M. N. Rosenbluth

Biography

Abstract

Marshall Rosenbluth was Professor Emeritus at University of California, San Diego (1993-2003). Other institutional affiliations included University of Texas, Austin, the Institute for Advanced Study, General Atomics, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. His research interests included plasma physics and controlled fusion. His major achievements included the development of the Monte Carlo Simulation technique, the defining calculation for the scattering of electrons off nucleans, and the basic theory of the free electron laser.

Important Dates

February 5, 1927Birth, Albany (N.Y.).

1945Obtained BS, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1949Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1949 – 1950Instructor in Physics, Stanford University.

1950 – 1956Staff Member, Los Alamos Laboratory, Los Alamos (N.M.).

1956 – 1960Senior Research Advisor, General Atomics.

1960 – 1967Professor, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.).

1967 – 1980Professor of Astrophysical Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (N.J.).

1967 – 1980Visiting Research Physicist, Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1969Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1976Awarded James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics, American Physical Society.

1980 – 1987Faculty Member, Institute of Fusion Studies, University of Texas, Austin, Austin (Tex.).

1985Awarded Enrico Fermi Award, United States Department of Energy.

1987 – 2003Professor (1987-1993) and Professor Emeritus (1993-2003), University of California, San Diego, La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.).

1997Awarded National Medal of Science.

2002Awarded Hannes Alfvén Prize, European Physical Society.

September 28, 2003Death, San Diego (Calif.).

Occupation

Plasma physicist.

Places

Birth

Albany (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Graduate Education

Chicago (Ill.)

Employment

Los Alamos (N.M.)

La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.)

Princeton (N.J.)

Austin (Tex.)

La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.)

Death

San Diego (Calif.)

Subjects

Fusion.

Plasma physics.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003

PhD advisor at University of Chicago, "Electromagnetic interactions of a vector meson with a scalar excited state," and both employed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Colleagues

Adler, Stephen L.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Agnew, Harold M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and University of California, San Diego.

Alfvén, Hannes

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Bahcall, John N.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Bardeen, William A.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Bloch, Felix, 1905-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Booker, Henry G.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997

Both employed at Stanford University and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Brueckner, Keith A.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Callan, Curtis G.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Campbell, David K.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Chodorow, Marvin

Both employed at Stanford University.

Coppi, B.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study and University of California, San Diego.

Creutz, E.

Both employed at General Atomics.

Dash, J. G., 1923-

Both employed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Dashen, Roger F.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Duffield, Robert B.

Both employed at General Atomics.

Dynes, Robert C.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Dyson, Freeman J.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Elsasser, Walter M., 1904-

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Feher, George, 1924-

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Fisk, Zachary

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Freedman, Daniel Z.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Haldane, F. Duncan M.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Hansen, W. W. (William Webster), 1909-1949

Both employed at Stanford University.

Hellman, Frances

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Hofstadter, Robert, 1915-1990

Both employed at Stanford University.

Jaffe, Arthur, 1937-

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Kerst, Donald William, 1911-1993

Both employed at General Atomics.

Kirkpatrick, Paul

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Kroll, Norman Myles, 1922-

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Lang, Norton D.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Malmberg, J. H.

Both employed at General Atomics and University of California, San Diego.

Maple, M. Brian, 1939-

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Matthias, Bernd T., 1918-1980

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Mermin, N. David

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Meyerhof, Walter E. (Walter Ernst), 1922-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Morse, Marston, 1892-1977

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Nelson, Ann E. (Ann Elizabeth)

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

O'Neil, T. M. (Thomas Michael), 1940-

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Onuchic, José

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Reines, Frederick, 1918-1998

Both employed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Rice, Thomas Maurice, 1939-

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Rostoker, Norman

Both employed at General Atomics and University of California, San Diego.

Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971

Both employed at Stanford University.

Sham, L. J.

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Spencer, Thomas, 1946-

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Suhl, Harry

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Ulam, Stanislaw M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Webster, David Locke, 1888-1976

Both employed at Stanford University.

Weinberg, Erick J.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Wheatley, John Charles

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)

Both employed at University of California, San Diego.

Additional

Frieman, E. A.

Garwin, Richard L.

Koonin, Steven E.

Lindl, John

Ohkawa, Tihiro

Taylor, Theodore B., 1925-

Waltz, Ronald E.

Institutions

Major Positions

GA (Series) (San Diego, Calif.)

Senior Research Advisor.

Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)

Professor of Astrophysical Science.

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Staff Member.

Princeton University. Plasma Physics Laboratory

Visiting Research Physicist.

Stanford University. Department of Physics

Instructor in Physics.

University of California, San Diego. Department of Physics

Professor and Professor Emeritus.

University of Texas at Austin. Institute for Fusion Studies

Faculty Member.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

Received 1976 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics.

European Physical Society

Received 2002 Hannes Alfvén Prize.

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Obtained BS (1945).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

United States. Department of Energy

Received 1985 Enrico Fermi Award.

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD (1949).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Marshall N. Rosenbluth papers, 1960-2003.

Mandeville Special Collections Library

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

Oral History interview with Marshall Rosenbluth, 2003 August 11 and 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Oral history interview with Berni J. Alder, 1990 June 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward A. Frieman, 2006 December 4 and 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Creutz, 2006 January 9 and 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Richard Garwin, 2012 December 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ronald E. Waltz, 2006 May 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ted Taylor, 1995 February 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Theodore Brewster Taylor, 1989 April 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Tihiro Ohkawa, 2006 May 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

New ideas in Tokamak confinement / M.N. Rosenbluth, editor-in-chief.

Subject

Marshall Rosenbluth Physics Today obituary.