Career Summary

David Neilson is author of more than 100 refereed research articles, review chapters in books and refereed conference reports and editor of a number of review books.  He is organiser of international conferences including:

Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems Conference, Italy, 2008

International Conference on Recent challenges in novel quantum systems, Camerino 2005

Frontiers of Science & Technology Workshop on Soft Condensed Matter and Nanoscale Physics, Sydney 2003

Australian Institute of Physics National Congress, Sydney, 2002

International Workshops on Condensed Matter Theories Canberra, 2002

Tenth International Conference on Recent Progress in Many Body Theories, Sydney 1997

CECAM Workshop on Coupled Bilayers of Electrons, Villa Gualino, Torino (1999)

He has been the convenor of the annual series Gordon Godfrey Workshops on Recent Advances in Condensed Matter Theory, Sydney from its first meeting in 1991. 

He serves on International Advisory Committees for Conferences including

International Conferences on Recent Progress in Many Body Theories,

International Workshops on Condensed Matter Theories, and

International Conferences on Strongly Coupled Coulomb Systems. 

He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics, a member of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics (U.K.). 

Born in Sydney Australia, David Neilson did his schooling at Geelong Grammar School. He studied Physics and Mathematics at the University of Melbourne, graduating with a B.Sc. with First Class Honours in 1968 under the supervision of Geoffrey Opat. He went to New York on a Fulbright scholarship in 1969 and completed an M.S. degree in High Energy Particle Physics and Field Theory under the supervision of Ben Lee at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1971. He then switched his research activities to Condensed Matter Physics, working with Gerald Brown jointly at Stony Brook and at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen.  His doctoral project was on the Many Body Problem for the strongly interacting quantum system of electrons in solids. Obtaining his Ph.D. in 1974 he took an N.S.F. research Fellowship at Northwestern University in Chicago where he worked with Chia-Wei Woo on the quantum solidification of Helium and on the possibility of the solidification of nuclear matter under the intense pressures found in neutron stars. 

In 1975 he took up a position of Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and in 1978 he moved to the University of New South Wales as Lecturer (Assistant Professor).  From 1985-1994 he was Associate Professor, and from 1995 until 2004 Professor of Physics at New South Wales.   He maintains his ties with New South Wales as an Adjunct Professor.  He has held visiting positions at the Niels Bohr Institute, (NORDITA Fellow) in 1978, at the Max Planck Institute, Stuttgart (Research Scientist) in 1980, at Nottingham University (S.E.R.C. Visiting Fellow) in 1986, at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy (Research Director) in 1990, Université de Paris VI (Visiting Fellow) in 1991, and the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (Visiting Professor) in 1992, 1993 and 1994-95. 

In 2003 David Neilson accepted a chiara fama Professorship in Italy and took up a Chair of Physics at the historic University of Camerino (founded 1336).  He is also Research Associate with the National Enterprise for NanoScience and NanoTechnology (NEST) Centre at  Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. 

Research Interests

David Neilson has wide experience in the field of semiconductor theory and has studied exotic quantum phases of the low-dimensional systems found in semiconductor devices.  His most recent work has been on issues of whether the bifurcation observed at finite temperature in the metal-insulator transition phenomenon be described by a suitable scaling theory, whether there are common elements between the low temperature behaviour, the bifurcation, and the "insulator-like" state, and whether a unified physical picture for two-dimensional transport over the full range of temperature and density can be developed for the metal-insulator transition phenomenon in 2D [1]-[3]. Most recently he has reported new evidence for the existence of a quantum critical point in 2D electric transport.  He has used Mori memory function techniques to study formation of the electron glass at zero temperature predicted new states of matter for electrons in coupled 2D bi-layers in the form of a coupled electron crystalline solid or a charge density waves [19]. Reference [19], with over 100 citations, has stimulated a large number of follow-up studies of bi-layers in zero magnetic field (see also Refs. [10]-[12], [14]-[16]). The predictions that a coupled crystal does form at relatively high densities were confirmed in numerical simulation studies. There has been a CECAM (France) conference devoted to coupled bi-layers in zero magnetic field resulting from Ref. [19]. He developed comprehensive diagrammatic many-body calculations incorporating functional conserving techniques for conduction electrons [21]. He developed a quantum generalization of the classical glass equations [20] with applications to conduction electrons, extended it to include impurities in interacting electron 2D layers, and showed that this could lead to a transition to a solid electron glass state [6]-[8],[17],[20]. He has worked on ground state, localization and transport properties in disordered electron 2D systems. He has studied the effect of strong correlations between electron spins in electron systems at low density [6],[18]. He has studied the decisive effect that impurities have on the ground state of interacting electrons in quasi one-dimensional quantum wires.  Before he took up his chiara fama Chair in Italy in 2003, David Neilson had had continuous funding as Chief Investigator of Major Research Grants from the Australian Research Council for an uninterrupted period of 25 years from 1978 to 2003.

Selected Publications

Here are some representative examples of David Neilson's more than 120 publications.

Publications in Refereed Journals

1. D.J.W. GELDART, NEILSON D. (2004). Temperature dependent resistivity in the low resistance region for diffusive transport in two-dimensions. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS PHYSICS. vol. 70 pp. 2353361-2353366 ISSN: 1098-0121  
2. GELDART D.J.W., NEILSON D. (2003). Two-component scaling near the metal-insulator bifurcation in two dimensions. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 67 pp. 205309 ISSN: 0163-1829  
3. GELDART D.J.W., NEILSON D. (2003). Density dependence of critical magnetic fields at the metal-insulator bifurcation in two dimensions. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 67 pp. 045310 ISSN: 0163-1829  
4. NEILSON D., THAKUR J.S., TOSATTI E. (2000). Characterizing the metal-insulator transitions in 2D. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. vol. 53 pp. 531 ISSN: 0004-9506  
5. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D. (2000). Quenching of 2D metallic state by aligning the electron spins. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. vol. 53 pp. 537 ISSN: 0004-9506  
6. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D. (2000). The effect of spin alignment on the metal-insulator transition in two-dimensional systems. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 12 pp. 4483 ISSN: 0305-4470  
7. NEILSON D., THAKUR J.S. (1999). Phase diagram of the metal-insulator transition in two-dimensional electronic systems. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS PHYSICS. vol. 59 pp. R5280-R5283 ISSN: 1098-0121  
8. THAKUR J.S., LIU LERWEN, NEILSON D. (1999). Metal-insulator transition in a disordered 2D electron gas including temperature effects. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS PHYSICS. vol. 59 pp. R7255-R7258 ISSN: 1098-0121
9. NEILSON D., THAKUR J.S. (1999). Continuous localisation-delocalisation transition at intermediate electron densities. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. vol. 52 pp. 779-789 ISSN: 0004-9506  
10. LIU LERWEN, NEILSON D., SWIERKOWSKI L. (1998). Finite Temperature Correlations on Plasmon and Coulomb Drag in Coupled Quantum Wells. PHYSICA B-CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 249 pp. 937 ISSN: 0921-4526  
11. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D., DAS M.P. (1998). Superconducting pairing in coupled electron-hole layers. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS PHYSICS. vol. 57 pp. 1801-1804 ISSN: 1098-0121  
12. LIU LERWEN, SWIERKOWSKI L., NEILSON D. (1998). Exciton and Charge Density Wave Formation in Spatially Separated Electron Hole Liquids. PHYSICA B-CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 249 pp. 594-597 ISSN: 0921-4526  
13. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D. (1998). Superconductivity in a correlated disordered two-dimensional electron gas. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER AND MATERIALS PHYSICS. vol. 58 pp. 13717-13720 ISSN: 1098-0121  
14. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D. (1997). Freezing of strongly correlated electrons in bilayer systems with weak disorder. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 56 pp. 10297-10302 ISSN: 0163-1829  
15. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D. (1997). Freezing of Strongly correlated Electrons in Bilayer Systems with Weak Disorder. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. vol. 126 pp. 339-349 ISSN: 0034-4885  
16. NEILSON D., LIU LERWEN, SWIERKOWSKI L., SZYMANSKI J. (1996). Static and dynamic properties of coupled electron-electron and electron-hole layers. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 53 pp. 7923-7931 ISSN: 0163-1829  
17. THAKUR J.S., NEILSON D. (1996). Frozen electron solid in the presence of small concentrations of defects. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 54 pp. 7674-7677 ISSN: 0163-1829  
18. GREEN F., NEILSON D., SWIERKOWSKI L., SZYMANSKI J., GELDART D.J.W. (1992). Spin correlations in the low density electron system. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 46 pp. 4187-4192 ISSN: 0163-1829  
19. NEILSON D., SWIERKOWSKI L., SZYMANSKI J. (1991). Enhancement of Wigner Crystallization in Multiple-Quantum-Well Structures. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. vol. 67 pp. 240-243 ISSN: 0031-9007  
20. NEILSON D., SJOLANDER A., SWIERKOWSKI L., SZYMANSKI J. (1991). Dynamical Theory for Strongly Correlated Two Dimensional Electron Systems. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 44 pp. 6291-6305 ISSN: 0163-1829  
21. GREEN F., NEILSON D., SZYMANSKI J. (1985). Conserving dynamic theory for electron gas. PHYSICAL REVIEW. B, CONDENSED MATTER. vol. 31 pp. 2779-2795 ISSN: 0163-1829  

 Books Edited

1. ADAM MICOLICH, ALEX HAMILTON AND DAVID NEILSON (eds.) (2004).Proceedings Frontiers of Science & Technology Workshop on Soft Condensed Matter and Nanoscale Physics, (CD-ROM, Sydney)
2. DAVID NEILSON (ed.) (2002). Proceedings of the Australian Institute of Physics 15th Biennial Congress (Causal/AIP, Adelaide)
3. DAVID NEILSON and MUKUNDA P. DAS (eds.) (2000). Condensed Matter in Zero, One and Two Dimensions, special volume of Aust. J. Phys. (C.S.I.R.O., Melbourne)
4. DAVID NEILSON and MUKUNDA P. DAS (ed.)(1999).Future Directions for Condensed Matter Physics, special volume of Aust. J. Phys. (C.S.I.R.O., Melbourne)
5. DAVID NEILSON and RAYMOND F. BISHOP (eds.) (1998).Recent Progress in Many Body Theory, Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference, edited David Neilson and Raymond F. Bishop, (World Scientific, Singapore, 1998)

Chapters in Books

1. DAVID NEILSON and D.J. WALLACE GELDART (2006).Metal-Insulator Phenomena in 2D: A Unified Scaling Picture, in book Condensed Matter Theories, edited by A. Hosaka (Plenum, New York 2006)
2. DAVID NEILSON and D.J. WALLACE GELDART (2005).Towards determining the ground state of the 2D electron system with weak disorder, in book Highlights in the quantum theory of condensed matter (in honor of Mario Tosi), edited by Fabio Beltram (Edizioni della Normale, Pisa)
3. DAVID NEILSON and D.J. WALLACE GELDART (2005).Some outstanding issues remaining for the metal insulator transition phenomena in disordered 2D electron systems, in book Condensed Matter Theories, Vol. 20, edited by John W. Clark, Robert M. Panoff, and H. Li (Nova Science Publishers, New York)
4. DAVID NEILSON and D.J. WALLACE GELDART (2003).The Exchange-Correlation Hole and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Two-Dimensional Systems, in book Condensed Matter Theories, edited by Mukunda P. Das and Frederick Green, p. 328 (Nova Science Publishers, New York)
5. DAVID NEILSON and D.J. WALLACE GELDART (2002).Low Temperature Properties of 2D Correlated Electrons in Weakly Disordered Materials, in book Recent Progress In Many-Body Theories, Advances in Quantum Many-Body Theory Series Vol. 6, edited by Raymond F. Bishop, p. 42-51 (World Scientific, Singapore)
6. DAVID NEILSON (2001).The metal-insulator transition in 2D and new phases of quantum localization, in book 150 Years of Quantum Many-body Theory, Advances in Quantum Many-Body Theory Series Vol. 4, edited Raymond F. Bishop (World Scientific, Singapore)
 

Courses for Spring 2006

1.  Fisica della Tecnologia dell'Informazione (Physics of Information Technology)

2. Fisica Teorica 2. Meccanica Quantistica Relativistica e Campi Quantistici
 (Theoretical Physics 2. Relativistic Quantum Mechanics & Quantum Fields)

Contact Details 

Mail Address
Department of Physics
University of Camerino
Camerino (MC) 62032
Italy

Email Address

• David.Neilson@unicam.it

• D.Neilson@unsw.edu.au

Phone Number

+39 0737402519

FAX Number

+39 0737402853

Mobile Number

+39 3204381336

Skype

david.neilson