# Gen Shirane

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**Gen Shirane** ([kanji](/source/Kanji): 白根 元 Shirane Gen; [furigana](/source/Furigana): しらね げん; May 15, 1924 in [Nishinomiya](/source/Nishinomiya),[1] [Japan](/source/Japan) – 16 January 16, 2005 in [Bellport, New York](/source/Bellport,_New_York)) was a Japanese-American experimental solid-state physicist, known for his investigations using neutron scattering as a probe of solids.[2] He lived most of his life in the USA.[3]

## Biography

At the [University of Tokyo](/source/University_of_Tokyo), Shirane received his BE in engineering physics in 1944 and his DSc in physics in 1947 with a thesis on [ferroelectrics](/source/Ferroelectrics).[4] He was from 1948 to 1952 a research associate in physics at the [Tokyo Institute of Technology](/source/Tokyo_Institute_of_Technology). At [Pennsylvania State University](/source/Pennsylvania_State_University) he was from 1952 to 1955 a research associate and from 1955 to 1956 an assistant professor of physics. From 1956 to 1957 he was an associate physicist at [Brookhaven National Laboratory](/source/Brookhaven_National_Laboratory). At Westinghouse Research Laboratories in Pittsburgh, he was from 1957 to 1958 a research physicist and from 1959 to 1963 an advising physicist. At Brookhaven National Laboratory he was from 1963 to 1968 a physicist and from 1968 to 2005 a senior physicist.[1]

Gen moved permanently to Brookhaven in 1963, as the Brookhaven High Flux Beam Reactor construction was being completed, and he contributed to the development of a suite of experimental instruments. The increased neutron flux made possible inelastic neutron-scattering experiments using the [triple-axis spectrometer](/source/Triple-axis_spectrometer) developed by [Bertram Brockhouse](/source/Bertram_Brockhouse) in Canada. Optimizing the [signal-to-noise ratio](/source/Signal-to-noise_ratio) in these instruments is an art form in which Gen quickly established himself as a virtuoso, and that expertise led ultimately to his publication, with co-authors Stephen Shapiro and John Tranquada, of the definitive monograph on that subject.[2]

He worked on [spin-wave](/source/Spin_wave) dispersions and critical phenomena in ferromagnets, the soft phonon mode and the structural transition in [SrTiO3](/source/Strontium_titanate), spin fluctuations in low-dimensional antiferromagnets, electron-phonon coupling in superconducting [Nb3Sn](/source/Niobium%E2%80%93tin), spin waves in [chromium](/source/Chromium), and eventually [high-temperature superconductors](/source/High-temperature_superconductor).[5]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Shirane with co-workers confirmed the soft mode theory of [P. W. Anderson](/source/Philip_Warren_Anderson) and [W. Cochran](/source/William_Cochran_(physicist)) and discovered new features of structural phase transitions beyond the soft mode theory.[4]

Shirane was a leading international authority on neutron spectroscopy in solid-state physics, including magnetic materials and [high-Tc superconductivity](/source/High-temperature_superconductivity). He trained many younger physicists in neutron scattering and effectively promoted collaborations between Japan and the USA. He was the author or co-author of over 750 scientific publications with nearly 40,000 citations by the year of his death. His [h-index](/source/H-index) was 103.[6]

## Awards and honors

- 1973 — Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, American Physical Society
- 1973 — Warren Award of the [American Crystallographic Association](/source/American_Crystallographic_Association)[7]
- 1989 — Member of the National Academy of Sciences
- 1989 — [DOE](/source/United_States_Department_of_Energy) Award for Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment in Solid State Physics
- 1991 — Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2003 — Award for Outstanding Accomplishment, Japanese Society for Neutron Science[6]

## Selected publications

- with Franco Jona: *Ferroelectric Crystals*. Pergamon Press. 1962.;[8] Dover reprint, 1993
- with Stephen M. Shapiro and John M. Tranquada: [*Neutron scattering with a triple-axis spectrometer : basic techniques*](https://books.google.com/books?id=bD-1V6GeeOsC). Cambridge University Press. 2002. ISBN 9781139431019.[9]

## References

1. ["G. Shirane"](https://history.aip.org/phn/11609020.html). *American Institute of Physics*

1. Axel, John D.; Birgeneau, Robert J.; Blume, Martin; Shapiro, Stephen M. (November 2005). "Obituary. Gen Shirane". *Physics Today*. **58** (11): 72. [doi:10.1063/1.2155771](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2155771)

1. 遠藤康夫『白根元博士を偲んで』 日本物理学会誌、Vol.60(8)、P.655、2005年 (Yasuo Endo “In Memory of Dr. Shirane” [Physical Society of Japan](/source/Physical_Society_of_Japan), Vol.60 (8), P.655, 2005)

1. Shapiro, Stephen; Axe, John; Shirane, Haruo; Shirane, Tatsuo (2017). ["Gen Shirane (1924–2005)"](http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/shirane-gen.pdf). *Biographical Memoirs*. National Academy of Sciences. (p. 5)

1. ["Gen Shirane (1924–2005). Obituary written for Neutron News"](https://www.bnl.gov/cmpmsd/neutrons/Shirane_obituary_NN.asp). *Brookhaven National Laboratory*

1. ["In memoriam. Gen Shirane"](http://www.ieee-uffc.org/memoria/gen-shirane). *IEEE, Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control*. 2016-10-10.[dead link]

1. ["ACA Award Descriptions"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195943/https://www.amercrystalassn.org/awards). *American Crystallographic Association*. Archived from [the original](https://www.amercrystalassn.org/awards/) on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-09-22.

1. Xu, Yuhuan (2013). ["Foreword by L. E. Cross"](https://books.google.com/books?id=dWkhBQAAQBAJ&pg=PR5). *Ferroelectric materials and their applications*. Elsevier. pp. v–vi. ISBN 9781483290959.

1. Currat, Roland (2003). "A review of: "Neutron scattering with a triple-axis spectrometer. By G. Shirane, S.M. Shapiro, and J. M. Tranquada. Cambridge University Press, 2003, 300 pages, $95.00"". *Neutron News*. **14** (2): 39–40. [doi:10.1080/10448630308218719](https://doi.org/10.1080/10448630308218719). [ISSN 1044-8632](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1044-8632). [S2CID 121920604](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:121920604)

## External links

- ["Gen Shirane (1924–2005), Neutron Sattlering Group"](https://www.bnl.gov/cmpmsd/neutrons/nsg/GenShirane.php). *Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory* (with list of publications)

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