1949 in science

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The year 1949 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

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Astronomy and space exploration

Chemistry

Computer science

Earth sciences

History of science

Mathematics

Medicine

Meteorology

Philosophy

Physics

Zoology

Awards

Births

Deaths

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantum electrodynamics</span> Quantum field theory of electromagnetism

In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved. QED mathematically describes all phenomena involving electrically charged particles interacting by means of exchange of photons and represents the quantum counterpart of classical electromagnetism giving a complete account of matter and light interaction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Weinberg</span> American theoretical physicist (1933–2021)

Steven Weinberg was an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel C. C. Ting</span> Nobel prize winning physicist

Samuel Chao Chung Ting is an American physicist who, with Burton Richter, received the Nobel Prize in 1976 for discovering the subatomic J/ψ particle.

The year 1957 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Schwinger</span> American theoretical physicist (1918–1994)

Julian Seymour Schwinger was a Nobel Prize-winning American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on quantum electrodynamics (QED), in particular for developing a relativistically invariant perturbation theory, and for renormalizing QED to one loop order. Schwinger was a physics professor at several universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Wilczek</span> American physicist and Nobel laureate (born 1951)

Frank Anthony Wilczek is an American theoretical physicist, mathematician and Nobel laureate. He is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Founding Director of T. D. Lee Institute and Chief Scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), distinguished professor at Arizona State University (ASU) and full professor at Stockholm University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainer Weiss</span> Nobel Prize-winning American physicist

Rainer "Rai" Weiss is a German-born American physicist, known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. He is a professor of physics emeritus at MIT and an adjunct professor at LSU. He is best known for inventing the laser interferometric technique which is the basic operation of LIGO. He was Chair of the COBE Science Working Group.

The year 1940 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polykarp Kusch</span> Nobel Prize for Physics, for determination of the magnetic moment

Polykarp Kusch was a German-born American physicist. In 1955, the Nobel Committee gave a divided Nobel Prize for Physics, with one half going to Kusch for his accurate determination that the magnetic moment of the electron was greater than its theoretical value, thus leading to reconsideration of—and innovations in—quantum electrodynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth G. Wilson</span> American theoretical physicist (1936–2013)

Kenneth Geddes "Ken" Wilson was an American theoretical physicist and a pioneer in leveraging computers for studying particle physics. He was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on phase transitions—illuminating the subtle essence of phenomena like melting ice and emerging magnetism. It was embodied in his fundamental work on the renormalization group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1950 in science</span> Overview of the events of 1950 in science

The year 1950 in science and technology included some significant events.

The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is a physical phenomenon in which the Hall conductance of 2-dimensional (2D) electrons shows precisely quantized plateaus at fractional values of , where e is the electron charge and h is the Planck constant. It is a property of a collective state in which electrons bind magnetic flux lines to make new quasiparticles, and excitations have a fractional elementary charge and possibly also fractional statistics. The 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Robert Laughlin, Horst Störmer, and Daniel Tsui "for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations". The microscopic origin of the FQHE is a major research topic in condensed matter physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of quantum field theory</span>

In particle physics, the history of quantum field theory starts with its creation by Paul Dirac, when he attempted to quantize the electromagnetic field in the late 1920s. Major advances in the theory were made in the 1940s and 1950s, leading to the introduction of renormalized quantum electrodynamics (QED). The field theory behind QED was so accurate and successful in predictions that efforts were made to apply the same basic concepts for the other forces of nature. Beginning in 1954, the parallel was found by way of gauge theory, leading by the late 1970s, to quantum field models of strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force, united in the modern Standard Model of particle physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Clive Ward</span> Anglo-Australian physicist (1924–2000)

John Clive Ward, was an Anglo-Australian physicist who made significant contributions to quantum field theory, condensed-matter physics, and statistical mechanics. Andrei Sakharov called Ward one of the titans of quantum electrodynamics.

Quantum mechanics is the study of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atomic and subatomic particles. By contrast, classical physics explains matter and energy only on a scale familiar to human experience, including the behavior of astronomical bodies such as the moon. Classical physics is still used in much of modern science and technology. However, towards the end of the 19th century, scientists discovered phenomena in both the large (macro) and the small (micro) worlds that classical physics could not explain. The desire to resolve inconsistencies between observed phenomena and classical theory led to a revolution in physics, a shift in the original scientific paradigm: the development of quantum mechanics.

The timeline of quantum mechanics is a list of key events in the history of quantum mechanics, quantum field theories and quantum chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David J. Wineland</span> American physicist

David Jeffery Wineland(born February 24, 1944) is an American Nobel-laureate physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His work has included advances in optics, specifically laser-cooling trapped ions and using ions for quantum-computing operations. He was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Serge Haroche, for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems".

Norman Myles Kroll was an American theoretical physicist, known for his pioneering work in QED.

James Bruce French (1921–2002) was a Canadian and American theoretical physicist, specializing in nuclear physics.

References

  1. Crowfoot, D.; Bunn, Charles W.; Rogers-Low, Barbara W.; Turner-Jones, Annette (1949). "X-ray crystallographic investigation of the structure of penicillin". In Clarke, H. T.; Johnson, J. R.; Robinson, R. (eds.). Chemistry of Penicillin. Princeton University Press. pp. 310–367.
  2. Glusker, Jenny P. (1994). "Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994)". Protein Science . 3 (12): 2465–2469. doi:10.1002/pro.5560031233. PMC   2142778 . PMID   7757003.
  3. "Pioneer computer to be rebuilt". Cam. 62: 5. 2011.
  4. "Today in Earthquake History: August 5". United States Geological Survey. 2009-12-18. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  5. Cade, J. F. J. (1949). "Lithium salts in the treatment of psychotic excitement" (PDF). Medical Journal of Australia. 2 (10): 349–52. doi:10.1080/j.1440-1614.1999.06241.x. PMC   2560740 . PMID   18142718 . Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  6. Dyson, F. J. (1949). "The radiation theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger, and Feynman". Physical Review . 75 (3): 486–502. Bibcode:1949PhRv...75..486D. doi: 10.1103/PhysRev.75.486 .
  7. Dyson, F. J. (1949). "The S matrix in quantum electrodynamics". Physical Review. 75 (11): 1736–1755. Bibcode:1949PhRv...75.1736D. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.75.1736.
  8. Lanczos, Cornelius (1949). "Lagrangian Multiplier and Riemannian Spaces" (PDF). Reviews of Modern Physics . 21 (3): 497–502. Bibcode:1949RvMP...21..497L. doi: 10.1103/RevModPhys.21.497 .
  9. Pauli, W.; Villars, F. (1949). "On the Invariant Regularization in Relativistic Quantum Theory". Reviews of Modern Physics. 21 (3): 434–444. Bibcode:1949RvMP...21..434P. doi: 10.1103/RevModPhys.21.434 .
  10. Haldane, J. B. S. (1949). "Suggestions as to quantitative measurement of rates of evolution". Evolution . 3 (1): 51–56. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1949.tb00004.x . JSTOR   2405451.