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Tim Sumner (physicist)

Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist) rather than just read about it. In short: Timothy J. Sumner is Professor of Experimental Physics at Imperial College London.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Timothy J. Sumner is Professor of Experimental Physics at Imperial College London. He is a member of the UK Dark Matter Collaboration, and Sumner's interests cover a wide range of astronomy-related fields, focusing particularly on particle physics. He received his degree in Physics from Sussex University in 1974, and his DPhil in Experimental Physics from Sussex University, for work carried out jointly with the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. He joined the Cosmic-Ray and Space Physics group at Imperial College in 1979, and in 1984 became the project manager for flight hardware for the x-ray satellite ROSAT. He received a Group Achievement award from NASA for the project in 1990. He became involved in the search for the direct demonstration of the existence of galactic dark matter, known as "Weakly Interacting Massive Particles". (WIMP). He is a member of the UK Dark Matter Collaboration (one of four groups around the world looking for WIMPs) and was its spokesperson in the UK for 2002–07. New Scientist described him as "leading the search for galactic dark matter, including axions, at Imperial College London in the UK". He is now Principal Investigator of the ZEPLIN III dark matter experiment. He also leads the ELIXIR proposal for next generation instruments. In addition to ROSAT, he has worked work on the space missions Gravity Probe B, which confirmed several prediction of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, LISA, a gravitational wave observatory in space, and STEP, a mission to test the equivalence principle in space. He is also associated with GAUGE, a new proposal to the European Space Agency. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and of the Royal Astronomical Society, and holds the position of Vice-Chair, COSPAR - Commission H.

Publications Scopus lists him as having had 132 peer-reviewed publications and cited in 7000. The ones with the highest citation counts are:

Rowan-Robinson, M.; Mann, R. G.; Oliver, S. J.; Efstathiou, A.; Eaton, N.; Goldschmidt, P.; Mobasher, B.; Serjeant, S. B. G.; Sumner, T. J.; Danese, L.; Elbaz, D.; Franceschini, A.; Egami, E.; Kontizas, M.; Lawrence, A.; McMahon, R.; Norgaard-Nielsen, H. U.; Perez-Fournon, I.; Gonzalez-Serrano, J. I.; "Observations of the Hubble Deep Field with the Infrared Space Observatory - V. Spectral energy distributions; starburst models and star formation history" (1997) Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 289 (2), pp. 490–496. Cited 155 times. Smith, P. F.; Arnison, G. T. J.; Homer, G. J.; Lewin, J. D.; Alner, G. J.; Spooner, N. J. C.; Quenby, J. J.; Sumner, T. J.; Bewick, A.; Li, J. P.; Shaul, D.; Ali, T.; Jones, W. G.; Smith, N. J. T.; Davies, G. J.; Lally, C. H.; Van Den Putte, M. J.; Barton, J. C.; Blake, P. R.; "Improved dark matter limits from pulse shape discrimination in a low background sodium iodide detector at the Boulby mine" (1996) Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics, 379 (1-4), pp. 299–308. Cited 103 times. Oliver, S.; Rowan-Robinson, M.; Alexander, D. M.; Almaini, O.; Balcells, M.; Baker, A. C.; Barcons, X.; Barden, M.; Bellas-Velidis, I.; Cabrera-Guerra, F.; Carballo, R.; Cesarsky, C. J.; Ciliegi, P.; Clements, D. L.; Crockett, H.; Danese, L.; Dapergolas, A.; Drolias, B.; Eaton, N.; Efstathiou, A.; Egami, E.; Elbaz, D.; Fadda, D.; Fox, M.; Franceschini, A.; Genzel, R.; Goldschmidt, P.; Graham, M.; Gonzalez-Serrano, J. I.; Gonzalez-Solares, E. A.; Granato, G. L.; Gruppioni, C.; Herbstmeier, U.; Héraudeau, Philippe; Joshi, M.; Kontizas, E.; Kontizas, M.; Kotilainen, J. K.; Kunze, D.; La Franca, F.; Lari, C.; Lawrence, A.; Lemke, D.; Linden-Vørnle, M. J. D.; Mann, R. G.; Márquez, I.; Masegosa, J.; Mattila, K.; McMahon, R. G.; Miley, G.; Missoulis, V.; Mobasher, B.; Morel, T.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H.; Omont, A.; Papadopoulos, P.; Perez-Fournon, I.; Puget, J.-L.; Rigopoulou, D.; Rocca-Volmerange, B.; Serjeant, S.; Silva, L.; Sumner, T.; Surace, C.; Vaisanen, P.; Van Der Werf, P. P.; Verma, A.; Vigroux, L.; Villar-Martin, M.; Willott, C. J.; "The European Large Area ISO Survey - I. Goals, definition and observations" (2000) Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 316 (4), pp. 749–767. Cited 95 times. Serjeant, S.; Oliver, S.; Rowan-Robinson, M.; Crockett, H.; Missoulis, V.; Sumner, T.; Gruppioni, C.; Mann, R. G.; Eaton, N.; Elbaz, D.; Clements, D. L.; Baker, A.; Efstathiou, A.; Cesarsky, C.; Danese, L.; Franceschini, A.; Genzel, R.; Lawrence, A.; Lemke, D.; McMahon, R. G.; Miley, G.; Puget, J.-L.; Rocca-Volmerange, B.; "The European Large Area ISO Survey - II. Mid-infrared extragalactic source counts" (2000) Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society; 316 (4), pp. 768–778. Cited 66 times. Rowan-Robinson, M.; Lari, C.; Perez-Fournon, I.; Gonzalez-Solares, E. A.; La Franca, F.; Vaccari, M.; Oliver, S.; Gruppioni, C.; Ciliegi, P.; Héraudeau, Philippe; Serjeant, S.; Efstathiou, A.; Babbedge, T.; Matute, I.; Pozzi, F.; Franceschini, A.; Vaisanen, P.; Afonso-Luis, A.; Alexander, D. M.; Almaini, O.; Baker, A. C.; Basilakos, S.; Barden, M.; Del Burgo, C.; Bellas-Velidis, I.; Cabrera-Guerra, F.; Carballo, R.; Cesarsky, C. J.; Clements, D. L.; Crockett, H.; Danese, L.; Dapergolas, A.; Drolias, B.; Eaton, N.; Egami, E.; Elbaz, D.; Fadda, D.; Fox, M.; Genzel, R.; Goldschmidt, P.; Gonzalez-Serrano, J. I.; Graham, M.; Granato, G. L.; Hatziminaoglou, E.; Herbstmeier, U.; Joshi, M.; Kontizas, E.; Kontizas, M.; Kotilainen, J. K.; Kunze, D.; Lawrence, A.; Lemke, D.; Linden-Vørnle, M. J. D.; Mann, R .G.; Márquez, I.; Masegosa, J.; McMahon, R. G.; Miley, G.; Missoulis, V.; Mobasher, B.; Morel, T.; Nørgaard-Nielsen, H.; Omont, A.; Papadopoulos, P.; Puget, J.-L.; Rigopoulou, D.; Rocca-Volmerange, B.; Sedgwick, N.; Silva, L.; Sumner, T.; Surace, C.; Vila-Vilaro, B.; Van Der Werf, P.; Verma, A.; Vigroux, L.; Villar-Martin, M.; Willott, C. J.; Carramiñana, A.; Mujica, R.; "The European Large-Area ISO Survey (ELAIS): The final band-merged catalogue" (2004) Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 351 (4), pp. 1290–1306. Cited 65 times.

References

External links Official home page at ICL

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tim Sumner (physicist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist)

In research
Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist) 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
Tim Sumner (physicist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 20th-century British astronomers, 21st-century British astronomers, Academics of Imperial College London, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist) in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tim Sumner (physicist) in simple terms?

Timothy J. Sumner is Professor of Experimental Physics at Imperial College London.

Why does Tim Sumner (physicist) 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 Tim Sumner (physicist)?

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 Tim Sumner (physicist).

Tags

  • 20th-century British astronomers
  • 21st-century British astronomers
  • Academics of Imperial College London
  • Alumni of the University of Sussex
  • Fellows of the Institute of Physics
  • Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society
  • Living people
  • Particle physicists

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