James Neil Downing: Difference between revisions
Reformat to encyclopedic third-person; add sourced biography (b.1943 Bonham TX, d.2015; Texas A&M, PhD Univ. Houston; 30+yr Los Alamos plasma/RFP physics), infobox dates/fields, Work and External links sections |
Show calculated age in infobox: use {{death date and age}} |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|3|21|mf=y}} | | birth_date = {{birth date|1943|3|21|mf=y}} | ||
| birth_place = Bonham, Texas, United States | | birth_place = Bonham, Texas, United States | ||
| death_date = {{death date|2015|9|27| | | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|9|27|1943|3|21}} | ||
| death_place = Garden Ridge, Texas, United States | | death_place = Garden Ridge, Texas, United States | ||
| residence = Garden Ridge, TX, United States | | residence = Garden Ridge, TX, United States | ||
Latest revision as of 16:15, 20 July 2026
James Neil Downing | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 21, 1943 Bonham, Texas, United States |
| Died | September 27, 2015 (aged 72) Garden Ridge, Texas, United States |
| Residence | Garden Ridge, TX, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Texas A&M University; University of Houston |
| Known for | EM theory, gravity, fundamental particles |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
James Neil Downing, Jr. (March 21, 1943 – September 27, 2015) was an American plasma physicist who spent more than three decades at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. In retirement he pursued independent research on electromagnetic theory, gravity and the nature of fundamental particles.
Biography
Downing was born on March 21, 1943, in Bonham, Texas, to James Neil Downing, Sr. and Mary Helen Downing. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and a PhD in Plasma Physics from the University of Houston.
He worked for over thirty years at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, retiring in 2001. In 2002 he moved to Garden Ridge, Texas, where he continued private research reflecting a lifelong interest in physics and high-voltage electronics until his death on September 27, 2015.
Work
At Los Alamos, Downing was a member of the laboratory's controlled-fusion program and published on the physics of the reversed-field pinch (RFP), including experiments on the ZT-40M and ZT-P devices. His research addressed plasma resistivity in the presence of a reversed-field pinch dynamo, the loop voltage of reversed-field pinches, and the effects of limiters on RFP confinement.
After leaving the laboratory, Downing carried out independent work outside the mainstream, developing ideas relating electromagnetic theory to gravity and to the structure of fundamental particles.