Gregory Breit | |
|---|---|
Григорій Брейт | |
 Photograph of Gregory Breit | |
| Born | Gregory Abramovich Schneider (1899-07-14)July 14, 1899 |
| Died | September 13, 1981(1981-09-13) (aged 82) Salem, Oregon, US |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
| Known for | |
| Awards | Franklin Medal (1964) National Medal of Science (1967) Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics (1969) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | |
| Doctoral advisor | Joseph S. Ames |
| Doctoral students | |
Gregory Breit (Ukrainian:Григорій Абрамовіч Шнайдер,Russian:Григорий Абрамович Шнайдер,romanized: Grigory Abramovich Shneider; July 14, 1899 – September 13, 1981) was an Americanphysicist born inMykolaiv,Russian Empire (nowMykolaiv,Ukraine).[1] He was a professor atNew York University (1929–1934),University of Wisconsin–Madison (1934–1947),Yale University (1947–1968), andUniversity at Buffalo (1968–1973).[2] In 1921, he wasPaul Ehrenfest's assistant inLeiden University.
He was born in the city ofMykolaiv in the family of the teacher Abram Schneider. After the death of his mother in December 1911, his father left for theUnited States of America. Until 1915, Gregory studied at the Mykolaiv Oleksandrivska gymnasium. In 1915, he followed his father toUSA. He studied atJohns Hopkins University: in 1918 he obtained a Bachelor degree, in 1920 a Master degree, and in 1921 he earned a PhD in physics. In 1921-1922, he worked as a researcher atLeiden University.In 1922-1923, he was a research fellow atHarvard University. From 1923 to 1924, he was an assistant professor at theUniversity of Minnesota. In 1925, while at theCarnegie Institution of Washington, Breit joined withMerle Tuve in using a pulsed radio transmitter to determine the height of theionosphere, a technique important later inradar development.[3]
Together withEugene Wigner, Breit gave a description ofparticle resonant states with therelativistic Breit–Wigner distribution in 1929, and withEdward Condon, he first described proton-proton dispersion. He is also credited with deriving theBreit equation.[4] TheBreit frame of reference is named after him.[5] He was one of the first to notice thezitterbewegung (jittery motion) in the solutions of theDirac equation.[6][7]
In 1934, together withJohn A. Wheeler, Breit described theBreit–Wheeler process. In 1939 he was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences. In April 1940, he proposed to theNational Research Council that American scientists observe a policy of self-censorship due to the possibility of their work being used for military purposes by enemy powers inWorld War II.[8]
During the early stages of the war, Breit was chosen byArthur Compton to supervise the early design of the firstatomic bomb during an early phase in what would later become theManhattan Project. Breit resigned his position in 1942, feeling that the work was going too slowly and that there had been security breaches on the project; his job went toRobert Oppenheimer, who was later appointed to scientific director of what becameProject Y, the design and testing of the weapon.
In 2014, experimentalists proposed a way to validate an idea by Breit andJohn A. Wheeler that matter formation could be achieved by interacting light particles ("Breit–Wheeler process").[9]
Breit was associate editor of thePhysical Review four times (1927-1929, 1939-1941, 1954-1956, and 1961-1963).
He was elected in 1923 a Fellow of theAmerican Physical Society.[10] He was awarded theFranklin Medal in 1964. In 1967, he was awarded theNational Medal of Science.[11]
