physics

Stephen E. Harris

Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris rather than just read about it. In short: Stephen Ernest Harris (born November 29, 1936) is an American physicist known for his contributions to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), modulation of single photons, and x-ray emission. In a diverse career, he has collaborated with others to produce results in many areas, including the 1999 paper titled “Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold gas,” in which Lene Hau and Harris…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Stephen Ernest Harris (born November 29, 1936) is an American physicist known for his contributions to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), modulation of single photons, and x-ray emission. In a diverse career, he has collaborated with others to produce results in many areas, including the 1999 paper titled “Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold gas,” in which Lene Hau and Harris, Cyrus Behroozi and Zachary Dutton describe how they used EIT to slow optical pulses to the speed of a bicycle. He has also contributed to developments in the use of the laser, generating paired photons with single driving lasers He has also shown the development of such pairs of photons using waveforms. His more recent work has sought to address restraints imposed on the types of waveforms that can be produced by the single-cycle barrier Harris and colleagues succeeded in this endeavour in 2005 during a series of experiments aimed at obtaining full control of waveforms, noting "we were able to vary the shape of the pulse to generate different prescribed waveforms." It is hoped that these results will lead to coherent control of chemical reactions, as a probe for ever-shorter physical processes, and for highly efficient generation of far infra-red and vacuum ultra-violet radiation. Harris was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering in 1977 for contributions in the field of coherent and non-linear optics.

Education 1959 B.S., Electrical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1961 M.S., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University 1963 Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University

Awards

1973 Curtis W. McGraw Research Award (American Society for Engineering Education) 1978 David Sarnoff Award (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1984 Davies Medal for Engineering Achievement (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) 1985 Charles Hard Townes Award (Optical Society of America) 1991 Einstein Prize for Laser Science (International Conference on Lasers and Applications) 1992 Optical Society of America (Stanford Chapter) Teaching Award 1994 Quantum Electronics Award (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1999 Frederic Ives Medal (highest award of the Optical Society of America) 2002 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science (American Physical Society) 2007 Harvey Prize (Awarded by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology) 2020 Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics

Honours 1968 Fellow of the Optical Society of America 1972 Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1975 Fellow of American Physical Society 1976 Guggenheim Fellowship 1977 Elected to the National Academy of Engineering 1981 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences 1988 Kenneth and Barbara Oshman Professor of Engineering Endowed Chair (Stanford University) 1994 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1995 Elected to Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2005 Stephen E. Harris Endowed Professorship in Quantum Optics (Texas A&M University) 2013 Honorary Member of the Optical Society of America

References

External links Harris page at Stanford

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stephen E. Harris

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris

In research: Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris 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: Stephen E. Harris is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 21st-century American physicists, American optical physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Stephen E. Harris in simple terms?

Why does Stephen E. Harris 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 Stephen E. Harris?

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 Stephen E. Harris.