Otto Haxel
Encyclopedia
Otto Haxel was a German
nuclear physicist
. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project. After the war, he was on the staff of the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen. From 1950 to 1974, he was an ordinarius professor of physics at the University of Heidelberg, where he fostered the use of nuclear physics in environmental physics; this led to the founding of the Institute of Environmental Physics in 1975. During 1956 and 1957, he was a member of the Nuclear Physics Working Group of the German Atomic Energy Commission. From 1970 to 1975, he was the Scientific and Technical Managing Director of the Karlsruhe Research Center.
Haxel was a signatory of the Manifesto of the Göttingen Eighteen.
) and the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen. He received his doctorate in 1933, under Hans Geiger at the University of Tübingen. From 1933 to 1936, Haxel was Geiger’s teaching assistant there, and he completed his Habilitation
in 1936.
, in Berlin-Charlottenburg
. Haxel also went to the Technische Hochschule Berlin and became a teaching assistant there in 1936 and a lecturer in 1939.
It was in 1940 that Haxel met a future collaborator, Fritz Houtermans
, who, through the auspices of Max von Laue
, had been released that year from Gestapo
incarceration.
From at least 1940 to early 1942, Haxel worked on the German nuclear energy project
, also called the Uranverein (Uranium Club). He specialized in studies of neutron
absorption in uranium
(see, for example, the Internal Reports below authored with Helmut Volz
, also a former student of Geiger). Haxel was called up for military service in early 1942. He was put in charge of a group doing nuclear research for the German Navy under Admiral Rhein, who had formerly been a submarine commander.
From 1946 to 1950, Haxel was a staff assistant to Werner Heisenberg
at the Max-Planck Institut für Physik
, in Göttingen. While there, he and Fritz Houtermans
collaborated; Houtermans was at the II. Physikalischen Institut of the University of Göttingen. Haxel also worked on the development of “magic numbers
” in nuclear shell theory with J. Hans D. Jensen
at the Institut für theoretische Physik, Heidelberg, and Hans Suess
at the Institut für physikalische Chemie, Hamburg. In 1949, Haxel was also appointed supernumerary professor (nichtplanmäßiger Professor) at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
From 1950 to 1974, Haxel was an ordinarius professor (ordentlicher Professor) of physics at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. At the University of Heidelberg, Haxel was also director of the II. Physikalischen Institut. In the 1950s, mainly through the impetus of Haxel, environmental physics was developed there through the application of nuclear physics. This led to the founding of the Institut für Umweltphysik (Institute of Environmental Physics) in 1975, with Karl-Otto Münnich as its founding director.
During 1956 and 1957, Haxel was a member of the Arbeitskreis Kernphysik (Nuclear Physics Working Group) of the Fachkommission II „Forschung und Nachwuchs“ (Commission II “Research and Growth”) of the Deutschen Atomkommission (DAtK, German Atomic Energy Commission). Other members of the Nuclear Physics Working Group in both 1956 and 1957 were: Werner Heisenberg
(chairman), Hans Kopfermann
(vice-chairman), Fritz Bopp, Walther Bothe
, Wolfgang Gentner
, Willibald Jentschke
, Heinz Maier-Liebnitz, Josef Mattauch
, Wolfgang Riezler, Wilhelm Walcher
, and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
. Wolfgang Paul
was also a member of the group during 1957.
From 1970 to 1975, Haxel was the wissenschaftlich-technischen Geschäftsführer (Scientific and Technical Managing Director) of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Research Center).
Haxel was a signatory of the manifesto of the Göttinger Achtzehn
(Göttingen Eighteen).
was married four times. Charlotte Riefenstahl
, a physicist educated at the University of Göttingen, was his first and third wife in four marriages. In February 1944, Houtermans married Doctor Ilse Bartz, a chemical engineer; they worked together during the war and published a paper. Houtermans divorced Ilse and remarried Charlotte in August 1953. Haxel married Ilse after her divorce from Houtermans.
In 1980, Haxel was awarded the Otto-Hahn-Preis der Stadt Frankfurt am Main (Otto Hahn Prize of the City of Frankfurt am Main) for his advocacy of and work on harnessing nuclear energy production.
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
nuclear physicist
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...
. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project. After the war, he was on the staff of the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen. From 1950 to 1974, he was an ordinarius professor of physics at the University of Heidelberg, where he fostered the use of nuclear physics in environmental physics; this led to the founding of the Institute of Environmental Physics in 1975. During 1956 and 1957, he was a member of the Nuclear Physics Working Group of the German Atomic Energy Commission. From 1970 to 1975, he was the Scientific and Technical Managing Director of the Karlsruhe Research Center.
Haxel was a signatory of the Manifesto of the Göttingen Eighteen.
Education
From 1927 to 1933, Haxel studied at the Technische Hochschule München (today, the Technische Universität MünchenTechnical University of Munich
The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...
) and the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen. He received his doctorate in 1933, under Hans Geiger at the University of Tübingen. From 1933 to 1936, Haxel was Geiger’s teaching assistant there, and he completed his Habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in 1936.
Career
In 1936, Geiger, as the successor to Gustav Hertz, became an ordinarius professor and department head at the Technische Hochschule Berlin (today, the Technische Universität BerlinTechnical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
, in Berlin-Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
. Haxel also went to the Technische Hochschule Berlin and became a teaching assistant there in 1936 and a lecturer in 1939.
It was in 1940 that Haxel met a future collaborator, Fritz Houtermans
Fritz Houtermans
Friedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia...
, who, through the auspices of Max von Laue
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
, had been released that year from Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
incarceration.
From at least 1940 to early 1942, Haxel worked on the German nuclear energy project
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
, also called the Uranverein (Uranium Club). He specialized in studies of neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
absorption in uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
(see, for example, the Internal Reports below authored with Helmut Volz
Helmut Volz
Helmut Volz was a German experimental nuclear physicist who worked on the German nuclear energy project during World War II. In the latter years of World War II, he became a professor at Erlangen University...
, also a former student of Geiger). Haxel was called up for military service in early 1942. He was put in charge of a group doing nuclear research for the German Navy under Admiral Rhein, who had formerly been a submarine commander.
From 1946 to 1950, Haxel was a staff assistant to Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
at the Max-Planck Institut für Physik
Max Planck Institute for Physics
Max Planck Institute for Physics is a physics institute in Munich, Germany that specializes in High Energy Physics and Astroparticle physics. It is part of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft and is also known as the Werner Heisenberg Institute, after its first director.It was founded as the Kaiser Wilhelm...
, in Göttingen. While there, he and Fritz Houtermans
Fritz Houtermans
Friedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia...
collaborated; Houtermans was at the II. Physikalischen Institut of the University of Göttingen. Haxel also worked on the development of “magic numbers
Magic number (physics)
In nuclear physics, a magic number is a number of nucleons such that they are arranged into complete shells within the atomic nucleus...
” in nuclear shell theory with J. Hans D. Jensen
J. Hans D. Jensen
Johannes Hans Daniel Jensen was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, known as the Uranium Club, in which he made contributions to the separation of uranium isotopes. After the war Jensen was a professor at the University of Heidelberg...
at the Institut für theoretische Physik, Heidelberg, and Hans Suess
Hans Suess
Hans Eduard Suess was an Austrian physical chemist and nuclear physicist. He was a grandson of the Austrian geologist Eduard SuessSuess earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1935...
at the Institut für physikalische Chemie, Hamburg. In 1949, Haxel was also appointed supernumerary professor (nichtplanmäßiger Professor) at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
From 1950 to 1974, Haxel was an ordinarius professor (ordentlicher Professor) of physics at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. At the University of Heidelberg, Haxel was also director of the II. Physikalischen Institut. In the 1950s, mainly through the impetus of Haxel, environmental physics was developed there through the application of nuclear physics. This led to the founding of the Institut für Umweltphysik (Institute of Environmental Physics) in 1975, with Karl-Otto Münnich as its founding director.
During 1956 and 1957, Haxel was a member of the Arbeitskreis Kernphysik (Nuclear Physics Working Group) of the Fachkommission II „Forschung und Nachwuchs“ (Commission II “Research and Growth”) of the Deutschen Atomkommission (DAtK, German Atomic Energy Commission). Other members of the Nuclear Physics Working Group in both 1956 and 1957 were: Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
(chairman), Hans Kopfermann
Hans Kopfermann
Hans Kopfermann was a German atomic and nuclear physicist. He devoted his entire career to spectroscopic investigations, and he did pioneering work in measuring nuclear spin...
(vice-chairman), Fritz Bopp, Walther Bothe
Walther Bothe
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German nuclear physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 with Max Born....
, Wolfgang Gentner
Wolfgang Gentner
Wolfgang Gentner was a German experimental nuclear physicist.Gentner received his doctorate in 1930 from the University of Frankfurt. From 1932 to 1935 he had a fellowship which allowed him to do postdoctoral research and study at Curie's Radium Institute at the University of Paris...
, Willibald Jentschke
Willibald Jentschke
Willibald Jentschke was an Austrian-German experimental nuclear physicist. During World War II, he made contributions to the German nuclear energy project. After World War II, he emigrated to the United States to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Ohio, for the Air Force Materiel Command...
, Heinz Maier-Liebnitz, Josef Mattauch
Josef Mattauch
Josef Mattauch was a German physicist known for his work in the investigation of the isotopic abundances by mass spectrometry. He developed the Mattauch isobar rule in 1934.-Mattauch-Herzog geometry mass spectrometer:...
, Wolfgang Riezler, Wilhelm Walcher
Wilhelm Walcher
Wilhelm Walcher was a German experimental physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club; he worked on mass spectrometers for isotope separation. After the war, he was director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Marburg...
, and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
. Wolfgang Paul
Wolfgang Paul
Wolfgang Paul was a German physicist, who co-developed the non-magnetic quadrupole mass filter which laid the foundation for what we now call an ion trap...
was also a member of the group during 1957.
From 1970 to 1975, Haxel was the wissenschaftlich-technischen Geschäftsführer (Scientific and Technical Managing Director) of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Research Center).
Haxel was a signatory of the manifesto of the Göttinger Achtzehn
Göttinger Manifest
The Göttingen Manifesto was a declaration of 18 leading nuclear scientists of West Germany against arming the West German army with tactical nuclear weapons in the 1950s, the early part of the Cold War, as the West German government under chancellor Adenauer had suggested.-Historical situation:In...
(Göttingen Eighteen).
Personal
Haxel’s friend, Fritz HoutermansFritz Houtermans
Friedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia...
was married four times. Charlotte Riefenstahl
Charlotte Riefenstahl
Charlotte Riefenstahl was a German physicist. She has no relation to Leni Riefenstahl, the notable German filmmaker.-Education:...
, a physicist educated at the University of Göttingen, was his first and third wife in four marriages. In February 1944, Houtermans married Doctor Ilse Bartz, a chemical engineer; they worked together during the war and published a paper. Houtermans divorced Ilse and remarried Charlotte in August 1953. Haxel married Ilse after her divorce from Houtermans.
Honors
The Freundeskreis des Forschungszentrums Karlsruhe e.V. (Friends of the Karlsruhe Research Center) established and awards the Otto-Haxel-Preis (Otto Haxel Prize), which is given for achievements in the nuclear energy industry.In 1980, Haxel was awarded the Otto-Hahn-Preis der Stadt Frankfurt am Main (Otto Hahn Prize of the City of Frankfurt am Main) for his advocacy of and work on harnessing nuclear energy production.
Internal Reports
The following reports were published in Kernphysikalische ForschungsberichteKernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte was an internal publication of the German Uranverein, which was initiated under the Heereswaffenamt in 1939; in 1942, supervision of the Uranverein was turned over to the Reichsforschungsrat under the Reichserziehungsministerium...
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos was an effort at the end of World War II by the Allies , branched off from the Manhattan Project, to investigate the German nuclear energy project, seize German nuclear resources, materials and personnel to further American research and to prevent their capture by the Soviets, and...
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
.
- Otto Haxel and Helmut VolzHelmut VolzHelmut Volz was a German experimental nuclear physicist who worked on the German nuclear energy project during World War II. In the latter years of World War II, he became a professor at Erlangen University...
Über die Absorption von Neutronen in wässerigen Lösungen G-37 (17 December 1940)
- Otto Haxel and Helmut Volz Die Möglichkeit der technischen Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung G-38 (11 June 1940)
- Otto Haxel, Ernst Stuhlinger, and Helmut Volz Über die Absorption und Verlangsamung von Neutronen in Berylliumoxyd G-91 (4 August 1941)
- Otto Haxel and Helmut Volz Über die Absorption von Neutronen im Uran G-118 (1 February 1941)
Selected literature
- O. Haxel and F. G. HoutermansFritz HoutermansFriedrich Georg "Fritz" Houtermans was a Dutch-Austrian-German atomic and nuclear physicist born in Zoppot near Danzig, West Prussia...
Gleichzeitige Emission von zwei Elektronen beim radioaktiven Zerfall des Rubidium 87, Zeitschrift für Physik Volume 124, Numbers 7-12, 705-713 (1948). Received 25 February 1948. Institutional affiliations: Haxel - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, Göttingen and Houtermans - II. Physikalischen Institut der Universität Göttingen, Deutschland.
- O. Haxel, J. Hans D. Jensen, H. E. Suess Concerning the Interpretation of “Magic” Nucleon Numbers in Connection With the Structure of Atomic Nuclei, Die NaturwissenschaftenDie NaturwissenschaftenNaturwissenschaften is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer on behalf of several learned societies.- History :...
Volume 35, 376 (1948)
- Otto Haxel, J. Hans D. JensenJ. Hans D. JensenJohannes Hans Daniel Jensen was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, known as the Uranium Club, in which he made contributions to the separation of uranium isotopes. After the war Jensen was a professor at the University of Heidelberg...
, and Hans E. SuessHans SuessHans Eduard Suess was an Austrian physical chemist and nuclear physicist. He was a grandson of the Austrian geologist Eduard SuessSuess earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1935...
On the “Magic Numbers” in Nuclear Structure, Phys. Rev. Volume 75, 1766 - 1766 (1949). Institutional affiliations: Haxel - Max-Planck Institut für Physik, Göttingen; Jensen - Institut für theoretische Physik, Heidelberg; and Suess - Institut für physikalische Chemie, Hamburg. Received 18 April 1949.
- H. E. Suess, O. Haxel, and J. H. D. Jensen On the Interpretation of the Magic Nucleon Numbers in the Structure of Atomic Nuclei [In German], Die Naturwissenschaften Volume 36, 153-155 (1949)
- O. Haxel, J. H. D. Jensen, and Hans E. Suess Modellmäsige deutung derausgezeichnetennukleonenzahlen im kernbau, Z. Physik Volume 128, 295-311 (1950)
- F. G. Houtermans, O. Haxel, and J. Heintze Half-Life of K40, Z. Physik Volume 128, 657-667 (1950)
- W. Buhring and Otto Haxel Excitation of X Radiation from Ni, Cu, and Mo by Po210 Alpha Particles, Z. Physik Volume 148, 653-661 (1957)
Books
- Otto Haxel Energiegewinnung aus Kernprozessen (Westdt. Verl., 1953)
- Otto Haxel and Heinz Filthuth Ein Vierteljahrhundert moderner Physik (Bibliographisches Inst., 1969)