Claude Bloch (18 March 1923 – 29 December 1971) was a French theoretical nuclear physicist. He authored over 60 published articles and made significant impact on the fields of
quantum field theory,
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
, and the
many-body problem
The many-body problem is a general name for a vast category of physical problems pertaining to the properties of microscopic systems made of many interacting particles. ''Microscopic'' here implies that quantum mechanics has to be used to provid ...
.
Bloch was born on 18 March 1923 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. He was admitted to the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
in 1942 and graduated first in his class. He entered the
Corps des Mines
The ''Corps des mines'' is the foremost technical Grand Corps of the French State (grands corps de l'Etat). It is composed of the state industrial engineers. The Corps is attached to the French Ministry of Economy and Finance. Its purpose is to e ...
in 1946. He studied at the
Bohr Institute in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
from 1948-1951 where he worked on the problems in the non-local theory of quantum fields. He worked at the
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
in 1952-1953 where he worked on the statistical theory of the nucleus. Upon returning to France in 1953, he joined the
Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique
A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries.
In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary.
In some ...
(CEA), where he stayed until his death in 1971. While at the CEA, he directed the theoretical physics department at Centre d'Études Nucléaires de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette.
See also
*
Bloch–Messiah decomposition
References
External links
*Biography:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloch, Claude
1923 births
1971 deaths
French nuclear physicists
Scientists from Paris
École Polytechnique alumni
Corps des mines
University of Copenhagen alumni