Discovery

of Röntgen (X) Rays

•  PhD in mechanical engineering
from (now) ETH Zurich.
•  Fairly wealthy due to inheritance
•  Discovered X-rays while testing
various vacuum tube apparatus
•  Took the first radiographic image
•  Did not take any patents out!
Instead, donated his Nobel
money (nearly $1M today) to the
University of Würzburg, Germany
•  Accepted an appointment at
Columbia but did not come to US
due to WWI outbreak.
Wilhelm Röntgen
1845-1923
Nobel Prize 1901
(first year!)
 Discovery of Radioactivity
•  born into family of scientists: his
grandfather and father were both
physicists at the Museum of
Natural History in Paris.
•  educated at École Polytechnique (a
school dedicated to engineering in
the service of the French Military)
•  became chair of Physics (like father
and grandfather) in 1892.
•  Discovered radioactivity in 1896.
•  S.I. unit “Becquerel” named after
him (also moon and mars craters!)

•  Becquerel’s discovery marks the

Antoine Henri Becquerel beginning of nuclear physics.
1852-1908
Nobel Prize 1903
 The Curies
•  Science’s first power couple!
•  Critical discoveries in physics and
chemistry
•  complemented each other nicely:
•  Pierre the better physicist,
Marie the better chemist
•  discovered two new elements,
Polonium and Radium
•  Collectively, their work on radioactivity
and the discovery of new elements
really kick-started what would become
Marie and Pierre Curie nuclear physics. Their radiochemical
techniques became the standard tool
1867-1934 1859-1906 in a field which ultimately lead to the
Shared Nobel Prize in 1903 discovery of nuclear fission.
(with Becquerel)
Nobel Chemistry 1911 (Marie)
 Basic Facts on Radioactivity
alpha
decaying
particle
nucleus

beta (e)
particle

gamma
ray
 History Road Map
Thompson: Rutherford:
•  Discovery of electron 1897 •  nucleus in 1911

Planck:
Bohr:
•  Quanta of energy - 1900
•  Bohr atomic model 1913
•  quantum mechanics
Einstein (all 1905): •  Liquid drop model of
•  Brownian motion - atoms nucleus … a lot more!
•  Photoelectric effect – photons
•  Special relativity I – space and time Hahn/Meitner:
•  Special relativity II – energy E=mc2 •  Discovery of fission in
1938
Millikan:
•  oil drop experiment - 1909

! Lets go through radioactivity before we begin…

 Z=# protons

Basic Facts on Radioactivity N=# neutrons

A=total nucleons

alpha decay: beta decay:

In the nucleus: In the nucleus:

Z ! Z-2 Z ! Z+1
N !  N-2 N !  N-1
A !  A-4 A !  A

 Z=# protons

Basic Facts on Radioactivity N=# neutrons

A=total nucleons

gamma decay: In the nucleus:

Z ! Z
N ! N
A ! A (no changes!)

•  Units of radioactivity:
•  1 Bq (Becquerel) is 1 radioactive decay /second
•  This is the “Système International” (SI) unit
•  1 Ci (Curie)=3.7 x 1010 radioactive decays /second
(this is the level of 1 g of 226Ra)*
*1 Curie will fry you!
 Isotopes
•  Chemical properties are the same
for different isotopes
•  Essential to understanding
radioactivity properties!

Uranium has 29 isotopes!

(3 natural and 26 artificial)
 Z=# protons

Basic Facts on Radioactivity N=# neutrons

A=total nucleons

•  each isotope is uniquely specified by A and Z, and

corresponds to one type of nucleus.
•  In -decay: (A,Z)"(A-4,Z-2) (the carries away A=4, Z=2)
•  If the ratio of # of protons (Z) to the # of neutrons (N) is less than
one (as is common for heavy nuclei), then Z/N always decreases
following an decay.
•  Thus, decay is likely if the original nucleus has “too large” a
value Z/N and “wants” to decrease it.
•  In -decay: (A,Z)"(A,Z+1) (a neutron turns into a proton).
•  If Z/N is less than one (as above), then it always increases
following a decay.

•  Thus, decay is likely if the original nucleus has “too small” a

value of Z/N and “wants” to increase it.
•  radiation : (A,Z)"(A,Z) (nucleus goes from one “state”
of an isotope to a different state of the same isotope)

 half-life ( 1/2)

•  Ask question: at what time t does the initial amount

decrease to half of its original value?
− λt
N = N 0e
− λτ1/2
N
N0 = =e
1
2

λ = ln(2) / τ 1/ 2
•  is the “rate of change”
! depends on the characteristic “half-life” (or visa-versa)!

G. J. Stoney: The Electron-Whisper
•  Named the “electron.”
•  Was Queens College Physics Professor
from 1852 – 1857.
•  Worked outside of academia for years
while carrying out physics experiments
informally.
•  First conceive of it the and called it
“electrine” in 1874 but renamed it in
1891.
•  First person in recorded history to
propose particles smaller than the
atom.

1826-1911
 J. J. Thompson
•  Made many important contributions.
•  Was Cavendish Professor and director
of the Cavendish Lab in Cambridge
starting in 1884 (age 28)
•  Major discovery was the existence of
the electron in 1897 - the first known
subatomic particle.
•  Invented the mass spectrometer
•  Found first stable isotope (22Ne) in
1913

1856-1940
Nobel Prize - Physics 1906
 Ernest Rutherford
•  critical early studies of radioactivity
•  coined the terms and radiation
•  proved that particles are electrons
and particles are helium nuclei
•  discovered radiation
•  discovered the existence of half-lives
of radioactive decays
•  demonstrated the vast energy scale
of radioactivity
•  recognized radioactivity transmuted
elements (nuclear reactions)
•  discovered the nucleus...
1871-1937 •  Acted as father figure to generations
Nobel Prize - Chemistry 1908 of nuclear scientists.
 The Rutherford Atom

This model get’s it mostly right... It has the correct

basic constituents and the correct basic distribution
of mass and charge.

However the model has a fundamental weakness…
 Nuclear Reactions
! Rutherford’s last truly great discovery.

•  Rutherford had moved to the Cavendish lab in

Cambridge as its director (JJ Thompson resigned on
the condition that he be succeeded by Rutherford).
–  During WWI Rutherford’s “boys” were mostly in the
military, so Rutherford worked largely alone.
–  In 1917, while he was working on ways to detect
submarines, he was also doing experiments bombarding
nitrogen with particles from a radioactive source.
–  He noticed that after the bombardment, hydrogen was
present along with the nitrogen:
“An anomalous effect in Nitrogen”
 Nuclear Reactions
What was going on in Rutherford’s experiment?
•  Evidently the particle struck a nitrogen
nucleus 14N, and knocked out a proton (H+)
leaving behind a new nucleus (17O).

α
! + !
14
N → p! + ! 17
O +
Z = 2 , A= 4 Z =7 , A=14 Z =8 A=17
%""$"" # %"Z =1 A"$""
=1 #
Z =9 , A=18 Z =9 , A=18

(*a gamma ray is also emitted)

 Advent of Quantum Theory
1900 Planck - radiation is quantized
1905 Einstein – annus mirabilis
1909 Geiger-Marsden discovery of nucleus
1911 Rutherford - atomic model
1913 Bohr – quantum atomic model
1919 Rutherford – discovery of proton IGN: “It's not a theory, it's a fact:
1921 Chadwick/Bieler – “strong force” this game sucks.”

1923 Compton - x rays are photons.

1924 de Broglie - matter wave properties.
1925 Pauli – fermion exclusion principle
1926 Schroedinger - wave mechanics
Born - probability interpretation
1927 Heisenberg uncertainty principle
1928 Dirac relativistic quantum mechanics
1930 Pauli suggests neutrino
1931 Dirac "positrons")..
1931 Chadwick discovers the neutron.
1933 Fermi theory of beta decay (weak interaction).

Planck or Einstein?
 Robert Millikan
•  American born in Morrison, Illinois
•  Determined the charge of the electron in
his famous oil drop experiment in 1909.
•  Unconvinced of Einstein’s photoelectric
effect, he devoted a decade of
experiments to try and prove it wrong.
•  Some controversy surrounding his
“selectivity” in the oil drop data*.

1868-1953
Nobel Prize - Physics 1923
* See Goodstein paper
 Max Planck
•  Talented musician
•  held leading positions at Berlin
University, the Prussian
Academy of Sciences, the
German Physical Society and
the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (now
Max Planck Society)
•  Postulated quantization to
explain blackbody radiation
problem.
•  “reluctant” revolutionary [REF]
•  Originator of quantum theory.
1858-1947
Nobel Prize - Physics 1918
 Albert Einstein
•  Most famous scientist ever!
•  German-born, non-observing
Jewish family
•  1905 annus mirabilis (miracle year):
Brownian motion, photoelectric
effect, and two on special relativity
•  More than 300 scientific
publications
•  Played a short but key role in
atomic bomb development

1879-1955
Nobel Prize - Physics 1921
 Niels Bohr
•  Danish physicist born in Copenhagen
•  Founded Institute for Theoretical
Physics, University of Copenhagen
•  Central in development of theoretical
physics in 1920’s-30’s, in particular
quantum mechanics.
•  Key role in understanding the periodic
table, nuclear fission process and the
importance of nuclear isotopes.
•  father figure to many young theorists
•  True humanitarian*
•  Established quantum picture of atom
based on Rutherford’s nucleus

Bohr is the first of the scientists we have discussed

that was (directly) involved in Manhattan project!
1885-1962
Nobel Prize - Physics 1922 *Rhodes Ch.14: Bohr’s efforts in the
rescue of the Danish Jews
 Meanwhile in Copenhagen…
•  Neils Bohr Institute
•  Initiated by Bohr in 1916
•  Completed in 1921
•  Expanded several times
•  Bohr was director until his death in 1962
•  supported by Rockefeller foundation and
Carlsberg

•  Bohr’s stature continued to grow, enabling him to obtain
funding for his famous institute.
•  The building process was not smooth as Bohr worked on buildings the
same way he worked on papers…
•  Despite his young age and new title, he went to the University
and the Danish parliament and asked to build a new institute.
•  His project was approved at the end of 1918 and in March 1921 his
Institute for Theoretical Physics was dedicated.

 Erwin Schrödinger
•  born in Vienna, Austria
•  Studied under Exner, Wien,
•  deeply interested in color theory and
philosophy
•  Published Quantization as an Eigenvalue
Problem in 1926, showing a wave
(“Schrodinger”) equation gave correct
energies for hydrogen
•  Eternally legendary through the
Schrodinger’s cat paradox

1892-1987
Nobel Prize – Physics 1929
(shared with Dirac)
 Werner Heisenberg
•  born in Würzburg, Germany
•  Studied in Munich under Sommerfeld
and Wien, and Göttingen under Franck,
Hilbert and Born (thesis on turbulence)
•  Met Bohr at the Bohr-Festspiele in 1922 –
asked questions!!
•  Developed matrix mechanics in 1926
•  Developed uncertainty principle in 1927
•  attacked in the press as a "White Jew“
after Hitler came to power, due to his
insistence on teaching “Jewish physics”*
•  led the German atomic bomb project
1901-1976
Nobel Prize – Physics 1932
*Heisenberg’s mother was a personal friend of the mother of
Heinrich Himmler (head of Nazi Secret Police), who eventually
allowed him to teach Relativity… but without mentioning Einstein!
 Max Born
•  German (Jewish) physicist and
mathematician
•  Led Göttingen to become one of the
world leaders in physics
•  Formulated matrix mechanics with
Heisenberg in 1925
•  Interpreted Schrodinger’s equation in
terms of probability density in 1926*
•  Kicked out of Germany in 1933

1882-1970 *In a letter to Born on 4 December 1926, Einstein made his famous
remark regarding quantum mechanics:

Nobel Prize – Physics 1954 “Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells
me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not
really bring us any closer to the secret of the 'old one'. I, at any rate,
am convinced that He is not playing at dice.”
 Paul Dirac
•  born in Bristol, England
•  Introduced canonical quantization
procedure in quantum mechanics
•  “Dirac equation” for relativistic
quantum mechanics
•  Strange, unusual personality
•  Einstein: "This balancing on the
dizzying path between genius and
madness is awful"

1902-1984
Nobel Prize – Physics 1933
(shared with Schrödinger)
 Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
ΔxΔp ≥ h / 4π

•  What does this mean?

 Irene and Frédéric Joliot-Curie
•  Second generation of Curies!
•  Married in 1926*
•  Their experiments identified both the
positron and the neutron, but they did not
recognize their results.
•  Nobel prize for discovery of artificial radio-
activity using alpha particle bombardment of
various elements, including beryllium
•  Irene developed Leukemia due to accidental
exposure to polonium

1900-1958, 1897-1956
Shared Nobel Prize – Chemistry 1935
*mom not only insisted on a prenuptial agreement
but also confirmed that Irène would inherit the use
of the radium in her lab.
 Ernest Lawrence
•  Born in South Dakota, from Norwegian roots
•  PhD at Yale on photoelectric effect
•  came to Berkeley in the late 1920s as a
young faculty member.
•  Pioneer of accelerator physics and
technology – creator of cyclotron
•  Key player in uranium isotope separation
•  Founder of Lawrence Berkeley and
Lawrence Livermore National Labs

1901-1958
Nobel Prize – Physics 1939
 James Chadwick
•  English physicist born in Cheshire
•  MSc at Manchester then PhD at Cambridge
both under Rutherford, becoming Assistant
Director of Research of Cavendish Lab.
•  Credited for discovery of the neutron in
1932, publishing his findings in “Possible
Existence of a Neutron”
•  Wrote final draft of MAUD report, which
would motivate the formation of the US
bomb project.
•  Knighted in 1945
1891-1974
Nobel Prize – Physics 1935