Qu Qinyue | |
|---|---|
曲钦岳 | |
| Born | (1935-05-21)21 May 1935 (age 89) |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | Nanjing University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Nanjing University |
Qu Qinyue (simplified Chinese:曲钦岳;traditional Chinese:曲欽岳;pinyin:Qū Qīnyuè;Wade–Giles:Ch'ü Ch'in-yüeh) (born 21 May 1935) is a Chinese astrophysicist and writer. He is a professor and former president ofNanjing University. He is a pioneer ofhigh-energy astrophysics in China, and his research mainly focuses onpulsars,neutron stars,X-ray sources,γ-ray sources andquasars. In 1980 he was elected a member of theChinese Academy of Sciences.[1]
Qu Qinyue was born inMouping,Shandong. His father was a merchant and his mother a housewife. He received his early education at Yantai Jinglun Street Primary School. Later he attended Yantai No. 1 Middle School, Zhifu Middle School and Qingdao Jiao'ao Middle School, finally graduating from Lixian Middle School. He then finished his senior high school study atQingdao No. 1 High School.[2]: 301
In 1953 he enteredNanjing University, where he studied astronomy, mathematics and physics. His teachers included astronomerDai Wensai.[3] In his sophomore year he proposed a wall newspaper namedAcademic Garden, where he and his classmates posted their ideas for learning. He was also a good athlete, in 1956 his team broke the school record in the 4 × 100 m relay.[4]
After graduating in 1957, Qu became a teaching assistant of Nanjing University. In 1958 he took part in the development of China's firstsolar tower, and corrected an error in the design of image rotation mirror by a Soviet scholar. During theCultural Revolution, he was sent to work at a coal mine, and then at Liyang Farm.[4] He was unable to return to the university until 1971. After 1973, astrophysics research at Nanjing University was revived. Some of Qu's most important work was done in the late 1970s.[4]
Qu became a full professor in 1978, and a member of theChinese Academy of Sciences in 1980. In 1982 he became a member of Ministry of Education Science Textbook Compilation Committee and director of its Department of Astronomy.[2]: 302 From 1984 to 1997, he served as President ofNanjing University. In August 1990 he and five other university presidents (includingLu Yongxiang) cosigned a letter to the premierLi Peng, requesting more support on universities during the 8th five-year plan. The academic ranking of Nanjing University rose rapidly under his leadership.[5] In 1992 he was elected President of theChinese Astronomical Society, and in 1993 a member ofTWAS.[4]
In 1976, Qu and his colleagues developed statistical curves on pulsar energy loss rates, and suggested thatJP 1953 is a pulsar.[6] On 5 March 1979, an intenseburst of hard X-rays and γ-rays was recorded, and Qu's team analyzed itslight curve andenergy spectrum. They created a model for aneutron starbinary system, and provided detailed explanation of the observational data using the mechanism ofBremsstrahlung and Kruskal-Schwarzschild instability. Their work was reported at the 17th International Cosmic Ray Conference held in 1981.[7]
About the same time,Fang Lizhi, Qu Qinyue, Wang Zhenru and others proposed a theory that abnormal neutron stars, in which neutrons are in a state that their effective mass become zero or nearly zero, are a form of stars during their final period. They studied the stability of these stars, and suggested their maximum mass is approximately 4solar masses, about twice theTolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit. Their results demonstrated that meta-stable compact stars can exist.[8]
During the 1990s, Qu's team created new models to explain the relation between X-ray luminosity of plerionicsupernova remnants and rotational energy loss rates of their central supernova. They interpreted the special shapes of some supernova remnants, such asCTB109.SS 433 was another subject they studied, calculating physical characteristics and parameters of its infrared knots. His team also discussed a fourteenth century supernova's relationship with the γ-ray source2CG353+16. In 1993, Qu co-authored a textbook titledStellar Atmosphere Physics (《恒星大气物理》) with Wang Zhenru.[9]