OTTO STERN February 17, 1888 - August 17, 1969

Nobel Prize Winner1944

Brought to you by: Rachel MillerPHY 240

Where did this guy come from?

• Otto was born in Zary, Poland… formerly known as Sohrau, Germany

How did Otto get so smart?!

• Otto attended high school in Breslau, Germany after moving there with his parents

• After high school, Otto continued his education at the University of Breslau in 1906

• Just six years later he graduated with a Ph. D in physical chemistry

Hanging with our pal Einstein…

• Following Otto’s graduation he joined Einstein at the University of Prague… and again, followed him to the University of Zurich

While at the University of Zurich…

• Otto became the lecturer of Physical Chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1913.

Working with Al…

• During his time with Einstein they wrote a 1913 paper together on the zero-point energy of a harmonic oscillator.

Quickly changing…

• In 1914 Stern relocated to the University of Frankfurt am Main as lecturer of Theoretical Physics, remaining there until 1921

• Slightly interrupted by serving in the Military…1914-1918

Getting the Professor title…

• In 1921 Stern was finally named a Professor at the University of Rostock in 1921…

• Soon after he left in 1923 to work at the newly founded Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Hamburg

Driven from home…

• Stern, being Jewish, left Germany when the Nazi regime took power in 1933…

• Thus landing him in the United States to continue his work

Coming to America ….

• Once in the United States, Stern was named Research Professor of Physics at the Carnegie Institute of Technology

• Later earning professor emeritus (retired but with an honorary title) in 1945 at the University of California, Berkeley

Why do we care about Stern?

• For his help in the development of the molecular ray method and for his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton

Molecular ray method…• Stern and Walther Gerlach experimented with

molecular-beams Hamburg in the early 1920s.

• They conducted the experiment by shooting a beam of silver atoms through a nonuniform magnetic field onto a glass plate

The beam separated into 2 beams, confirming the space quantization theory, that atoms can position themselves in a B field in only in a few directions (2 for Silver), as

opposed to any direction, like we thought from classical physics

Magnetic Moment of the proton…

• Stern discovered the magnetic moment (strength of a subatomic particle’s magnetic property) of the proton by using a molecular beam, from his original experimenting

• He established that it was really about 2 1/2 times the theoretical value.

One last contribution…

• Stern contributed in the discovery of spin quantization while working with Gerlach on the magnetic moment of a proton

• He was not recognized with the Nobel Prize for this award, but I recognized this when we studied the angular momentum of electrons

What did he get for all of his hard work?!

• Stern was awarded the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physics

• Fun facts… He was the first person awarded since 1939, he was the only person to receive a Physics award for the year, and the committee held his award for one year. He officially received his reward in 1944.

Sources:http://www.nndb.com/people/740/000099443/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1943/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/565746/Otto-Stern