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Peter Shawhan

Peter Shawhan 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 Shawhan rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Shawhan is an American physicist. He is currently professor of physics at the University of Maryland and was a co-recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology, and the Bruno Rossi Prize for his work on LIGO.

Peter Shawhan — main illustration
Peter Shawhan — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Peter Shawhan 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 Shawhan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Peter Shawhan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter Shawhan is an American physicist. He is currently professor of physics at the University of Maryland and was a co-recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology, and the Bruno Rossi Prize for his work on LIGO.

Biography Shawhan received his bachelor's degree in physics in 1990 summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, where he was an Arthur Holly Compton Fellow in the Physical Sciences and Mathematics. He was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. in 1999 under the supervision of Bruce Winstein. He was then a Millikan Prize Postdoctoral Fellow and a senior scientist at Caltech before becoming professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. He works on LIGO and is chair of the division of gravitational physics of the American Physical Society.

Awards Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016) Bruno Rossi Prize (2017) Princess of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize, University of Maryland (2018) Fellow, American Physical Society (2019)

References

Illustrations

Peter Shawhan illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Shawhan

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

In research
Peter Shawhan 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 Shawhan 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 Shawhan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century American physicists, 21st-century American physicists, Fellows of the American Physical Society, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Peter Shawhan 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 Peter Shawhan in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Shawhan in simple terms?

Peter Shawhan is an American physicist. He is currently professor of physics at the University of Maryland and was a co-recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology, and the Bruno Rossi Prize for his work on LIGO.

Why does Peter Shawhan 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 Shawhan?

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 Shawhan.

Tags

  • 20th-century American physicists
  • 21st-century American physicists
  • Fellows of the American Physical Society
  • Living people
  • University of Chicago alumni
  • University of Maryland, College Park faculty
  • Washington University in St. Louis alumni

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