With Henry Primakoff in 1940 he introduced the Holstein-Primakoff transformation,[1] of importantance for the theory of spin waves.
Other significant papers included the polaron (introduction of the small polaron),[2] infrared absorption of metals, a microscopic theory of the collision drag phenomenon by Brian Pippard, Bloch electrons in magnetic fields (Hall effect) and his review on the transport properties in an electron-phonon gas.
Theodore David Holstein was born in 1915 in New York City, United States.
His thesis Passage of Neutrons through Ferromagnetic Materials[3] was supervised by Otto Halpern [de], and he earned his degree in 1940.
[5] Holstein died in San Pedro, Los Angeles in 1985 due to a heart attack.