Tom Kibble
| Sir Tom Kibble | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble 23 December 1932 Madras, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Died | 2 June 2016 (aged 83) London, England, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Institutions | Imperial College London |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh, BSc, MA, PhD |
| Thesis | Topics in quantum field theory: 1. Schwinger's action principle; 2. Dispersion relations for inelastic scattering processes (1958) |
| Doctoral advisor | John Polkinghorne |
| Doctoral students | Seifallah Randjbar-Daemi |
| Known for | Quantum field theory, broken symmetry, Higgs boson, Higgs mechanism, and cosmology |
| Notable awards |
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Sir Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble, CBE FRS (23 December 1932 – 2 June 2016), was a British theoretical physicist, senior research investigator at the Blackett Laboratory and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. His research interests were in quantum field theory, especially the interface between high-energy particle physics and cosmology. He is best known as one of the first to describe the Higgs mechanism, and for his research on topological defects. From the 1950s he was concerned about the nuclear arms race and from 1970 took leading roles in promoting the social responsibility of the scientist.
Kibble was born in Madras, India on 23 December 1932, and was the grandson of William Bannerman, an officer in the Indian Medical Service, and the author Helen Bannerman. He was educated at Doveton Corrie School in Madras and then in Edinburgh, Scotland, at Melville College and at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc in 1955, MA in 1956 and a PhD in 1958. Kibble was married to Anne Allan from 1957 until her death in 2005. Kibble had three children. He died in London on 2 June 2016 at the age of 83.
Kibble worked on mechanisms of symmetry breaking, phase transitions and the topological defects (monopoles, cosmic strings or domain walls) that can be formed.
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