Name Louis Neel | Role Physicist | |
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Known for Neel effectNeel relaxation theory Notable awards |
Louis Néel | Wikipedia audio article
SYND 28-10-70 NEEL NOBEL PRIZE
Louis Eugène Félix Néel ForMemRS (22 November 1904 – 17 November 2000) was a French physicist born in Lyon.
Contents
- Louis Nel Wikipedia audio article
- SYND 28 10 70 NEEL NOBEL PRIZE
- Biography
- Awards and honours
- Awards
- References
Biography

Néel studied at the Lycée du Parc in Lyon and was accepted at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Science at the University of Strasbourg. He was corecipient (with the Swedish astrophysicist Hannes Alfvén) of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1970 for his pioneering studies of the magnetic properties of solids. His contributions to solid state physics have found numerous useful applications, particularly in the development of improved computer memory units. About 1930 he suggested that a new form of magnetic behavior might exist; called antiferromagnetism, as opposed to ferromagnetism. Above a certain temperature (the Néel temperature) this behaviour stops. Néel pointed out (1948) that materials could also exist showing ferrimagnetism. Néel has also given an explanation of the weak magnetism of certain rocks, making possible the study of the history of Earth's magnetic field.
He is the instigator of the Polygone Scientifique in Grenoble.
Awards and honours
Néel received numerous awards and honours for his work including:
Awards

Owing to his involvement in national defense, particularly through research in the protection of warships by demagnetization against magnetic mines, he received numerous distinctions:
The Louis Néel Medal - awarded annually by the European Geophysical Society is named in Néels honour.