Myriam Sarachik | |
|---|---|
 Sarachik in 2019 | |
| Born | Myriam Paula Morgenstein (1933-08-08)August 8, 1933 Antwerp, Belgium |
| Died | October 7, 2021(2021-10-07) (aged 88) Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Barnard College (BA) Columbia University (MS,PhD) |
| Awards | L'Oreal-UNESCO Award (2005) Oliver E. Buckley Prize (2005) APS Medal (2020) National Medal of Science (2023) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | City College of New York |
| Thesis | Penetration of magnetic fields through superconducting lead films (1960) |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Garwin |
Myriam Paula Sarachik (August 8, 1933 – October 7, 2021) was a Belgian-born American experimentalphysicist who specialized in low-temperature solid state physics. From 1996, she was adistinguished professor of physics at theCity College of New York. She is known for the first experimental confirmation of theKondo effect in the 1960s.
Myriam Sarachik was born Myriam Paula Morgenstein on August 8, 1933, inAntwerp, Belgium.[1][2] Her parents, Sarah (Segal) and Schloimo Morgenstein, were Orthodox Jews[3] who were born in Poland. Her mother moved to Belgium as a child and her father moved in his mid-teens. Her parents met and married in Belgium. Her father worked as a diamond cutter and diamond dealer. Myriam had two siblings, an older brother Paul and a younger brother Henry. The primary language spoken at home was Yiddish.[4]
The family fled Belgium in 1940 due to theGerman occupation of Belgium during World War II.[1] At first they fled toCalais, France, but by the time they arrived it had already been invaded by Germany, so the family returned to Antwerp. In the process her older brother Paul became separated and was transported on a British ship for women and children fromDunkirk to England.[4] In 1941, after a year in Antwerp the family decided to try to escape the German occupation again. They took a train toParis and then with fake papers attempted to cross the border intoSpain.[4] While attempting to cross the border, the family was apprehended and interned inMerignac, a concentration camp near Bordeaux. They were then transferred to Camp de la Lande nearTours. The family escaped the same year and were smuggled across the border between German-occupied France andVichy France.[5]
After spending a few weeks inNice, the family took a train across thePyrenees Mountains into Spain and stayed inBilbao before sailing fromVigo to Cuba.[4] Sarachik spent the next five and a half years inCuba as a refugee, where she attended school and learned Spanish and English.[6] In 1947, Sarachik and her family were granted visas to enter the United States and they moved toNew York City.[6]
She graduated from theBronx High School of Science in 1950 and began studying atBarnard College the same year. Sarachik was awarded a B.A. in 1954.[5][7] She received her M.S. atColumbia University in 1957, and her Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1960,[8] where her advisor wasRichard Garwin.[9] Her Ph.D. research was on measuring the attenuation of a magnetic field byType-I superconducting films.[6] Her doctoral work provided an important experimental test forBCS theory by showing how the magnetic field penetration depth in superconducting lead depended on temperature. This led Sarachik to be able to deduce a value of thesuperconducting energy gap which agreed with the directly measured value[10] She published results from her doctoral research inPhysical Review Letters and theIBM Journal of Research and Development the same year as she received her doctorate.[11]
From 1962 to 1964 she held a postdoctoral appointment at theBell Telephone Laboratories. At Bell Laboratories she demonstrated that magnetic impurities in a non-magnetic metal, which form local magnetic moments, can cause the electrical resistance of the alloy to increase at low temperatures. As the temperature lowers, the resistance for most metallic materials will continue to decrease until it reaches a plateau. However, some anomalous metallic materials will have a minimum resistance after which the resistance will increase even as the temperature is lowered. Sarachik showed that there was a one-to-one correspondence between the presence of local magnetic moments and the minimum of the resistance in metallic materials.[10] Her experiments provided the first data that confirmed theKondo effect.[12]
Despite advice from mentors that becoming a housewife or part-time teacher might suit her better, Sarachik joined the physics department of the City College of New York as an assistant professor in 1964.[1][5][7][11] Three years later, in 1967, she was elevated to associate professor. In 1971, she became a full professor.[11] In 1996, City College honored her by naming her as distinguished professor of physics.
Sarachik's work was primarily in the field of low temperaturecondensed matter physics, in which she focused on molecularnanomagnets and novel phenomena in dilute two-dimensional electron systems.[13] Some of her research sought to understand themetal-insulator transition, or the conditions under which aninsulator can become aconductor. Experiments of this type must be performed nearabsolute zero.[7] Sarachik also researched thetransport and magnetic properties ofsemiconductors andquantum tunnelling.[14]
In 2020, Sarachik was awarded theAmerican Physical Society (APS) Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research for her "contributions to the physics of electronic transport in solids and molecular magnetism".[15][12] She was president ofAPS in 2003, and was awarded theOliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize in 2005.[16] In 2008, she was elected to the governing council of theNational Academy of Sciences.[17]
She was active in defending thehuman rights of scientists as a member and chair of the Committee on the International Freedom of Scientists of theAPS, a long-time member of the Human Rights of Scientists Committee of theNew York Academy of Sciences, and aboard member of theCommittee of Concerned Scientists.[18]
Sarachik received the following honors:[2]
In 1954, Myriam married Philip Sarachik, a professor of electrical engineering at New York University.[5][12] They had two children, Karen and Leah. In 1970, five-year-old Leah was kidnapped by Sarachik's housekeeper using the family car. The housekeeper's body was found 12 days later and Leah's body was found a month after that.[25][26]
Sarachik died on October 7, 2021, in Manhattan at the age of 88.[1]
