Eugene Feenberg
Encyclopedia
Eugene Feenberg was an American physicist who made contributions to quantum mechanics
and nuclear physics
.
in three years, first in his class; he majored in physics and mathematics. Upon the urging of one of his professors, C. P. Boner, Feenberg then went to Harvard University
to study with Edwin C. Kemble
for a doctorate in physics. While at Harvard, during 1930 and 1931, he also worked part-time at a Raytheon
laboratory, as the Great Depression
was in full swing. In 1931, Harvard awarded him a Parker Traveling Fellowship; he left for Europe in the fall of that year. During his stay in Europe, he studied with Arnold Sommerfeld
at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
, Wolfgang Pauli
at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, and Enrico Fermi
at the University of Rome
.
Adolf Hitler
had been appointed Chancellor in January 1933 and Feenberg was in Leipzig in the spring of that year. He wrote to Kemble of the persecution taking place and the violence in the streets. Harvard called Feenberg back to the Harvard campus, where he finished his doctorate under Kemble in 1933; his thesis was on quantum scattering of slow electrons by neutral atoms. For the next two years at Harvard, he took a position as an instructor and worked on the theory of nuclear force
s and structure
. During this time at Harvard, he also contributed to advancing quantum theory, as Kemble, in the original 1937 edition of his book on the subject, thanked his former colleague Feenberg, along with others for suggestions and assistance.
for a year, where he continued his work on nuclear structure and energy levels. In 1936, he collaborated with Gregory Breit
and published a paper on the charge independence of nuclear forces. There, he also met Eugene Wigner and they collaborated on work which resulted in a paper published in 1937 on the structure of nuclei from helium to oxygen, showing the importance of the symmetry of the wave function in binding p-shell nuclei.
From 1936 to 1938, Feenberg was at the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton Township
, New Jersey
. There he continued his work on the nuclear p-shell, some of it in collaboration with Melba Phillips
; their work was published in 1937.
On recommendations from Wigner, Kemble, and I. I. Rabi, New York University
hired Feenberg for its Washington Square College, where he would eventually rise to the rank of associate professor. During World War II
, while he was sought to work at Los Alamos
, he took leave of absence to work on RADAR
at the Sperry Gyroscope Company where he advance the theory of klystron
tubes.
After the War, in 1946, Feenberg was hired by Washington University in St. Louis
as associate professor, eventually rising to full professor. There, he drew on his studies of isomerism and nuclear structure and the nature of beta-decay transitions to provide the foundations for building a modern shell theory of the nucleus. This work resulted in his second book published in 1955. His first book had been published two year earlier, 1953, with George Pake, who had just become head of the physics department the year before at age 28. His third book, on quantum fluids, was published in 1967, and his collected papers were published in 1975. Feenberg became the Wayman Crow Professor of Physics in 1964, a position he held until becoming professor emeritus in 1975.
While at Washington University, Feenberg was Visiting Higgins Professor of Physics at Princeton University
(1953-1954), visiting professor of physics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
(spring semester 1969), and lecturer at Escuela Latino Americana de Fisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (July 1-19, 1974).
Feenberg died on November 7, 1977.
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
and nuclear physics
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
.
Education
In 1929, Feenberg graduated from the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
in three years, first in his class; he majored in physics and mathematics. Upon the urging of one of his professors, C. P. Boner, Feenberg then went to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to study with Edwin C. Kemble
Edwin C. Kemble
Edwin Crawford Kemble was an American physicist who made contributions to the theory of quantum mechanics and molecular structure and spectroscopy...
for a doctorate in physics. While at Harvard, during 1930 and 1931, he also worked part-time at a Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
laboratory, as the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
was in full swing. In 1931, Harvard awarded him a Parker Traveling Fellowship; he left for Europe in the fall of that year. During his stay in Europe, he studied with Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...
at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , commonly known as the University of Munich or LMU, is a university in Munich, Germany...
, Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, and Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
at the University of Rome
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
.
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
had been appointed Chancellor in January 1933 and Feenberg was in Leipzig in the spring of that year. He wrote to Kemble of the persecution taking place and the violence in the streets. Harvard called Feenberg back to the Harvard campus, where he finished his doctorate under Kemble in 1933; his thesis was on quantum scattering of slow electrons by neutral atoms. For the next two years at Harvard, he took a position as an instructor and worked on the theory of nuclear force
Nuclear force
The nuclear force is the force between two or more nucleons. It is responsible for binding of protons and neutrons into atomic nuclei. The energy released causes the masses of nuclei to be less than the total mass of the protons and neutrons which form them...
s and structure
Nuclear structure
Understanding the structure of the atomic nucleus is one of the central challenges in nuclear physics. This article is written from a nuclear physics perspective; as such, it is suggested that a casual reader first read the main nuclear physics article....
. During this time at Harvard, he also contributed to advancing quantum theory, as Kemble, in the original 1937 edition of his book on the subject, thanked his former colleague Feenberg, along with others for suggestions and assistance.
Career
In 1935, Feenberg went to the University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
for a year, where he continued his work on nuclear structure and energy levels. In 1936, he collaborated with Gregory Breit
Gregory Breit
Gregory Breit was a Russian-born American physicist and professor at universities in New York, Wisconsin, Yale, and Buffalo...
and published a paper on the charge independence of nuclear forces. There, he also met Eugene Wigner and they collaborated on work which resulted in a paper published in 1937 on the structure of nuclei from helium to oxygen, showing the importance of the symmetry of the wave function in binding p-shell nuclei.
From 1936 to 1938, Feenberg was at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton Township
Princeton Township, New Jersey
Also Princeton Borough is an independent municipality completely surrounded by the township.Princeton North is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Princeton Township....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. There he continued his work on the nuclear p-shell, some of it in collaboration with Melba Phillips
Melba Phillips
Melba Newell Phillips was an American physicist and science educator. She completed her doctoral studies under J. Robert Oppenheimer and was also known for refusing to testify before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on internal security, her actions leading to her dismissal by...
; their work was published in 1937.
On recommendations from Wigner, Kemble, and I. I. Rabi, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
hired Feenberg for its Washington Square College, where he would eventually rise to the rank of associate professor. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, while he was sought to work at Los Alamos
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
, he took leave of absence to work on RADAR
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
at the Sperry Gyroscope Company where he advance the theory of klystron
Klystron
A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube . Klystrons are used as amplifiers at microwave and radio frequencies to produce both low-power reference signals for superheterodyne radar receivers and to produce high-power carrier waves for communications and the driving force for modern...
tubes.
After the War, in 1946, Feenberg was hired by Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
as associate professor, eventually rising to full professor. There, he drew on his studies of isomerism and nuclear structure and the nature of beta-decay transitions to provide the foundations for building a modern shell theory of the nucleus. This work resulted in his second book published in 1955. His first book had been published two year earlier, 1953, with George Pake, who had just become head of the physics department the year before at age 28. His third book, on quantum fluids, was published in 1967, and his collected papers were published in 1975. Feenberg became the Wayman Crow Professor of Physics in 1964, a position he held until becoming professor emeritus in 1975.
While at Washington University, Feenberg was Visiting Higgins Professor of Physics at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1953-1954), visiting professor of physics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
State University of New York at Stony Brook
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University, is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island, about east of Manhattan....
(spring semester 1969), and lecturer at Escuela Latino Americana de Fisica, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (July 1-19, 1974).
Feenberg died on November 7, 1977.
Honors
- 1975 – Elected to the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
Selected Literature
- Gregory Breit and Eugene Feenberg The possibility of the same form of specific interaction for all nuclear particles, Phys. Rev. 50 850 (1936)
- Eugene P. Wigner and Eugene Feenberg On the structure of the nuclei between helium and oxygen, Phys. Rev. 51 95 (1937)
- Melba Phillips and Eugene Feenberg On the structure of light nuclei, Phys. Rev. 51 597 (1937)
- Eugene P. Wigner and Eugene Feenberg Symmetry properties of nuclear levels, Rep. Prog. Phys. 8 274 (1942)
Books
- Eugene Feenberg and George Edward Pake Notes on the Quantum Theory of Angular Momentum (Addison-Wesley, 1953 and 1958) (Stanford University Press, Reissued 1959) (Dover, 1999)
- Eugene Feenberg Shell Theory of the Nucleus (Princeton University, 1955)
- Eugene Feenberg Theory of Quantum Fluids (Academic Press, 1967 and 1969)
- Eugene Feenberg Collected Publications of Eugene Feenberg (1975)