George Uhlenbeck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | George Eugene Uhlenbeck (1900-12-06)December 6, 1900 |
| Died | October 31, 1988(1988-10-31) (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | University of Leiden |
| Known for | Electron spin Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process Uehling–Uhlenbeck equation |
| Children | Olke C. Uhlenbeck |
| Awards | Oersted Medal (1955) Max Planck medal (1964) Lorentz Medal (1970) National Medal of Science (1977) Wolf Prize in Physics (1979) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | Columbia University MIT University of Michigan Rockefeller Institute Princeton University |
| Doctoral advisor | Paul Ehrenfest |
| Doctoral students | Max Dresden George W. Ford Emil Konopinski Edwin Albrecht Uehling Seth Putterman Wang Chengshu Harold Hwa-Ling Szu |
George Eugene Uhlenbeck (December 6, 1900 – October 31, 1988) was a Dutch-American theoreticalphysicist,[1] known for his significant contributions toquantum mechanics andstatistical mechanics. He co-developed the concept of electronspin, alongsideSamuel Goudsmit, in 1925. The formalization ofLangevin equation for theBrownian motion as astochastic process, is known as theOrnstein–Uhlenbeck process, derived in 1930 from his work withLeonard Ornstein.I. I. Rabi said that Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit's omission for theNobel Prize in Physics "will always be a mystery to me".[2]
George Uhlenbeck was the son of Eugenius and Anne Beeger Uhlenbeck. He attended the Hogere Burgerschool (High School) inThe Hague, from which he graduated in 1918.
He subsequently enteredDelft University of Technology as a student inchemical engineering. During the next year, he transferred toLeiden University, to study physics and mathematics, and he earned his bachelor's degree in 1920 (Dutch:Kandidaatsexamen). Uhlenbeck was then admitted byEhrenfest (a student ofBoltzmann's) to the Wednesday evening physics colloquium inLeiden. Ehrenfest became the most important scientific influence in his life. From 1922 to 1925 Uhlenbeck was the tutor of the younger son of the Dutchambassador inRome. While there, he attended lectures byTullio Levi-Civita andVito Volterra and met his longtime friend,Enrico Fermi. In 1923, Uhlenbeck received his master's degree from Leiden (Dutch:Doctoraalexamen).
He returned to Leiden in 1925 to become Ehrenfest's assistant. Ehrenfest assigned him to work with his graduate student,Samuel Goudsmit for a quick update on "what was currently happening in physics". In mid-September 1925, Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit introducedelectron spin, which posits intrinsicangular momentum for the electron. In 1927 Uhlenbeck earned his Ph.D. degree under Ehrenfest with his thesis titled: "Over Statistische Methoden in de Theorie der Quanta" ("On Statistical Methods in the Quantum Theory" ).[3]
Uhlenbeck married Else Ophorst inArnhem, Netherlands in August 1927. He received a doctorate from theLeiden University in the same year.
In 1927, Uhlenbeck took a position as an instructor in physics at theUniversity of Michigan inAnn Arbor, Michigan. He stayed there until 1935, when he succeededH. A. Kramers as a professor of theoretical physics inUtrecht. During his eight years in Ann Arbor, Uhlenbeck organized the noted "Summerschool" in theoretical physics.
In 1938, Uhlenbeck spent half a year as visiting professor atColumbia University inNew York City, and then he returned to Ann Arbor as a professor of theoretical physics during the next year. Because of the rise of Nazism in Europe, he and Else decided to leave his position in the Netherlands and return to America.
During part ofWorld War II, from 1943 through 1945, Uhlenbeck led a theory group at theRadiation Laboratory inCambridge, Massachusetts, which was doingradarresearch. In 1945, he returned to Ann Arbor, where he was named theHenry Smith Carhart Professor of Physics in 1954. In the year 1955 he occupied the Lorentz Chair at Leiden University.[4]Uhlenbeck remained in Ann Arbor until 1960, when he joined the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now theRockefeller University) in New York City as a professor and member of the institute.
Uhlenbeck developed the physical theory of theOrnstein–Uhlenbeck process.[citation needed]
He retired in 1971, but remained scientifically active until the early 1980s.
Uhlenbeck died on October 31, 1988, inBoulder, Colorado, at the age of 87.
Uhlenbeck received five honorary degrees. In addition, he received the Research Corporation award in 1953, the Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1955, theMax Planck Medal of the German Physical Society in 1964, theLorentz Medal of theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970, theNational Medal of Science in 1977, along with Goudsmit, and theWolf Prize in Physics in 1979.
In 1951 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[5] He was elected to the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences in 1955,[6] theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1957,[7] and theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1964.[8]
Uhlenbeck was a friend of many of the greatphysicists andmathematicians of his era, includingEnrico Fermi andOskar Klein.Abraham Pais called him "a supurb teacher. I never heard a man who could lecture with such clarity.[2]E.G.D. Cohen, a student of Uhlenbeck's, described his teacher:[9]
... [Uhlenbeck] often admonished me that rather than trying to be original, it was much more important to be clear and correct and to summarise critically the present status of a field in theEhrenfest tradition. He wisely observed that what is often of lasting value is not the first original contribution to a problem, but rather the final clearly and critically written survey. That is certainly what he did in this Brownian motion paper!
Describing Uhlenbeck's work, Cohen writes:
Uhlenbeck's papers are all relatively short and stand out by their conciseness, precision, and clarity, finely honed to a deeper understanding of a basic problem in statistical physics. They do not contain long formal derivations and are almost all geared to concrete problems. ... they were of a classic nobility, mathematical purity and clarity ... He felt that something really original one did only once – like the electron-spin--the rest of one's time one spent on clarifying the basics.
Cohen also comments on the high quality of Uhlenbeck's teaching:
He was an inspiring teacher. With superbly organised and extremely clear lectures, he laid bare for everyone to see the beautiful structure of statistical mechanics, based on the principles of the founding fathers,Maxwell,Boltzmann, and Gibbs. Thus he transmitted to a younger generation what he conceived to be the essence of the past and the way to the future. In doing so, he educated several generations of physicists in statistical mechanics in a style rare in this century.
