Lu Jeu Sham

Lu Jeu Sham
Name	Lu Jeu Sham
Birth date	1938
Birth place	Shanghai, China
Nationality	Chinese Canadian
Fields	Physics, Computational Physics, Condensed Matter Physics
Alma mater	University of Birmingham, University of Hong Kong
Doctoral advisor	Sir John Pople
Known for	Density functional theory development, Kohn–Sham equations

Lu Jeu Sham Lu Jeu Sham is a physicist whose work on electronic structure theory and computational methods substantially influenced quantum mechanics, solid-state physics, and materials science. He is best known for co-developing a central framework in density functional theory alongside Walter Kohn, which underpins modern first-principles calculations used across chemistry, nanotechnology, semiconductor physics, and surface science. Sham's career spans positions in Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States, connecting institutions such as the University of Hong Kong, University of California, San Diego, and national laboratories.

Early life and education

Born in Shanghai in 1938, Sham attended secondary schooling during a period marked by the aftermath of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. He moved for higher education to the United Kingdom, earning degrees at the University of Birmingham where he studied under theorists influenced by figures like Paul Dirac and John Lennard-Jones. Sham completed doctoral research at Birmingham and then pursued postdoctoral work that connected him to developments at institutions including Bell Labs, the University of Cambridge, and collaborations with scholars from the Max Planck Society and the Royal Society.

Academic career and positions

Sham held academic appointments across Asia and North America, including the University of Hong Kong, the University of California, San Diego, and visiting roles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the California Institute of Technology, and the Harvard University Department of Physics. He collaborated with researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory while engaging with professional societies such as the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics, and the Canadian Association of Physicists. Sham also contributed to multinational projects involving the European Research Council and the National Science Foundation.

Research contributions and legacy

Sham is most renowned for formulating, with Walter Kohn, a practical scheme to apply density functional theory to real materials—now commonly referred to in the literature as the Kohn–Sham approach. This framework enabled tractable calculations for systems previously inaccessible to quantitative treatment, influencing methods used in quantum chemistry, computational materials science, surface physics, nanoscience, and plasmonics. His contributions intersect with techniques like the Hartree–Fock method, pseudopotential theory, plane-wave expansions, and Green's function approaches developed by figures such as Lars Onsager and Hendrik Anthony Kramers.

Sham's work informed practical software implementations and simulation packages used at institutions including the Department of Energy labs, while guiding studies in high-temperature superconductivity, semiconductor heterostructures, electron spectroscopy, and magnetism. He engaged in theoretical extensions addressing exchange–correlation approximations, local-density approximations, and generalized-gradient approximations, contributing to dialogues with researchers from the Royal Institution, the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, and industrial research groups at IBM Research and Siemens.

His mentorship influenced students who later held posts at the University of Cambridge, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Toronto, and research centers like the Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore. Sham's legacy endures in citations across journals such as Physical Review Letters, Physical Review B, Journal of Chemical Physics, and Nature Materials.

Awards and honors

Sham received recognition from national and international bodies, including fellowships and society honors from the Royal Society, the American Physical Society, the Royal Society of Canada, and the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences. His work has been acknowledged in prize lectures associated with organizations like the Institute of Physics and the American Chemical Society, and he participated in award committees for the Dirac Medal and the Buckingham Prize.

Selected publications

- Kohn, W.; Sham, L. J., "Self-Consistent Equations Including Exchange and Correlation Effects", Physical Review, 1965. - Sham, L. J., "Applications of Density Functional Theory to Electronic Structure", Journal of Chemical Physics, various years. - Sham, L. J.; collaborators, "Exchange–Correlation: Approximations and Extensions", Physical Review B, selected articles. - Sham, L. J., "Theoretical Studies of Surface Electronic Structure", Surface Science Reports.

Category:Chinese physicists Category:Condensed matter physicists Category:Computational chemists