| 1 | Name: | Professor Sir Michael Victor Berry | |
| Institution: | University of Bristol | ||
| Year Elected: | 2021 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 106. Physics | ||
| Residency: | International | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1941 | ||
Michael Berry is Melville Wills Professor of Physics (Emeritus) at the University of Bristol, UK, where he has been for more than twice as long he has not. He is a physicist, focusing on the physics of the mathematics...of the physics. Applications include the geometry of singularities (caustics on large scales, vortices on fine scales) in optics and other waves, connections between classical and quantum physics, and the physical asymptotics of divergent series. He delights in finding the arcane in the mundane - abstract and subtle concepts in familiar or dramatic phenomena: *Singularities of smooth gradient maps in rainbows and tsunamis; *The Laplace operator in oriental magic mirrors; *Elliptic integrals in the polarization pattern of the clear blue sky; *Geometry of twists and turns in quantum indistinguishability; *Matrix degeneracies in overhead-projector transparencies; *Gauss sums in the light beyond a humble diffraction grating. | |||