Atomic Physics
Structure and behavior of individual atoms
Physics: 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics
1989 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Norman F. Ramsey, Hans G. Dehmelt, Wolfgang Paul The invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks / for the development of the ion trap technique.
Read commentary →Physics: Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment
Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment By: Cowan and Reines (1956) The Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment was conducted by physicists Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines in 1956.
Read commentary →Physics: John Dalton
John Dalton (1766) John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist, and meteorologist whose work laid the foundations of modern atomic theory and stoichiometric chemistry.
Read commentary →Physics: Stern–Gerlach experiment
Stern–Gerlach experiment By: Stern and Gerlach (1922) In quantum physics, the Stern–Gerlach experiment demonstrated that the spatial orientation of angular momentum is quantized.
Read commentary →Physics: Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Sommerfeld (1868) Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld (German: [ˈaʁnɔlt ˈzɔmɐˌfɛlt]; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in both atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretical physics.
Read commentary →Physics: Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus.
Read commentary →Physics: Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr (1885) Niels Henrik David Bohr (; Danish: [ˈne̝ls ˈpoɐ̯ˀ]; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.
Read commentary →Physics: Peter Higgs
Peter Higgs (1929) Peter Ware Higgs (29 May 1929 – 8 April 2024) was a British theoretical physicist, professor at the University of Edinburgh, and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the mass of subatomic particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Capacitor
Capacitor A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy by accumulating electric charges on two closely spaced surfaces that are insulated from each other.
Read commentary →Physics: Anne L'Huillier
Anne L'Huillier (1958) Anne Geneviève L'Huillier (French: [an lɥije]; born 16 August 1958) is a French physicist.
Read commentary →Physics: 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics
1955 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Willis Eugene Lamb, Polykarp Kusch His discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum / for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron.
Read commentary →Physics: Davisson–Germer experiment
Davisson–Germer experiment By: Davisson and Germer (1927) The Davisson–Germer experiment was conducted from 1923 to 1927 by Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer at Western Electric (later Bell Labs).
Read commentary →Physics: 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics
1997 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, William D. Phillips Development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
Read commentary →Physics: 1914 Nobel Prize in Physics
1914 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Max von Laue His discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals.
Read commentary →Physics: 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics
1944 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Isidor Isaac Rabi His resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei.
Read commentary →Physics: 1929 Nobel Prize in Physics
1929 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Prince Louis-Victor Pierre Raymond de Broglie His discovery of the wave nature of electrons.
Read commentary →Physics: Rutherford scattering experiments
Rutherford scattering experiments By: Ernest Rutherford (1911) The Rutherford scattering experiments were a landmark series of experiments by which scientists learned that every atom has a nucleus where all of its positive charge and most of its mass is concentrated.
Read commentary →Physics: Quantum tunnelling
Quantum tunnelling In physics, quantum tunnelling, barrier penetration, or simply tunnelling is a quantum mechanical phenomenon in which an object such as an electron or atom passes through a potential energy barrier that, according to classical mechanics, should not be passable due to the object not having sufficient energy to pass or surmount the barrier.
Read commentary →Physics: 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics
2013 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: François Englert, Peter W. Higgs The theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
Read commentary →Physics: Orbit
Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object under the influence of an attracting force.
Read commentary →Physics: Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish (1731) Henry Cavendish ( KAV-ən-dish; 10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810) was an English experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist.
Read commentary →Physics: 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics
1986 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig, Heinrich Rohrer His fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope / for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope.
Read commentary →Physics: Integrated circuit
Integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a compact assembly of electronic circuits formed from various electronic components, such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors, and their interconnections.
Read commentary →Physics: Atom
Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements and the fundamental building blocks of matter.
Read commentary →Physics: Molecule
Molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion.
Read commentary →Physics: 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics
1975 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Aage Niels Bohr, Ben Roy Mottelson, Leo James Rainwater The discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection.
Read commentary →Physics: 1966 Nobel Prize in Physics
1966 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Alfred Kastler The discovery and development of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms.
Read commentary →Physics: Electric current
Electric current An electric current is a flow of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space.
Read commentary →Physics: 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics
1951 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton Their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles.
Read commentary →Physics: 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics
2000 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Zhores I. Alferov, Herbert Kroemer, Jack S. Kilby Developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics / for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit.
Read commentary →Physics: 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics
1925 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: James Franck, Gustav Ludwig Hertz Their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom.
Read commentary →Physics: 1924 Nobel Prize in Physics
1924 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn His discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy.
Read commentary →Physics: Rutherford proposes nuclear atom
1911: Rutherford proposes nuclear atom The Rutherford model is a name for the concept that an atom contains a compact nucleus.
Read commentary →Physics: Mass defect
Mass defect Form: ΔE = ΔmC² Nuclear binding energy in experimental physics is the minimum energy that is required to fully disassemble the nucleus of one atom into its constituent protons and neutrons, known collectively as nucleons.
Read commentary →Physics: 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics
2001 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, Carl E. Wieman The achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates.
Read commentary →Physics: 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics
1964 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Charles Hard Townes, Nicolay Gennadiyevich Basov, Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov Fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle.
Read commentary →Physics: Electron mass
Electron mass mₑ = 9.110×10⁻³¹ kg The electron (e−, or β− in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.
Read commentary →Physics: 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics
2008 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Maskawa The discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics / for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature.
Read commentary →Physics: Oil drop experiment
Oil drop experiment By: Robert Millikan (1909) The oil drop experiment was performed by Robert A.
Read commentary →Physics: 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics
1922 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Niels Henrik David Bohr His services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them.
Read commentary →Physics: Electron volts (energy unit)
Electron volts (energy unit) GeV = 1.602×10⁻¹⁰ J In physics, an electronvolt (symbol eV), also written as electron-volt and electron volt, is a unit of measurement equivalent to the amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron accelerating through an electric potential difference of one volt in a vacuum.
Read commentary →Physics: J. J. Thomson discovers the electron
1897: J. J. Thomson discovers the electron The electron (e−, or β− in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr model
Bohr model In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: Franck–Hertz experiment
Franck–Hertz experiment By: Franck and Hertz (1914) The Franck–Hertz experiment was the first electrical measurement to clearly show the quantum nature of atoms.
Read commentary →Physics: 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics
1932 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Werner Karl Heisenberg The creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen.
Read commentary →Physics: 1937 Nobel Prize in Physics
1937 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Clinton Joseph Davisson, George Paget Thomson Their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr radius
Bohr radius aB = 5.292×10⁻¹¹ m In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics
1933 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac The discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory.
Read commentary →Physics: 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics
1963 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Eugene Paul Wigner, Maria Goeppert Mayer, J. Hans D. Jensen His contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles / for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure.
Read commentary →Physics: Pair production
Pair production Pair production is the creation of a subatomic particle and its antiparticle from a neutral boson.
Read commentary →Physics: Electron
Electron The electron (e−, or β− in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.
Read commentary →Physics: Rydberg constant
Rydberg constant Rᵧ = 1.097×10⁷ m⁻¹ In spectroscopy, the Rydberg constant, symbol R ∞ {\displaystyle R_{\infty }} for heavy atoms or R H {\displaystyle R_{\text{H}}} for hydrogen, named after the Swedis
Read commentary →Physics: Rutherford model
Rutherford model The Rutherford model is a name for the concept that an atom contains a compact nucleus.
Read commentary →Physics: Lamb shift measured
1947: Lamb shift measured In physics, the Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb, is an anomalous difference in energy between two electron orbitals in a hydrogen atom.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr model energy levels
Bohr model energy levels Form: E = -13.6/n² eV In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: Jack Steinberger
Jack Steinberger (1921) Jack Steinberger (born Hans Jakob Steinberger; May 25, 1921 – December 12, 2020) was a German-born American physicist noted for his work with neutrinos, the subatomic particles considered to be elementary constituents of matter.
Read commentary →Physics: Transistor
Transistor A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr model explains atomic spectra
1913: Bohr model explains atomic spectra In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: 1919 Nobel Prize in Physics
1919 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Johannes Stark His discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields.
Read commentary →Physics: 1968 Nobel Prize in Physics
1968 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Luis Walter Alvarez His decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis.
Read commentary →Physics: 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics
1977 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Philip Warren Anderson, Sir Nevill Francis Mott, John Hasbrouck Van Vleck Their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Read commentary →Physics: Geiger–Marsden experiments
Geiger–Marsden experiments By: Rutherford (1909) The Rutherford scattering experiments were a landmark series of experiments by which scientists learned that every atom has a nucleus where all of its positive charge and most of its mass is concentrated.
Read commentary →Physics: 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics
2021 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, Giorgio Parisi The physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming / for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales.
Read commentary →Physics: Universe
Universe The universe comprises all of existence: all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from sub-atomic particles to entire galactic filaments.
Read commentary →Physics: 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics
1915 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Sir William Henry Bragg, William Lawrence Bragg Their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.
Read commentary →Physics: 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics
1981 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Kai M. Siegbahn Their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy / for his contribution to the development of high-resolution electron spectroscopy.
Read commentary →Physics: 1990 Nobel Prize in Physics
1990 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Jerome I. Friedman, Henry W. Kendall, Richard E. Taylor Their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics.
Read commentary →Physics: Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford (1871) Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937), was a New Zealand physicist and chemist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics.
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