft matter. He helped develop techniques to measure elasticity and motion and understand colloidal interactions. Hard and soft matter interests continued after joining the faculty at UPenn (1983), the staff at Exxon Research (1983) and the faculty at Princeton University (1988). His interests in geometry/topology led to his founding contributions to diblock copolymer nanolithography, and studies of defects, annealing, and pattern formation. He helped demonstrate and explain why ellipsoids pack more densely than spheres. In 2005 he helped found the Center for Soft Matter Research at New York University. His more recent research centers on artificial self-replication, self-assembly, active matter, DNA nanotechnology, topological defects on curved surfaces, and quantifying order far from equilibrium. He is currently a Silver professor of physics at New York University.

Books "Principles of Condensed Matter Physics" ISBN 0-521-43224-3 with Tom Lubensky (published by Cambridge University Press) "The Adult Coloring Book: Phases of Matter" ISBN 978-0998281759 with Colm P. Kelleher, Rodrigo E. Guerra, and Andrew D. Hollingsworth (published by Green Frog Publishing)

Awards Awards include a Sloan Fellowship (1979–81), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1997), and election to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003) and the National Academy of Sciences (2004). In 2009 he won a World Technology Award for individual contribution in materials research. He has been awarded the 2018 Oliver Buckley Prize with the citation "for pioneering contributions that opened new directions in the field of soft condensed matter physics through innovative studies of colloids, polymers, and packing."

References

External links Oral history interview transcript with Paul Chaikin on 22 July 2020, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives Paul Chaikin Biography NYU Faculty Biography NYU Department of Physics

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul Chaikin

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin

In research: Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin 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: Paul Chaikin is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1945 births, 21st-century American physicists, American physicist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paul Chaikin means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paul Chaikin out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul Chaikin in simple terms?

Paul Michael Chaikin (born November 14, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American physicist known particularly for many significant contributions to the field of soft condensed matter physics. Education and research career After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Paul Chaiki…

Why does Paul Chaikin 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 Paul Chaikin?

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 Paul Chaikin.