Richard John Eden , is a British theoretical physicist who researched quantum field theory, nuclear theory and S-matrix theory in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1974 he founded the Energy Research Group at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and from 1982 to 1989 was Professor of Energy Studies there. From 1974, he served on the UK Advisory Committee for Energy Conservation. He was a founding Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge in 1966, and from 1987 to 1999 he was Vice President of the college. He remains an Honorary Fellow.
Career
Eden received his doctorate in 1951 at Cambridge University under Paul Dirac, and received the Smith's Prize in 1949. In the 1950s, Eden was a leading British exponent of analytic S-matrix studies in elementary particle physics. From 1964 to 1982 he was Reader in Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge. Also in the 1950s, he attended the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. This experience led him to develop ideas for a College for Advanced Study in Cambridge. He was subsequently a founding Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge in 1966, and from 1987 to 1999 he was Vice President of the college. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of Clare Hall, Lord Ashby referred to him as the ‘Father of the Society’. This compliment is reprinted in publications marking the 40th and 50th anniversaries. Eden remains an Honorary Fellow. In 1972 he took up interdisciplinary energy studies. In 1974 he founded the Energy Research Group at the Cavendish Laboratory. and from 1982 to 1989 was Professor of Energy Studies there. From 1974, he served on the UK Advisory Committee for Energy Conservation. Malcolm Longair’s Scientific History of the Cavendish Laboratory states ‘there can be no doubt that Eden was ahead of his time in advocating the importance of physics-based interdisciplinary research for the benefit of society.' Eden was awarded an OBE in 1978, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. In 1970 he received the Maxwell Medal, and in 1989 the Open Award for Distinction in Energy Economics from the British Institute of Energy Economics in London. His students include Michael Boris Green, John Clayton Taylor, Elliot Leader and Geoffrey C. Fox.
Publications
Theory of nuclear models, Phys. Rev., Vol. 97, 1955, p. 1366
The analytic structure of collision amplitudes in perturbation theory, Phys. Rev., Vol. 119, 1960, p. 1763
Theoretical and experimental consequences of a violation of the Pomeranchuk theorem on total cross sections at high energies, Phys. Rev. D, Vol. 3, 1971, p. 2286–2288
Regge poles and elementary particles, Rep. Prog. Phys., Vol. 34, 1971, p. 995–1053
Asymptotic properties of scattering amplitudes and their experimental consequences, Nucl. Phys. B, Vol. 28, 1971, p. 253–282
Energy Conservation in the UK, in: NEDO Report, London, HMSO, 1974
