Edwin Ernest Salpeter facts for kids

Edwin Ernest Salpeter (born December 3, 1924 – died November 26, 2008) was a very important scientist who studied space and stars. He was an astrophysicist from Austria, Australia, and the United States. He made many discoveries about how stars form and how black holes work.

Life Story of Edwin Salpeter

Edwin Salpeter was born in Vienna, Austria. His family was Jewish. When he was a teenager, he had to leave Austria to escape the Nazis. He moved to Australia.

He went to Sydney Boys High School and then Sydney University. There, he earned his first degrees in 1944 and 1945. Later, he moved to England and studied at the University of Birmingham. In 1948, he earned his PhD, which is a very high university degree.

After finishing his studies, Edwin Salpeter spent the rest of his career at Cornell University in the United States. He was a highly respected professor there. He passed away in 2008 in Ithaca, New York.

Amazing Discoveries in Space

Edwin Salpeter made several big contributions to how we understand the universe.

How Stars Make Carbon

In 1951, Salpeter suggested an important idea about how stars create carbon. He explained that stars can turn helium-4 into carbon-12. This happens through a special process called the Triple-alpha process. His idea helped scientists understand how carbon, which is essential for life, is made inside stars.

The Bethe-Salpeter Equation

Working with another famous scientist named Hans Bethe, Salpeter helped create the Bethe–Salpeter equation in 1951. This equation is used in quantum field theory. It helps scientists understand how tiny particles interact with each other.

The Salpeter Initial Mass Function

In 1955, he discovered something called the initial mass function (IMF), also known as the Salpeter function. This function shows how many stars of different sizes are born in our Galaxy. It tells us that there are many more small stars than very large ones. The number of stars quickly goes down as their mass gets bigger.

Black Holes and Quasars

In 1964, Salpeter and another scientist, Yakov B. Zel'dovich, had a groundbreaking idea. They suggested that the huge amounts of energy coming from quasars are caused by accretion discs around massive black holes. Quasars are some of the brightest objects in the universe. This idea is now the most accepted explanation for how these super bright objects work and why they shoot out powerful relativistic jets.

His Family Life

In 1950, Edwin Salpeter married Miriam (Mika) Mark. She was a neurobiologist and a professor at Cornell University, just like Edwin. She was also the head of the neurobiology department there for several years.

After Miriam passed away, the Society for Neuroscience created an award in her memory. The Mika Salpeter award celebrates scientists who have made great achievements in neuroscience and have also helped women advance in the field. Edwin and Miriam had two daughters, Judy and Shelley. Later, Edwin married Antonia Shouse.

Awards and Recognition

Edwin Salpeter received many important awards for his scientific work:

• Carnegie Institution for Science Award for Research in Astrophysics (1959)
• Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1973)
• Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1974)
• J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize (1974)
• Karl Schwarzschild Medal (1985)
• Bruce Medal (1987)
• Dirac Medal (1996)
• Crafoord Prize (with Fred Hoyle) (1997)
• Hans Bethe Prize (1999)