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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectEugen Merzbacher
Dates
April 9, 1921 – June 6, 2013
Authorized Form of Name
Merzbacher, Eugen
Biography
Abstract
Eugen Merzbacher was Kenan Professor of Physics Emeritus at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1991-2013). Other institutional affiliations included Duke University and the Institute for Advanced Study. He is noted for his development of the plane-wave Born approximation for creating inner-shell vacancies in ion-atom collisions, and he was one of the first to recognize that the dynamics of those interactions, including the electromagnetic radiation generated, could be understood as isolated atomic energy levels evolving into quasi-molecular levels and back again.
Important Dates
April 9, 1921Birth, Berlin (Germany).
1943Obtained Licentiate, Istanbul University, Istanbul (Turkey).
1943 – 1947High School Teacher in Ankara, Turkey.
1948Obtained MA, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1950Obtained PhD in Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).
1950 – 1951Member, Institute for Advanced Study.
1951 – 1952Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics, Duke University.
1952 – 2013Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics (1952-1969); Kenan Professor of Physics (1969-1991); Department Chair (1977-1982); and Kenan Professor of Physics Emeritus (1991-2013), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill (N.C.).
1959 – 1960National Science Foundation, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Cophenhagen.
1967 – 1968Visiting Professor, University of Washington, Seattle.
1990President, American Physical Society.
June 6, 2013Death, Chapel Hill (N.C.).
Occupation
Nuclear physicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Merzbacher, Ann
Wife.
Advisors & Collaborators
PhD advisor at Harvard University.
Colleagues
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
DeWitt, Bryce S. (Bryce Seligman), 1923-2004
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Kraichnan, Robert H., 1928-2008
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Additional
Stuhlman, Otto, 1884-1965
Zweifel, P. F. (Paul Frederick), 1929-
Institutions
Major Positions
Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)
Member.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Department of Physics and Astronomy
Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics; Kenan Professor of Physics; Department Chair; and Kenan Professor of Physics Emeritus.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
President.
Duke University. Department of Physics
Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics.
Harvard University. Department of Physics
Obtained MA (1948) and PhD (1950).
İstanbul Üniversitesi
Obtained Licentiate.
Niels Bohr institutet
National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellow.
University of Washington. Department of Physics
Visiting Professor.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Otto Stuhlman, Jr., 1962 June 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Subject
Paul Zweifel physics notebooks, 1949-1980.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA