Tony Bell (physicist)

Anthony Raymond Bell was born on 9 June 1952 in Lincoln, England, to Raymond and Muriel Bell.{{Who's Who|title=Bell, Prof. Anthony Raymond, (Tony)|year=2022|id=U289274|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U289274}} He was educated at Leeds Modern School and Churchill College, Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences and later gained a PhD in radio astronomy in 1977 for research investigating supernova remnants.{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|website=lib.cam.ac.uk|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Young Supernova Remnants|first=Anthony Raymond|last=Bell|year=1977|url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=6047|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.449440}}|oclc=500382128}}

Following his PhD, Bell worked on radar signal processing with Marconi Electronic Systems before moving to the Central Laser Facility as a laser-plasma theorist. In 1985 he was appointed a lecturer at Imperial College London, and was appointed professor in 1998. In 2007, following two years with the Methodist Church, he was jointly appointed at the Clarendon Laboratory and the Central Laser Facility.

Bell's research investigates plasma physics.{{Scopus id}}{{cite journal|last1=Schawinski|first1=K.|last2=Justham|first2=S.|last3=Wolf|first3=C.|last4=Podsiadlowski|first4=P.|last5=Sullivan|first5=M.|last6=Steenbrugge|first6=K. C.|last7=Bell|first7=T.|last8=Roser|first8=H.-J.|last9=Walker|first9=E. S.|last10=Astier|first10=P.|last11=Balam|first11=D.|last12=Balland|first12=C.|last13=Carlberg|first13=R.|last14=Conley|first14=A.|last15=Fouchez|first15=D.|last16=Guy|first16=J.|last17=Hardin|first17=D.|last18=Hook|first18=I.|last19=Howell|first19=D. A.|last20=Pain|first20=R.|last21=Perrett|first21=K.|last22=Pritchet|first22=C.|last23=Regnault|first23=N.|last24=Yi|first24=S. K.|title=Supernova Shock Breakout from a Red Supergiant|journal=Science|volume=321|issue=5886|year=2008|pages=223–226|issn=0036-8075|doi=10.1126/science.1160456|arxiv=0803.3596|pmid=18556514|bibcode=2008Sci...321..223S |s2cid=8366768 }} He wrote one of four independent papers proposing the theory of cosmic ray acceleration by shocks.{{cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=Anthony R.|authorlink=Tony Bell (physicist)|title=The acceleration of cosmic rays in shock fronts – I|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=182|issue=2|year=1978|pages=147–156|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1093/mnras/182.2.147|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=Anthony R.|title=The acceleration of cosmic rays in shock fronts - II|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=182|issue=3|year=1978|pages=443–455|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1093/mnras/182.3.443|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=Anthony Raymond|title=Turbulent amplification of magnetic field and diffusive shock acceleration of cosmic rays|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=353|issue=2|year=2004|pages=550–558|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08097.x|bibcode=2004MNRAS.353..550B |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last1=Bell|first1=A. R.|last2=Lucek|first2=S. G.|title=Cosmic ray acceleration to very high energy through the non-linear amplification by cosmic rays of the seed magnetic field|journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society|volume=321|issue=3|year=2001|pages=433–438|issn=0035-8711|doi=10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04063.x|bibcode=2001MNRAS.321..433B |doi-access=free}} He showed how strong magnetic field is generated during particle acceleration and how it enables cosmic ray acceleration to high energy. He initiated the theory of non-local transport for heat flow in inertial confinement fusion, explained the collimation of laser-produced energetic electrons by resistively generated magnetic field, and with John G. Kirk demonstrated the possibility of electron-positron pair production in ultra-high intensity laser-plasma interactions.

Bell was awarded the 2014 Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics "for elucidating the origin and impact of cosmic rays and for his seminal contributions to electron energy transport in laboratory plasmas". In 2016 he was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for "his development of the theory of the acceleration of charged particles in astrophysics, known as Diffusive Shock Acceleration".{{cite web |url=http://www.iop.org/news/16/jan/page_66846.html |title=Royal Astronomical Society medals go to IOP members |work=2016 News |publisher=Institute of Physics |accessdate=25 January 2016 }} He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2017. In 2021 he received the Yodh Prize of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).{{cite web|title=Professor Tony Bell awarded Yodh Prize|date=1 July 2021|website=Department of Physics, University of Oxford|url=https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/professor-tony-bell-awarded-yodh-prize}} In 2024, Bell was awarded the Royal Society's Rumford Medal.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-30 |title=Nobel Prize-winning scientist wins Royal Society's most prestigious scientific award {{!}} Royal Society |url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2024/08/medals-and-awards-recipients-2024/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240830183319/https://royalsociety.org/news/2024/08/medals-and-awards-recipients-2024/ |archive-date=30 August 2024 }}

Bell married Irene Barnett in 1975; they have two sons and one daughter. He is a local preacher in the Methodist Church of Great Britain and plays the piano.

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{{Hannes Alfvén Prize recipients}}

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Category:1952 births

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at Leeds Modern School

Category:Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge

Category:20th-century British physicists

Category:21st-century British physicists

Category:Donegall Lecturers of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford

Category:British Methodists

Category:Recipients of the Yodh Prize

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