physics

Peter Hirschfeld

Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld rather than just read about it. In short: Peter J. Hirschfeld is an American physicist, currently a distinguished professor at the University of Florida and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Peter J. Hirschfeld is an American physicist, currently a distinguished professor at the University of Florida and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. His lab is studying the problems of modern many-body theory associated with superconductivity and quantum materials.

Education Hirschfeld was an undergraduate and graduate student at Princeton University. He then took post-doctoral research positions at the Technical University of Munich and at Stanford University before joining the faculty at the University of Florida.

Research Hirschfeld and his research group investigate the theory behind superconductivity, electronic correlations and disorder. A particular emphasis is the study of new problems posed by the discovery in February 2008 of high-temperature Fe-based superconducting materials.

Honors Hirschfeld was the University of Florida Teacher/Scholar of the Year 2012-13. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2004, nominated by the Division of Condensed Matter Physics "For distinguished contributions to the theory of disordered unconventional superconductors which helped to identify d-wave pairing in the high-temperature superconductors." In January 2022, he was one of three co-winners of the John Bardeen Prize.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Hirschfeld

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld

In research: Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld 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: Peter Hirschfeld is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1957 births, 21st-century American physicists, American physicist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter Hirschfeld 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Peter Hirschfeld” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Peter Hirschfeld in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Hirschfeld in simple terms?

Peter J. Hirschfeld is an American physicist, currently a distinguished professor at the University of Florida and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Why does Peter Hirschfeld 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 Peter Hirschfeld?

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 Peter Hirschfeld.