{"id":216402,"date":"2017-02-20T07:21:44","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T12:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=216402"},"modified":"2017-02-20T11:53:17","modified_gmt":"2017-02-20T16:53:17","slug":"albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/","title":{"rendered":"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albert Simon, a leading theoretician in thermonuclear and plasma physics, and former chair and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester, died Sunday, February 5, 2017, at age 92.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to capture in words the generous, intellectual aspects of Al\u2019s character,\u201d said current department chair John Lambropoulos. \u201cI last saw Al in December at the Highlands at Pittsford retirement community, and he impressed me, as always, with his sharp intellect, personal kindness, wonderful sense of humor, and so very personable and friendly attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Simon was the first to successfully carry out the calculations that explain two-plasmon decay, an important process in direct-drive laser-fusion research.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Simon graduated from the City College of New York in 1947 with a BS after serving in the Navy during World War II as an electronic technician\u2019s mate. He earned his doctorate in physics from the University of Rochester in 1950, working with Professor Robert Marshak. He served as associate director of the Neutron Physics Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, then as head of the Plasma Physics Division at General Atomic in San Diego, California.<\/p>\n

He returned to Rochester in 1966 as a professor of mechanical engineering and physics, later serving as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/a><\/strong> from 1977 to 1984. He became a senior scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics<\/a><\/strong> in 1983, and was a member of the University’s interdisciplinary program in High Energy Density Plasma in collaboration with LLE until his retirement in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbert Simon made seminal contributions throughout his long and distinguished career to the field of plasma physics and controlled thermonuclear research,\u201d said Robert McCrory, LLE\u2019s director.<\/p>\n

Simon was the first to successfully carry out the calculations that explain two-plasmon decay, a complicated process in which laser light propagating through a plasma spontaneously transforms into plasma waves. Two-plasmon decay has turned out to be an important process in direct-drive laser-fusion research, and Simon’s paper has been cited more than 100 times.<\/p>\n

He also contributed classic papers on Rayleigh Taylor instability published in the 1960\u2019s in Physics of Fluids<\/em>. Rayleigh Taylor instability occurs at the interface between two fluids of different densities when the lighter fluid is pushing the heavier fluid. Examples include instabilities in plasma fusion reactors and inertial confinement fusion.<\/p>\n

Many of LLE’s early graduate students were drawn to plasma physics and thermonuclear fusion for their dissertation research because of Simon’s high standing in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cAl was department chair when several of us joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering,\u201d Lambropoulos added. \u201cThrough his mentorship and leadership he affected many students, staff, and faculty over a very long time. I will miss him profoundly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon was a Guggenheim Fellow at the Danish Atomic Energy Commission (1964-65) and held visiting positions at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton (1974) and at Oxford University in England (1975). He authored the text An Introduction to Thermonuclear Research<\/em> and was the past editor of a series of books, Advances in Plasma Physics<\/em>, and co-authored articles on nuclear fusion for the Encyclopedia Americana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 1956.<\/p>\n

His family will receive friends February 8 and 9 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Highlands of Pittsford (100 Hahnemann Trail). In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, 250 East River Rd., Rochester, NY 14623 – Attention: Director’s Office.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His seminal contributions to the field helped attract graduate students to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He died February 5, 2017, at age 92.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":219902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23312,5296,3396],"class_list":["post-216402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-news","tag-department-of-mechanical-engineering","tag-laboratory-for-laser-energetics","tag-obituaries"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"His seminal contributions to the field helped attract graduate students to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He died February 5, 2017, at age 92.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-20T12:21:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-20T16:53:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fea-albert-simon.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bob Marcotte\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bob Marcotte\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bob Marcotte\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\"},\"headline\":\"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-20T12:21:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-20T16:53:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":585,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/fea-albert-simon.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Department of Mechanical Engineering\",\"Laboratory for Laser Energetics\",\"obituaries\"],\"articleSection\":[\"University News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/\",\"name\":\"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/fea-albert-simon.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-20T12:21:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-20T16:53:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/fea-albert-simon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/02\\\/fea-albert-simon.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Albert Simon, at right, was a leading theoretician in thermonuclear and plasma physics. \u201cThrough his mentorship and leadership he affected many students, staff, and faculty over a very long time,\\\" said John Lambropoulos, chair of mechanical engineering. (University photo)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b\",\"name\":\"Bob Marcotte\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/bmarcotte\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor","og_description":"His seminal contributions to the field helped attract graduate students to the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He died February 5, 2017, at age 92.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2017-02-20T12:21:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-20T16:53:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fea-albert-simon.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bob Marcotte","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bob Marcotte","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/"},"author":{"name":"Bob Marcotte","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b"},"headline":"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor","datePublished":"2017-02-20T12:21:44+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-20T16:53:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/"},"wordCount":585,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fea-albert-simon.jpg","keywords":["Department of Mechanical Engineering","Laboratory for Laser Energetics","obituaries"],"articleSection":["University News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/","name":"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fea-albert-simon.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-20T12:21:44+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-20T16:53:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fea-albert-simon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fea-albert-simon.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"Albert Simon, at right, was a leading theoretician in thermonuclear and plasma physics. \u201cThrough his mentorship and leadership he affected many students, staff, and faculty over a very long time,\" said John Lambropoulos, chair of mechanical engineering. (University photo)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/albert-simon-leading-thermonuclear-theoretician-remembered-as-generous-mentor-216402\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Albert Simon, leading thermonuclear theoretician, remembered as generous mentor"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e0d8d271cd290d592461fa9cefca013b","name":"Bob Marcotte","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/bmarcotte\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216402"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219922,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216402\/revisions\/219922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}