J phys.

11 (1890) 137-141 Prlnted In the UK 137

GRAND SCHOOLS OF PHYSICS

1 The Rabi School

N F Ramsey
Lyman Physics Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Abstract. The article discusses the School of Physics
established by the late I I Rabi. Rabi was an unusually
effective physicist not only through his own work and that
of his students but also through his general wisdom and
influence on others. Rabi’s early life and education are
briefly described including his travels in Europe and his
early work with Otto Stern at Hamburg. At Columbia
University Rabi established the molecular beam research
laboratory where he invented the highly successful
molecular beam magnetic resonance method, which he
and his associates used to measure nuclear and magnetic
properties of many molecules and nuclei, and where he
trained students who later became leaders in physics.
During World War I1 Rabi was Deputy Director of the
MIT Radiation Laboratory where many of the advances
in radar and microwave electronics were made as well as
being a consultant to Robert Oppenheimer, the Director
at Los Alamos. Following the war Rabi played major
roles in establishing the Columbia physics department
as a great research centre, in the efforts to provide
international control of atomic energy, in the formation of
the US President’s Science Advisory Committee, in the
International Conferences on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic
Energy, in the establishment of Brookhaven National
Laboratory and of CERN and in the NATO Science
Committee.
Rbumk. L’article presente I’Ecole de Physique fondee
par I I Rabi. Rabi etait un physicien exceptionnellement
important, non seulement par son propre travail et celui
de ses etudiants, mais aussi en raison de sa profonde
sagesse et son influence sur les autres. Le debut de sa vie
et son education sont brievement decrits, y compris ses
voyages en Europe et ses premiers travaux avec Otto
Stern a Hambourg. A I’Universite Columbia, Rabi a
etabli le laboratoire de recherches sur les jets moleculaires
od il a invent6 la methode tres performante de resonance
magnetique sur jet moleculaire qu’il a utilisee avec ses
associes pour mesurer les proprietes nucleaires et
magnetiques de nombreux noyaux et molecules. I1 y a
forme des etudiants qui par la suite devinrent des maitres
en physique. Pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, Rabi
etait Deputy Director du Radiation Laboratory de MIT
ou ont ete realises de nombreux progres dans le domaine
du radar et de l’electronique microonde et, en mgme
temps, il etait conseiller de Robert Oppenheimer a Los
Alamos. Apres la guerre, Rabi a joue un rBle majeur dans
I’etablissement du departement de Physique de Columbia
comme grand centre de recherches, par ses efforts pour
realiser un contrde international de l’energie atomique,
par la formation du Comite Consultatif de la Science
aupres du President des Etats-[Jnis, par sa participation
dans les Conferences Internationales sur les utilisations
pacifiques de l’energie atomique, dans I’etablissement du
Laboratoire National de Brookhaven et du CERN et dans
le Comite Scientifique de I’OTAN.

1 . Introduction most successful ventures in national and international

cooperation in science.
Somescientistsmaketheirgreatestcontribution
through their own personal research while others are
best remembered for their general wisdom and their 2. Rabi’s early years
influence on others. A fewincludingRabi excel in
both respects. His own discoveries, which led to his Rabi was born on 29 July 1898 in Rymanow, Austria
Nobel Prize in 1944, are of great importance including to an orthodox Jewish family who soon thereafter
the invention of the molecular beam magnetic reson- moved to New York City, initially in the lower East
ancemethod,whichheandhisassociatesusedto Side, but later in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.
measure magnetic moments and electric quadrupole He attended New York public schools and, as an avid
momentsofmanyatomicnucleiandtoshowthe reader,gainedmuchofhiseducationandinterest
existenceof a previouslyunsuspectedtensorforce in science through books borrowed from the public
between the neutron and the proton. But Rabi’s influ- library. Rabi’s fascinating childhood and early educa-
ence extended far beyond his own laboratory. Pro- tion have been well described by Jeremy Bernstein [ l ]
posals first made by Rabi have led to many of the and John Rigden [2]. In 1916, after graduating from

0143-08071901030137 + 05 $03 50 @ 1990 IOP Publlshlng Lfd 8 The European Physcal S w i e l y

138 N F Ramsey

the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, Rabi

entered
Cornell University starting in electrical
engineering, but graduating in the field of chemistry.
After three years of uninteresting jobs, he returned to
Cornell to do graduate work in chemistry, moving a
year later to Columbia University and to physics. At
Columbia, Rabi didhis doctoral research on magnetic
susceptibility with A P Wills, but, characteristically, it
was on a subject of Rabi’s own choosing and with a
novel technique which greatly simplified the cxperi-
ments. The day after he sent in his doctoral thesis,
he married Helen Newmark, who remained his life-
long companion and became the mother of his two
daughters Nancy Lictenstein and Margaret Beels.
The Rabi’s soon went to Europe on a travelling
fellowship where he worked intermittently with Som-
merfeld, Heiscnberg,BohrandPauli.TheStern-
Gerlachexperimentdemonstratingthe reality of
space quantisations had earlier sparked Rabi’s keen
interest in quantummechanics so hebecame a
frequent visitor to Stern’s molecular beam laboratory
at Hamburg while working there with Pauli. During
oneof these visits Rabi suggesteda new form of
deflecting magnetic field [3] and Stern in characteric
fashion invited Rabi to work on it in his laboratory
and Rabi in an equally characteristic fashion accepted.
Rabi’s work in Stern’s laboratorywas decisivein
turning his interest toward molecular beam research
and provided a valuable intellectual link between the
‘Stern School’ and the ‘Rabi School’.
I I Rabi.
3. The Rabi School

RabireturnedfromEuropetojointhe faculty at studentsandassociatesdetermined a number of

Columbia University andto begin atomicbeam
research in his own laboratory. In 1931 he and Greg-
ory Breit [4] developed the important Breit-Rabi for-
mula, which showed how the magnetic energy of an
atom and itseffective magnetic moment vary with the
strength of the external magnetic field. These changes
occur because the atomic configuration varies from
theelectronangularmomentumbeingprimarily
coupled to the nucleus at a low external field to being
principally coupled to the external magneticfield at a
high field.
Utilising the Breit-Rabi formulaandanatomic
beam apparatus which deflected the atomic magnetic
moments with inhomogeneous magnetic fields, Rabi
[5, 61, Cohen [5, 61 and others [6] were able to deter-
mine the strengths of the electron-nucleus interaction
and the magnitudes of nuclear spins and magnetic
moments. Rabi further improved the precision of the
measurements by noting from theBreit-Rabi formula
that the effective magnetic moments are zero at cer-
tain magnetic fields, which give marked identifiable
rises in the intensity of the undeflected atoms passing
though an inhomogeneousfield. Since the strengths of
the fields giving zeromomentsdependedonthe
hyperfine interactions andnuclear
spins, Rabi’s
hyperfine interactions [6-81 by measuringthezero
moment magnetic fields. Although the zero moment
method did not work for atoms with nuclear spin +,
Rabi devised analternative refocusing technique
which did [6, 91.
Rabi also showed that the molecular beam deflec-
tion method couldbe adapted to measurements of the
signs of nuclear magnetic moments by determining
which transitions occurred when atoms went through
a region of space in which the directions of the mag-
netic fields were successively reversed [6, 91.
Rabi developed the theory of such transitions in his
important paper [IO. 1 I] entitled ‘Space quantization
in a gyratingmagnetic field’. In thispaperRabi
assumed for simplicity that the applied field changed
its direction (‘gyrated’) at a fixed frequency. As a
result this paper provides the theoretical basis for all
subsequent magnetic resonance experiments.
Rabi initially applied his theoryto fields which
changed only in space rather thantime. A few months
after the publication of that paper,following a visit of
C J Gorter, Rabi directed the major efforts of his
laboratory toward the development of the molecular
beam magnetic resonance method with the magnetic
fields oscillating in time. As shown in figure I , a
 The Rabi School
A magnet
I
B magnet
B
W research field and with
M rl
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of magnetic resonance
apparatus. S is the source and D the detector. The
cross sections of the magnet pole tips are shown.
molecular beam wasdeflected by one inhomogeneous
magnetic field and refocused by asimilar field. In
passingbetween thetwo fields the molecules were
subjected to a weak oscillatory magnetic field at fre-
quency v . When v equalledtheBohrfrequency
v. = (W, - WJh, transitions could take place with a
consequent refocusing failure and a reduction in beam
intensity. By measuring the beam intensity as a func-
tionoffrequency one could thereby determine the
spacing of the molecular energy levels.
The first successful molecular beammagnetic
resonanceexperiment was that of Rabi,Mollman,
Kusch and Zacharias [l21 in 1938 which determined
’
the nuclear magnetic moment of Li. Soon thereafter
Kellogg, Rabi, Ramsey and Zacharias[ 13, 141 applied
the method to molecular hydrogen and discovered a
multiplicity of resonance lines,whose separation
arose from the magnetic interactions of the nuclear
moments with each other and with the magneticfield
caused by the rotation of the molecule. They found
that the separations of the resonances for D2 were
much greater [l31 than could be attributed to such
magnetic interactions but couldbe fitted by assuming
the deuteronhad a nuclear electric quadrupole
moment, i.e.
hadan ellipsoidal shape like an
American football, rather thana spherical shape; such
a shape would result from the existence
of
a to atomic hydrogen anddiscovered that the hyperfine
previously unsuspectedtensorforce between the
neutron and proton.
InsubsequentyearsRabiwith his studentsand
associates [ 151 successfully applied the beam resonance
methodto single atomsas well astopolyatomic
molecules and in such experiments measured numer-
ous nuclearspins,nuclearandatomicmagnetic
moments, atomic hyperfine interactions and nuclear
quadrupole moments. In these years the Rabi School
at Columbia was a major research centre providing
new physics data, new ideasandoutstandingand
creative young scientists who later went on to estab-
lish their own research programs in a variety of fields.
Althoughmost of Rabi’sgraduatestudents were
experimentalistssome,includingJulian Schwinger,
were theorists.
139
4. The Rabi School during World War II
World War I1 completely interrupted the molecular
beam research of the Rabi School at Columbia Uni-
versity from 1940 to 1945 when Rabiwas actively
involved with the development of microwave radar at
MIT. However, in a very real sense the Rabi School
continued in different
a location, in
different
a
post
doctoral research
associates rather than graduate students. Rabi con-
tinued to be a major source of new research ideas and
an influential advisor to his research associates. He
headed the magnetron group at the MIT Radiation
Laboratory where he later became Deputy Director.
He was particularly active indeveloping shorterwave-
lengths, first from lOcm to 3 cmatMIT;later he
initiated the establishmentof the Columbia Radiation
Laboratory which pioneered in the development of
1 cm wavelength radar. Rabi originated the plans for
the writing of the 28 volume Radiation Laboratory
Series, which for many years was the major reference
formicrowaveandelectrontechnology.Rabialso
served as aninfluential consultant toJ Robert Oppen-
heimer, theDirector of theLosAlamosnuclear
research laboratory.Shortly before theend of the
war, in his 1945 Richtmeyer Lecture, Rabi discussed
the possible use of an atomic beam magnetic reson-
ance apparatus as the controlelement of an accurate
clock. The New York Times report on this lecture is
the first published account of atomic clocks, which
have now become so accurate that they are the basis
of the international definition of the second.
5. The Rabi School following World War II
Followingtheend of thewar,Rabi,Ramseyand
Kusch returnedto
Columbia
to reestablish the
molecular beam laboratory. Nierenberg and Ramsey
[l61 rebuilt anoldapparatusandmeasuredthe
radiofrequency spectra of a number of alkali halides.
Rabi, with his students J Nafe and E Nelson [17],
successfully applied the magnetic resonance method
separationduetotheinteraction of themagnetic
moment of the proton with the electron was slightly
different fromthetheoreticalexpectationfromthe
Dirac quantum theory; thisresult was the first indica-
tion that the magnetic moment of the electron was
different from the expected Dirac value, an observa-
tion later confirmed at Columbia by Kusch’s direct
measurements [l81 of the electron magnetic moment.
This observed anomalous magnetic moment was the
principal stimulus to the development of relativistic
quantum electrodynamics, the first successful quan-
tum field theory.
Another important molecular beam development
by theRabiSchoolwastheadaptation by Rabi’s
student H Hughes [l91 of the resonance method to
electric deflecting and oscillating fields. Withsub-
140 N F Ramsey
sequent improvements by Rabi, Trischka, V Hughes
and others[6], the electric resonance method has been
used formany precise measurements of thespin-
dependentinternalinteractions withinmolecules in
specific rotational states.
Althoughmost of Rabi’s experiments were with
molecular beams, he also participated with W Havens
and J Rainwater [20] in a neutron-electron scattering
experiment which provided the first experimental evi-
dence for the neutron-electron interaction.
Rabi’s classroomlectures were often chaotic, buthe
was astimulatingteacherwhomade his students
think. He was an inspiring supervisor of PhD students
whose research experiments were innovative and fun-
damental. Rabi and his wife Helen were personally
very helpful to his students and associates, most of
whom remained lifelong friends. Rabi gave his
students freedom and independence while maintain-
ing high standardsforresearch.The influence of
theRabiSchoolhas been greatlyextended by his
students, such asZacharias,Ramsey,Nierenberg,
Schwinger and Hughes, who have in turn had a num-
ber of excellent students; many of the scientists now
active in physics cantrace their scientific ancestry
back to Rabi or his former students.
For a number of years Rabi was the highly effective
Chairman of the Columbia Physics Department; his
critical and stimulating presence was clearly respon-
sible for much of the greatness of that Department.
Although Rabi was notdirectly involved in physics
experimentsafter 1960, heretained an active and
critical interest in the field and was a regular and
stimulatingparticipant in atomic physics meetings
and seminars until a few months before he died on 1 1
January 1988 attheage of 89.Rabinotonly
contributed innovative new resonance techniques to
the field of atomic physics but to his students and
associates he also imparted high standards for both
the quality and the interest of the research.
Since this article is one of a series on Grand Schools
of Physics, it is of interest to note that Rabi, in his last
published article, paid tribute to thewisdom he gained
from two other Schoolsof Physics, those of Wolfgang
Pauli and of Otto Stern in Hamburg, Germany. This
wisdom in turn was a marked characteristic of the
Rabi School. Rabi [21] wrote: ‘From Stern and Pauli
I learned what physics should be. For me it was not
a matter of more knowledge.I learned a lotof physics
as a graduateteacher. Rather it was the development of
taste and insight; it was the development of standards
to guide research, a feeling for what was good and what
is not so good. Stern had this quality oftaste in physics
and he had it to the highest degree. As far as I know,
Stern never devoted himself to a minor question’.
6. Rabi in national and international science
Rabi’s influence extendedfarbeyond his ownand
his students’ research through his membershipon
importantcommittees, his presidency the
of
American Physical Society, his many public lectures
and his innovativeproposalsfor new means of
cooperationamonginstitutionsandnations.Dis-
cussions late in 1945 between Rabi and Oppenheimer
led to theAcheson-Lillienthal-Baruch plan proposed
by the US fortheinternationalcontrol of atomic
energy. Oneof
Rabi’sgreatest
disappointments
was that this forwardlookingplan,after initial
favourable consideration, was never adopted by the
United Nations.
Rabi was a member of the AEC General Advisory
Committee and joinedwith Enrico Fermi in writing a
strongmemorandumsupportingthecontroversial
GACrecommendationagainstacrashprogramme
for the developmentof a hydrogen bomb. Later, Rabi
became Chairman of the GACandaneloquent
defender of Oppenheimer in the AEC hearings that
culminated in the removal of Oppenheimer’s security
clearance.
Rabi and Ramsey initiated the first proposals for
BrookhavenNationalLaboratoryand were early
strong proponents for the construction of the Cos-
motron.Later, withthe model of Brookhaven in
mind,Rabi pioneered in advocating the European
collaborationthat led toCERN.Rabiwasthe
initiator of theInternationalConferencesonthe
PeacefulUsesof Atomic Energy andaprincipal
speakerat
them.Through his friendship with
President Eisenhower, Rabi waslargely responsible
for the establishment in 1957 of the PresidentsScience
Advisory Committee and the Office of Special Assis-
tant to the President for Science and Technology. For
many years, Rabi was the US Representative to the
NATO Science Committee where he effectively advo-
catedthe establishment of the highly successful
NATO supported Summer Schools and Fellowship
programs. Through suchactivities the influences of
the Rabi School were in many respects transferred to
the international arena.
References
Bernstein J 1975 Profile of I I Rabi New Yorker
October 13 and 20
Rigden J 1987 Rabi: Scientisr and Cirizen (New York:
Basic Books)
Rabi I I 1929 2. Phys. 54 190
Breit G and Rabi I I 1930 Phys. Rev. 38 2082
Rabi I I and Cohen V W 1933 Phys. Rev. 43 582
Ramsey N F 1956 Molecular Beams (Oxford: Oxford
University Press)
Cohen V W 1934 Phys. Rev. 46 713
Millman S 1935 Phys. Rev, 47 739
Kellogg J M B. Rabi I I and Zacharias J R 1936
Phys. Rev. 50 472
Rabi 1 I 1936 Phys. Rev. 49 324
Rabi I I 1937 Phys. Rev. 61 652
Rabi I 1, Zacharias J R, Millman S and Kusch P
1938 Phys. Rev. 53 318; 1939 Phys. Rev. 55 526
 The Rabi School 141

[l31 Kellogg J M B, Rabi I I, Rarnsey N F and Zacharias
J R 1934 Phys. Rev. 55 318, 56 728; 1940 Phys.
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[l41 Rarnsey N F 1940 Phys. Rev. 58 226
[l51 Kusch P, Millman S and Rabi I I 1940 Phys. Rev. 57
765
[l61 Nierenberg W A and Rarnsey N F Phys. Rev. 70 773;
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[l71 Nafe J E, Nelson E B and Rabi I I 1947 Phys. Rev.
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1194, 76 1859
[l81 Kusch P and Foley H M 1947 Phys. Rev. 72 1256;
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[l91 Hughes H K 1947 Phys. Rev. 72 614; 1950 Phys. Rev.
76 1675
[20] Havens W W Jr, Rabi I I and Rainwater L J 1947
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[21] Rabi I I as told to Rigden J S 1989 Z . Phys. D 10
119