Arthur B. McDonald facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arthur B. McDonald
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McDonald in Stockholm, December 2015
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Arthur Bruce McDonald
August 29, 1943 Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Known for | Solving the solar neutrino problem |
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| Fields | Astrophysics |
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| Thesis | Excitation energies and decay properties of T = 3/2 states in 17O, 17F and 21Na. (1970) |
| Doctoral advisor | Charles A. Barnes |
Arthur Bruce McDonald, born on August 29, 1943, is a famous Canadian astrophysicist. He is known for his important work on tiny particles called neutrinos. Dr. McDonald led the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Collaboration. He also taught at Queen's University in Canada. In 2015, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics with Japanese scientist Takaaki Kajita. They won for their discoveries about neutrinos.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Arthur McDonald was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. He loved science from a young age. His high school math teacher and first physics professor inspired him.
He studied physics at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. He earned his first degree in 1964 and a master's degree in 1965. Later, he got his Ph.D. (a high-level science degree) from the California Institute of Technology in 1969.
Academic Career
After finishing his studies, Art McDonald worked at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. This was from 1969 to 1982. He then became a physics professor at Princeton University in the United States.
In 1989, he moved back to Canada. He became a professor at Queen's University. He taught there until 2013. He also visited CERN in Switzerland, which is a famous science lab.
Since 2013, Dr. McDonald has been a professor emeritus at Queen's University. This means he is retired but still involved. He continues to do research on neutrinos and dark matter at the SNOLAB lab.
Research on Neutrinos
Scientists have been trying to understand if neutrinos have mass. Neutrinos are tiny particles that come from the Sun and other stars. For many years, detectors on Earth found fewer neutrinos than expected. This was a big mystery.
Scientists thought that these "missing" neutrinos might be changing. Neutrinos come in three types: electron, muon, and tau. Solar neutrino detectors mainly saw electron neutrinos. The idea was that electron neutrinos were changing into other types. If a neutrino changes its type, it must have mass. This change is called neutrino oscillation.
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO)
In 1984, a scientist named Herb Chen suggested using "heavy water" to detect neutrinos. Heavy water would allow scientists to see all three types of neutrinos. This would help prove if neutrinos were changing types.
Dr. McDonald and other scientists formed the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) team. They planned to build a special detector. It would use 1000 tonnes of heavy water. The detector would be located deep underground in a mine in Sudbury, Ontario.
In 2001, the SNO team, led by Dr. McDonald, made a huge discovery. Their observations showed that electron neutrinos from the Sun were indeed changing. They were turning into muon and tau neutrinos. This proved that neutrinos have mass.
This discovery was very important. It helped solve the "solar neutrino problem." For this work, Dr. McDonald received many awards. These include the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2007. He also won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015 and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2016.
Today, Professor McDonald continues his research. He works on new experiments at SNOLAB. He also helps with experiments looking for dark matter.
Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute
There is a research institute named after Dr. McDonald. It is called the Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute. It was renamed in 2018 to honor his amazing work. His work has made Canada a leader in the study of astroparticle physics.
Humanitarian Work
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of medical ventilators. Dr. McDonald became a leader in a project to make low-cost ventilators. A professor from Princeton, Cristiano Galbiati, started the idea. He saw that particle physics experiments use similar technology to ventilators.
Dr. McDonald led the Canadian team. Scientists from different labs joined the project. They designed a ventilator called the Mechanical Ventilator Milano. The plans for this design were shared freely. This project helped Canada prepare for the pandemic.
Selected Honours and Awards
- 1983, Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 2003, Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering
- 2006, Officer of the Order of Canada
- 2007, Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics
- 2009, Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) of the UK and Commonwealth
- 2009, Member of Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame
- 2011, Royal Society of Canada's Henry Marshall Tory Medal
- 2012, Member of the Order of Ontario
- 2015, Nobel Prize in Physics (jointly with Takaaki Kajita)
- 2015, Promotion to Companion of the Order of Canada
- 2016, Asteroid 229781 Arthurmcdonald was named in his honor.
- 2016, Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
- 2016, Member of the Order of Nova Scotia
See also
- In Spanish: Arthur B. McDonald para niños
