Anthony Leggett developed a theoretical account of the newly discovered superfluid phases of helium-3. Unlike helium-4 atoms, helium-3 atoms are fermions, so their superfluid state involves correlated pairing. The internal spin and orbital structure of the pairs allows several distinct ordered phases. His account connected this structure with unusual nuclear magnetic resonance observations, using magnetic response to distinguish possible forms of the condensate. The work illustrates how a small interaction can make the internal symmetry of a quantum fluid experimentally visible.[ref]
Nobel Lecture: Superfluid 3He: the early days as seen by a theorist by Anthony James Leggett. Nobel lecture, theoretical interpretation of pairing and NMR observations in 1972–1973
A physicist who studied superfluidity and macroscopic quantum mechanics at Illinois.[ref]
Tony Leggett, Nobel laureate and theoretical physicist, dies by Lois Yoksoulian. Independent professional identity
Portrait of Anthony Leggett
. Kenneth C. Zirkel; existing Commons crop by Wabbuh. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported., via Wikimedia Commons. Source.
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