Douglas Rayner Hartree (March 27, 1897 - February 12, 1958) was an English mathematician and physicist most famous for the development of numerical analysis and its application to atomic physics. March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). ... 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A physicist is a scientist trained in physics. ... Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms for the problems of continuous mathematics (as distinguished from discrete mathematics) using basic arithmetical operations like addition. ... Atomic physics (or atom physics) is physics of the electron hull of atoms. ...

Early life

Douglas Hartree was born in Cambridge, United Kingdom. His father William was a lecturer in engineering at the University, and his mother Eva Rayner was president of the National Council of Women and mayor of the city. One of his great-grandfathers was Samuel Smiles. He was the oldest of three sons, although his two older brothers did not survive to adulthood. He attended St John's College, Cambridge but the first world war interrupted his studies. He joined a group working on anti-aircraft ballistics under A. V. Hill, where he gained considerable skill and an abiding interest in practical calculation and numerical methods, executing most of his own work with pencil and paper. Map of the Cambridgeshire area (1904) The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... Samuel Smiles (December 23, 1812 – April 16, 1904), was a Scottish author and reformer. ... Full name The College of Saint John the Evangelist of the University of Cambridge Motto - Named after The Hospital of Saint John the Evangelist, Cambridge, named after John the Evangelist Previous names - Established 1511 Sister College(s) Balliol College, Oxford Trinity College, Dublin Master Prof. ... Clockwise from top: Trenches in frontline, a British Mark I Tank crossing a trench, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the battle of the Dardanelles, a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks and a Sopwith Camel biplane. ... A ballistic body is a body which is free to move, behave, and be modified in appearance, contour, or texture by ambient conditions, substances, or forces, as by the pressure of gases in a gun, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles. ... Archibald Vivian Hill CH CBE (September 26, 1886–June 3, 1977) was a British physiologist, one of the founders of the diverse disciplines of biophysics and operations research. ...

The Hartree-Fock method

After the end of World War I, Hartree returned to Cambridge. In 1921, a visit by Niels Bohr to Cambridge inspired Douglas to apply his knowledge of numerical analysis to the solution of differential equations for the calculation of atomic wavefunctions. Later that year, Douglas graduated with a Second Class degree in natural sciences. He later obtained his Ph.D. in 1926. Even at this stage, he was applying his numerical skill to problems in quantum mechanics and developing what came to be known as the Hartree-Fock method, making possible calculations that had previously been seen as intractable. Clockwise from top: Trenches in frontline, a British Mark I Tank crossing a trench, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the battle of the Dardanelles, a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks and a Sopwith Camel biplane. ... Niels Bohr Niels Henrik David Bohr (October 7, 1885 – November 18, 1962) was a Danish physicist who made essential contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics. ... Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms for the problems of continuous mathematics (as distinguished from discrete mathematics) using basic arithmetical operations like addition. ... In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation in which the derivatives of a function appear as variables. ... In the most restricted usage in quantum mechanics, the wavefunction associated with a particle such as an electron, is a complex-valued square integrable function ψ defined over a portion of space and normalized in such a way that In Max Borns probabilistic interpretation of the wavefunction, the amplitude... Doctor of Philosophy, or Ph. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Fig. ... In computational physics, the Hartree-Fock calculation scheme is a self-consistent iterative procedure to calculate the so-called best possible single determinant solution to the time-independent Schrödinger equation of a many-electron system in a Coulombic potential of fixed nuclei. ...

Manchester years

In 1929, he was appointed professor of applied mathematics at the Victoria University of Manchester. In 1933, he visited Vannevar Bush at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and learned at first hand about his differential analyser. Immediately on his return to Manchester, he set about building his own analyser from Meccano. Seeing the potential for further expoiting his numerical methods using the machine he prevailed on Sir Robert McDougall to fund a more robust machine which was built in collaboration with Metropolitan Vickers.-1... The Victoria University of Manchester (almost always referred to as simply the University of Manchester) was a university in Manchester in England. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Vannevar Bush (March 11, 1890 – June 30, 1974) was an American engineer and science administrator, known for his political role in the development of the atomic bomb, and idea of the memex—seen as a pioneering concept for the World Wide Web. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a university located in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. MIT is one of the worlds leading research institutions in science and technology, as well as in numerous other fields, including management, economics, linguistics, political science, and philosophy. ... The differential analyser was a mechanical analog computer invented by Vannevar Bush in 1927. ... Manchester is a city in the North West of England. ... Nikko Toys Meccano logo Meccano is model construction material: metal strips of various shapes, sizes and colours, perforated with equidistant holes at a standard half-inch (12. ... Metropolitan-Vickers, or Metrovick, was a British heavy industrial firm of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. ...

The first application of the machine reflected Hartree's enthusiasm for railways in calculating timetables for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The machine was also applied in ballistics and other military calculations. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS1) was a British railway company. ...

Later life and work

Hartree moved to theoretical physics in 1937 before returning to Cambridge to take up the post of Plummer professor of mathematical physics in 1946. He did further work in control systems and was involved in the early application of digital computers, advising the US military on the use of ENIAC for calculating ballistics tables. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... A control system is a device or set of devices that manage the behavior of other devices. ... The tower of a personal computer. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government CIA World Factbook Entry for United States House. ... ENIAC ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, was long thought to have been the first electronic computer designed to be Turing-complete, capable of being reprogrammed by rewiring to solve a full range of computing problems. ...

Hartree's last Ph.D. student at Cambridge, Charlotte Froese Fischer, would become world-famous for the development and implementation of the multi-configuration Hartree-Fock (MCHF) approach to atomic structure calculations and for her theoretical prediction concerning the existence of the negative calcium ion. Charlotte Froese Fischer (b. ... In quantum chemistry, the Multi-configurational self-consistent field or MCSCF method is a post-Hartree-Fock method that uses a linear combination of CSFs to approximate the true electronic wavefunction of an atom or molecule. ...

He died of heart failure in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. Addenbrookes Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Cambridge, England, with strong links to the University of Cambridge. ...

Honours

• Fellow of the Royal Society, (1932)

The premises of the Royal Society in London. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on Friday. ...

Bibliography

• Hartree, D.R. (1947) Calculating Machines: Recent and Prospective Developments and their Impact on Mathematical Physics
• Hartree, D.R. (1950) Calculating Instruments and Machines, reprinted 1984 ISBN 0262081474
• Hartree, D.R. (1952) Numerical Analysis ISBN 0198531117

External links

• The Manchester differential analyser