Pierre Victor Auger | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Pierre Auger (1959) | |
| Born | (1899-05-14)14 May 1899 Paris, France |
| Died | 24 December 1993(1993-12-24) (aged 94) Paris, France |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Known for | Air shower Cosmic rays Auger effect Auger electron spectroscopy Auger recombination |
| Awards | Kalinga Prize (1971) Three Physicists Prize (1967) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Académie des sciences (France) |
Pierre Victor Auger (French pronunciation:[oʒe]; 14 May 1899 – 24 December 1993) was a Frenchphysicist, born in Paris. He worked in the fields ofatomic physics,nuclear physics, andcosmic ray physics.[1] He is famous for being one of the discoverers of theAuger effect, named after him.
Pierre's father was chemistry professor Victor Auger. Pierre Auger was a student at theÉcole normale supérieure in Paris from 1919 to 1922, the year when he passed theagrégation of physics. He then joined the physical chemistry laboratory of the faculté des sciences of theUniversity of Paris under the direction ofJean Perrin to work there on thephotoelectric effect.
In 1926, he obtained his doctorate in physics from the University of Paris. In 1927, he was named assistant to the faculté des sciences of Paris and, at the same time, adjoint chief of service to l'Institut de biologie physico-chimique. Chief of work to faculty in 1934 and general secretary of the annual tables of the constants in 1936, he was named university lecturer in physics to the faculty on the first of November 1937. He was charged with, until 1940, the course on the experimental bases of thequantum theory within the chair of theoretical physics and astrophysics. He was also adjoint director of the laboratory of physical chemistry. He then occupied the chair of quantum physics and relativity of the faculté des sciences of Paris.
At the end ofWorld War II, he was named director of higher education from 1945 to 1948, which permitted him to introduce the first chair ofgenetics at theSorbonne, conferred uponBoris Ephrussi.
The process whereAuger electrons are emitted fromatoms is used inAuger electron spectroscopy to study the elements on the surface of materials.[1] This method was named after him, independently fromLise Meitner who discovered the process one year before in 1922, albeit in a different, and then controversial, context about the nature of the beta-rays versusCharles Drummond Ellis.[2][3]
In his work withcosmic rays, he found that the cosmic radiation events were coincident in time meaning that they were associated with a single event, anair shower. He estimated that the energy of the incoming particle that creates large air showers must be at least 1015electronvolts (eV) = 106 particles of 108 eV (critical energy in air) and a factor of ten for energy loss from traversing the atmosphere.[1][4]
