Miklós Gulácsi, an Associate Editor of Philosophical Magazine since 1995, died 24 December 2018 in Canberra Australia. When he was appointed Associate Editor of Phil Mag B, the topic Statistical Mechanics was added to the cover to recognise Miklós’s expertise and to attract more submissions in this area.
Miklós was born in Cluj, Romania on 16 May 1960. He earned his BSc and MSc in physics from ‘Babes-Bolyai’ University in Cluj and his PhM and PhD from the International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy.
He performed research and held various positions at many institutions including:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA;
Australian National University, Department of Theoretical Physics, Canberra, Australia;
Royal Institute of Technology, Alba Nova University Centre Physics Department, Stockholm, Sweden;
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany;
University of Perugia, Department of Physics, Perugia, Italy;
University of Debrecen, Department of Theoretical Physics, Debrecen, Hungary; and
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Metal Research, Shenyang, China.
He was a popular and effective teacher and researcher at these places. His many colleagues, friends, and students at these institutions valued his ability to challenge and to support them.
Miklós worked in many areas of condensed-matter physics. His breadth was quite unusual. He authored over 130 publications, and a few of his better known publications are:
G. Honner and M. Gulacsi, The one-dimensional Kondo lattice at partial band filling, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 (1997), p. 2180.
Z. Gulacsi and M. Gulacsi, Theory of phase transitions in two-dimensional systems, Adv. Phys. 47 (1998), p. 1.
I.P. McCulloch and M. Gulacsi, The non-Abelian density matrix renormalization group algorithm, Europhys. Lett. 57 (2002), p. 852.
I.P. McCulloch, A. Juozapavicius, A. Rosengren and M. Gulacsi, Localized spin ordering in Kondo lattice models, Phys. Rev. B65 (2002), p. 52410.
M. Gulacsi, The one dimensional Kondo lattice model at partial band filling, Adv. Phys. 53 (2004), p.769.
His honours include:
Romanian Academy of Sciences, Romanian Academy of Sciences Award in Physics, for: Contributions to Spin Glass Theory, 1985 (youngest Romanian scientist recipient of an Academy Award);
Australian Research Council, Distinguished Queen Elizabeth II Award in Physics, for: Strongly Correlated Electron Phenomena, 1996.
International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England included in publication of:
o International Leaders in Achievement, 1987;
o 2000 Outstanding People of the 20th Century, 1997;
o Dictionary of International Biography, 26th ed. 1998
o International Who’s Who of Intellectuals, 13th ed. 1999;
and appointed Deputy Director General for Oceania.
Marquis Who’s Who in the World, NJ, USA, 15th ed.1998.
Hungarian Ministry of Education, Szent-Gyorgyi Albert Fellowship Award in Physics, for Physics of Rare-Earth Conducting Alloys, 2013.
Miklós Gulácsi was an enthusiastic scientist and teacher and an indomitable spirit in every aspect of life. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he absolutely loved physics. His many friends, colleagues, and students from all over the world sadly miss him.