Ben Roy Mottelson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ben Roy Mottelson
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Mottelson in 1963 in Copenhagen
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| Born | July 9, 1926 |
| Died | May 13, 2022 (aged 95) |
| Nationality | Danish–American |
| Alma mater | Purdue University, B.S. 1947 Harvard University, Ph.D. 1950 |
| Known for | Geometry of atomic nuclei |
| Spouse(s) | Nancy Jane Reno (1948-1975; 3 children) Britta Marger Siegumfeldt (m. 1983) |
| Awards | Atoms for Peace Award (1969) John Price Wetherill Medal (1974) Nobel Prize in Physics (1975) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nuclear physics |
| Institutions | Nordita |
| Doctoral advisor | Julian Schwinger |
Ben Roy Mottelson (born July 9, 1926 – died May 13, 2022) was a brilliant scientist. He was an American-born Danish physicist. He studied the tiny parts inside atoms. Mottelson won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics. He received it for his important discoveries. His work helped us understand the shape of atomic nuclei.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ben Mottelson was born in Chicago, Illinois. He went to high school in LaGrange, Illinois. After high school, he studied at Purdue University. He earned his first degree there in 1947.
Then, he went to Harvard University. In 1950, he earned his Ph.D. in nuclear physics. This means he became an expert in the physics of atomic nuclei.
Discovering Atomic Secrets
In the early 1950s, two other scientists, James Rainwater and Aage Bohr, were working on ideas about the atomic nucleus. The nucleus is the very center of an atom. It contains tiny particles called nucleons.
Mottelson teamed up with Aage Bohr. They wanted to see if these new ideas matched what scientists observed in experiments. They worked together to understand how the nucleus behaves.
Nobel Prize for Physics
Bohr and Mottelson published three important papers. These papers came out in 1952 and 1953. They showed that their theories matched the experimental results very well. For example, they found that some nuclei could spin like tops. This spinning created different energy levels.
Their work led to many new studies in physics. In 1975, Rainwater, Bohr, and Mottelson shared the Nobel Prize in Physics. They won "for 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". This means they showed how the whole nucleus moves together and how its individual parts move.
Later Career and Life
Bohr and Mottelson kept working together for many years. They wrote a big, two-part book called Nuclear Structure. The first part came out in 1969. The second part was published in 1975.
Professor Mottelson was also part of the Board of Sponsors for The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. This group works to make the world safer from nuclear dangers. He was also a member of important science groups in Bangladesh and Norway. In 1969, he received the Atoms for Peace Award.
Mottelson had dual citizenship. He was a citizen of both Denmark and the U.S.. He lived in Copenhagen, Denmark.
He was married to Nancy Jane Reno from 1948 until she passed away in 1975. They had two sons and one daughter. Later, in 1983, Mottelson married Britta Marger Siegumfeldt.
Ben Mottelson died on May 13, 2022, in Copenhagen. He was 95 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Ben Roy Mottelson para niños
