Henry Primakoff
Henry Primakoff | |
|---|---|
Генри Хаимович Примако́в | |
| Born | February 12, 1914 |
| Died | February 25, 1983 (aged 69) |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (AB, AM) New York University (PhD) |
| Known for | Primakoff effect Holstein–Primakoff transformation |
| Spouse | Mildred Cohn |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (1966) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (1938-1940) Queens College, New York (1940-1942) Columbia University (1942-1945) New York University (1945-1946) Washington University in St. Louis (1946-1960) University of Pennsylvania (1960-1983) |
Henry Primakoff (Ukrainian: Генрі Примако́в; February 12, 1914 – July 25, 1983) was an American theoretical physicist who is famous for his discovery of the Primakoff effect.[1][2]
Primakoff contributed to the understanding of weak interactions, double beta decay,[3][4] spin waves in ferromagnetism, and the interaction between neutrinos and the atomic nucleus. Along with Theodore Holstein, Primakoff also developed the Holstein–Primakoff transformation which is designed to treat spin waves as bosonic excitations.
Life
[edit | edit source]Henry Primakoff was born in 1914 in Odesa, Russian Empire,[2] into a Jewish family. His father Chaim Primakov (a pharmacist) and his mother Maryem Primakova (nee Katz)[5] were married in the office of the Municipal Rabbi of Odesa on June 30, 1913.[6] His mother and his grandparents decided to escape from Russia to the United States, through Romania and later Germany, where they finally took a steamship. They settled in New York City in 1922[7]
Primakoff graduated from Columbia University in 1936, and obtained his PhD in physics from New York University in 1938.[2]
During his university studies he met the biochemist Mildred Cohn, who he married in 1938.[7]
In 1940 he worked at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, subsequently at the Queens College, and then at Washington University in St. Louis starting in 1946.[7]
During World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer tried to convince him to join the Manhattan Project, but Primakoff declined due the short time to make the atomic bomb.[7]
Primakoff was the first Donner Professor of Physics in the University of Pennsylvania in 1960.[7]
Primakoff died of cancer in 1983 in Philadelphia, United States.[2][7]
Fellowships, awards and honors
[edit | edit source]In 1968 he was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.[2]
In 2011 the American Physical Society established the Henry Primakoff Award for Early-Career Particle Physics.[8]
References
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- ^ a b c d e Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Record of birth on January 30 and circumcision on February 9, 1914 in the Office of Odesa Municipal Rabbi
- ^ Marriage record on June 30, 1913 in the office of Odesa Municipal Rabbi: Pharmacy assistant Chaim Abovich Primakov, 28, and Maryem Eynakhovna Katz, 25.
- ^ a b c d e f Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Henry Primakoff Award for Early-Career Particle Physics
External links
[edit | edit source]- Henry Primakoff National Academy of Sciences biographical memoirs.
- Henry Primakoff, Array of Contemporary American Physicists, AIP
- publications of primakoff,h - INSPIRE-HEP
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- 1914 births
- 1983 deaths
- Scientists from Odesa
- Theoretical physicists
- Soviet emigrants to the United States
- Washington University in St. Louis physicists
- Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
- University of Pennsylvania faculty
- 20th-century Ukrainian physicists
- Odesa Jews
- Jewish American physicists
- Fellows of the American Physical Society
- Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
- Columbia University alumni
- New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni
- New York University faculty
- Columbia University faculty
- Queens College, City University of New York faculty
- 20th-century American physicists