Professor Aleksander Jabłoński (born 26 February 1898 in Woskresenówka, in
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
, died 9 September 1980 in
Skierniewice
Skierniewice is a city in central Poland with 47,031 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously capital of Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Skierniewice County. The town is situate ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
) was a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
physicist and member of the
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...
. His research was in
molecular spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...
and photophysics.
Life and career
He was born on 26 February 1898 in Woskresenówka near
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Konstanty Gorski. In 1916, he started to study physics at the
University of Kharkiv
The Kharkiv University or Karazin University ( uk, Каразінський університет), or officially V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University ( uk, Харківський національний університет імені ...
.
During the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he served in the
Polish I Corps in Russia
Polish I Corps in Russia ( pl, I Korpus Polski w Rosji; russian: 1-й Польский корпус) was a military formation formed on 24 July 1917 in Minsk from Polish and Lithuanian personnel serving in the Western and Northern Fronts of the ...
. After the war he settled in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
in 1918. In 1919-1920 he fought for
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
against aggression by Soviet Russia (and was consequently decorated with the Polish Cross of Valour).
Jabłoński initially studied the violin at Warsaw Conservatory, under the virtuoso
Stanisław Barcewicz
Stanisław Barcewicz (16 April 18581 September 1929) was a noted Polish violinist, conductor and teacher. Although his repertoire included almost all of the classical and romantic violin literature, he was valued primarily for his interpretati ...
, but later switched to science.
He received a Ph.D. from the
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...
in 1930, writing a thesis ''On the influence of the change of the wavelength of excitation light on the fluorescence spectra''. He then went to Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
for two years (1930–31) as a fellow of the
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...
. He worked with Peter Pringsheim at the FWU and later with
Otto Stern
:''Otto Stern was also the pen name of German women's rights activist Louise Otto-Peters (1819–1895)''.
Otto Stern (; 17 February 1888 – 17 August 1969) was a German-American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics. He was the second most n ...
in Hamburg. In 1934 Jabłoński returned to Poland to receive
habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
from the University of Warsaw. His thesis was ''On the influence of intermolecular interactions on the absorption and emission of light'', the subject to which he would devote the rest of his life. He served as President of the
Polish Physical Society
The Polish Physical Society ( pl, Polskie Towarzystwo Fizyczne, PTF) is a professional scientific society of Polish physicists.
History
The Polish Physical Society was established during an organizational meeting on 11 April 1920 in Warsaw. Wład ...
between 1957 and 1961.
Jabłoński was a pioneer of molecular photophysics, creating the concept of the "luminescent centre" and his own theories of concentrational quenching and
depolarization
In biology, depolarization or hypopolarization is a change within a cell, during which the cell undergoes a shift in electric charge distribution, resulting in less negative charge inside the cell compared to the outside. Depolarization is esse ...
of
photoluminescence
Photoluminescence (abbreviated as PL) is light emission from any form of matter after the absorption of photons (electromagnetic radiation). It is one of many forms of luminescence (light emission) and is initiated by photoexcitation (i.e. photon ...
. He also worked on
pressure broadening
A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from emission (electromagnetic radiation), emission or absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of light in a narrow frequency range, ...
of
emission spectra
The emission spectrum of a chemical element or chemical compound is the spectrum of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation emitted due to an electron making a atomic electron transition, transition from a high energy state to a lower energy st ...
lines and was the first to recognize the analogy between pressure broadening and molecular spectra. This led to development of the quantum-mechanical pressure broadening theory.
Fluorescence is illustrated schematically with the classical
Jablonski diagram Jabłoński (Polish pronunciation: ; feminine: Jabłońska; plural: Jabłońscy) is a Polish surname derived from the noun ''jabłoń'' (''apple tree''). It appears in various forms when transliterated from Cyrillic alphabets.
People
* Aleksan ...
, first proposed by Jabłoński in 1933 to describe absorption and emission of light.
In 1946, he settled in
Toruń
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, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
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where he was appointed Head of the Faculty of Physics at the
Nicolaus Copernicus University Nicolaus is a masculine given name. It is a Latin, Greek and German form of Nicholas. Nicolaus may refer to:
In science:
* Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer who provided the first modern formulation of a heliocentric theory of the solar syst ...
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...
Marian Smoluchowski Medal
The Marian Smoluchowski Medal is a Polish annual science award conferred by the Polish Physical Society (''Polskie Towarzystwo Fizyczne, PTF'') for contributions in the field of physics.
Description
The medal was established in 1965 and is the hi ...
(1968)
*
Honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
of the
University of Windsor
, mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge
, established =
, academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada
, former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963)
, type = Public universit ...
(1973)
*Honorary degree of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (1973)
*Honorary degree of the
University of Gdańsk
The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language.
History
...