Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

that are concerned with the

observation Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...

of physical

phenomena A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

and

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

s. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and observations, such as experiments by

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

, to more complicated ones, such as the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

Overview

Experimental physics is a branch of physics that is concerned with data acquisition, data-acquisition methods, and the detailed conceptualization (beyond simple

thought experiment A thought experiment is an imaginary scenario that is meant to elucidate or test an argument or theory. It is often an experiment that would be hard, impossible, or unethical to actually perform. It can also be an abstract hypothetical that is ...

s) and realization of laboratory experiments. It is often contrasted with

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

, which is more concerned with predicting and explaining the physical behaviour of nature than with acquiring empirical data. Although experimental and theoretical physics are concerned with different aspects of nature, they both share the same goal of understanding it and have a symbiotic relationship. The former provides data about the universe, which can then be analyzed in order to be understood, while the latter provides explanations for the data and thus offers insight into how to better acquire data and set up experiments. Theoretical physics can also offer insight into what data is needed in order to gain a better understanding of the universe, and into what experiments to devise in order to obtain it. The tension between experimental and theoretical aspects of physics was expressed by James Clerk Maxwell as "It is not till we attempt to bring the theoretical part of our training into contact with the practical that we begin to experience the full effect of what Faraday has called 'mental inertia' - not only the difficulty of recognizing, among the concrete objects before us, the abstract relation which we have learned from books, but the distracting pain of wrenching the mind away from the symbols to the objects, and from the objects back to the symbols. This however is the price we have to pay for new ideas."

History

As a distinct field, experimental physics was established in

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the mid 15th century to the late 18th century. Histori ...

, during what is known as the

Scientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of History of science, modern science during the early modern period, when developments in History of mathematics#Mathematics during the Scientific Revolution, mathemati ...

, by physicists such as

Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Halen, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , ; ; also spelled Huyghens; ; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution ...

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...

and Sir

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

. In the early 17th century, Galileo made extensive use of experimentation to validate physical theories, which is the key idea in the modern scientific method. Galileo formulated and successfully tested several results in dynamics, in particular the law of

inertia Inertia is the natural tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes the velocity to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newto ...

, which later became the first law in

Newton's laws of motion Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws, which provide the basis for Newtonian mechanics, can be paraphrased as follows: # A body re ...

. In Galileo's '' Two New Sciences'', a dialogue between the characters Simplicio and Salviati discuss the motion of a ship (as a moving frame) and how that ship's cargo is indifferent to its motion. Huygens used the motion of a boat along a Dutch canal to illustrate an early form of the conservation of

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...

. Experimental physics is considered to have reached a high point with the publication of the '' Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' in 1687 by Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727). In 1687, Newton published the ''Principia'', detailing two comprehensive and successful physical laws:

, from which arise

classical mechanics Classical mechanics is a Theoretical physics, physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of Machine (mechanical), machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics inv ...

; and

Newton's law of universal gravitation Newton's law of universal gravitation describes gravity as a force by stating that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that is Proportionality (mathematics)#Direct proportionality, proportional to the product ...

, which describes the fundamental force of

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

. Both laws agreed well with experiment. The ''Principia'' also included several theories in

fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

. From the late 17th century onward,

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

was developed by physicist and chemist Robert Boyle, Thomas Young, and many others. In 1733,

Daniel Bernoulli Daniel Bernoulli ( ; ; – 27 March 1782) was a Swiss people, Swiss-France, French mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly remembered for his applicati ...

used statistical arguments with classical mechanics to derive thermodynamic results, initiating the field of

statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...

. In 1798,

Benjamin Thompson Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 175321 August 1814), was an American-born British military officer, scientist and inventor. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he sup ...

(Count Rumford) demonstrated the conversion of mechanical work into heat, and in 1847 James Prescott Joule stated the law of conservation of

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

, in the form of heat as well as mechanical energy.

Ludwig Boltzmann Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann ( ; ; 20 February 1844 – 5 September 1906) was an Austrian mathematician and Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics and the statistical ex ...

, in the nineteenth century, is responsible for the modern form of

. Besides classical mechanics and thermodynamics, another great field of experimental inquiry within physics was the nature of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

. Observations in the 17th and eighteenth century by scientists such as Boyle, Stephen Gray, and

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

created a foundation for later work. These observations also established our basic understanding of

electrical charge Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and current. By 1808

John Dalton John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He introduced the atomic theory into chemistry. He also researched Color blindness, colour blindness; as a result, the umbrella term ...

had discovered that atoms of different elements have different weights and proposed the modern theory of the atom. It was

Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted (; 14 August 1777 – 9 March 1851), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Oersted ( ), was a Danish chemist and physicist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields. This phenomenon is known as ...

who first proposed the connection between electricity and magnetism after observing the deflection of a compass needle by a nearby electric current. By the early 1830s

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

had demonstrated that magnetic fields and electricity could generate each other. In 1864

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism an ...

presented to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

a set of equations that described this relationship between electricity and magnetism.

Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, Electrical network, electr ...

also predicted correctly that

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

is an

electromagnetic wave In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a self-propagating wave of the electromagnetic field that carries momentum and radiant energy through space. It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency or its inverse, wavelength, ...

. Starting with astronomy, the principles of natural philosophy crystallized into fundamental laws of physics which were enunciated and improved in the succeeding centuries. By the 19th century, the sciences had segmented into multiple fields with specialized researchers and the field of physics, although logically pre-eminent, no longer could claim sole ownership of the entire field of scientific research.

Current experiments

Some examples of prominent experimental physics projects are: *

Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC ) is the first and one of only two operating heavy- ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built. Located at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York, and used ...

which collides heavy ions such as

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

ions (it is the first heavy ion collider) and

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

s, it is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory, on Long Island, USA. *

HERA In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

, which collides

electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...

s or

positron The positron or antielectron is the particle with an electric charge of +1''elementary charge, e'', a Spin (physics), spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same Electron rest mass, mass as an electron. It is the antiparticle (antimatt ...

s and protons, and is part of DESY, located in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany. * LHC, or the Large

Hadron In particle physics, a hadron is a composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong nuclear force. Pronounced , the name is derived . They are analogous to molecules, which are held together by the electri ...

Collider, which completed construction in 2008 but suffered a series of setbacks. The LHC began operations in 2008, but was shut down for maintenance until the summer of 2009. It is the world's most energetic collider upon completion, it is located at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

, on the French-Swiss border near

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. The collider became fully operational March 29, 2010 a year and a half later than originally planned. * LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Currently two LIGO observatories exist: LIGO Livingston Observatory in Livingston, Louisiana, and LIGO Hanford Observatory near Richland, Washington. * JWST, or the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021. It will be the successor to the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

. It will survey the sky in the infrared region. The main goals of the JWST will be in order to understand the initial stages of the universe, galaxy formation as well as the formations of stars and planets, and the origins of life. * Mississippi State Axion Search (2016 completion), Light Shining Through a Wall Experiment (LSW); EM Source: .7m, 50W continuous radio wave emitterThe Construction of Mississippi State Axion Search
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Method

Experimental physics uses two main methods of experimental research,

controlled experiments A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable (i.e. confounding variables). This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between ...

, and natural experiments. Controlled experiments are often used in

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which science, scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as s ...

as laboratories can offer a controlled environment. Natural experiments are used, for example, in

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

when observing celestial objects where control of the variables in effect is impossible.

Famous experiments

Famous experiments include: * Bell test experiments *

Cavendish experiment The Cavendish experiment, performed in 1797–1798 by English scientist Henry Cavendish, was the first experiment to measure the force of gravity between masses in the laboratory and the first to yield accurate values for the gravitational cons ...

Chicago Pile-1 Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1 during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The secret development of the react ...

* Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment * Davisson–Germer experiment * Delayed-choice quantum eraser * Double-slit experiment * Eddington experiment * Eötvös experiment * Fizeau experiment * Foucault pendulum * Franck–Hertz experiment * Geiger–Marsden experiment * Gravity Probe A and Gravity Probe B * Hafele–Keating experiment * Homestake experiment * Kite experiment * Oil drop experiment * Michelson–Morley experiment * Rømer's determination of the speed of light * Stern–Gerlach experiment * Torricelli's experiment * Wu experiment

Experimental techniques

Some well-known experimental techniques include: *

Crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...

* Ellipsometry * Faraday cage *

Interferometry Interferometry is a technique which uses the ''interference (wave propagation), interference'' of Superposition principle, superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important inves ...

NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which atomic nucleus, nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near and far field, near field) and respond by producing ...

Laser cooling Laser cooling includes several techniques where atoms, molecules, and small mechanical systems are cooled with laser light. The directed energy of lasers is often associated with heating materials, e.g. laser cutting, so it can be counterintuit ...

* Laser spectroscopy *

Raman spectroscopy Raman spectroscopy () (named after physicist C. V. Raman) is a Spectroscopy, spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Ra ...

Signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, Scalar potential, potential fields, Seismic tomograph ...

Spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

* STM * Vacuum technique *

X-ray spectroscopy X-ray spectroscopy is a general term for several Spectroscopy, spectroscopic techniques for characterization of materials by using x-ray radiation. Characteristic X-ray spectroscopy When an electron from the inner shell of an atom is excited b ...

* Inelastic neutron scattering

Prominent experimental physicists

Famous experimental physicists include: *

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

(c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) * Alhazen (965–1039) * Al-Biruni (973–1043) * Al-Khazini (fl. 1115–1130) *

(1564–1642) *

Evangelista Torricelli Evangelista Torricelli ( ; ; 15 October 160825 October 1647) was an Italian people, Italian physicist and mathematician, and a student of Benedetto Castelli. He is best known for his invention of the barometer, but is also known for his advances i ...

(1608–1647) * Robert Boyle (1627–1691) *

(1629–1695) *

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath who was active as a physicist ("natural philosopher"), astronomer, geologist, meteorologist, and architect. He is credited as one of the first scientists to investigate living ...

(1635–1703) *

(1643–1727) * Ole Rømer (1644–1710) * Stephen Gray (1666–1736) *

(1700-1782) *

(1706–1790) * Laura Bassi (1711–1778) * Henry Cavendish (1731–1810) *

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

(1733–1804) *

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...

(1738–1822) *

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and Power (physics), power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery a ...

(1745–1827) *

Pierre-Simon Laplace Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French polymath, a scholar whose work has been instrumental in the fields of physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and philosophy. He summariz ...

(1749–1827) *

(1753–1814) *

(1766–1844) * Thomas Young (1773–1829) *

Carl Friedrich Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; ; ; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist, who contributed to many fields in mathematics and science. He was director of the Göttingen Observatory and ...

(1777–1855) *

(1777–1851) *

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...

(1778–1829) * Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) *

(1791–1867) * James Prescott Joule (1818–1889) * William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907) *

(1831–1879) * Ernst Mach (1838–1916) * John William Strutt (3rd Baron Rayleigh) (1842–1919) *

Wilhelm Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; 27 March 1845 – 10 February 1923), sometimes Transliteration, transliterated as Roentgen ( ), was a German physicist who produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays. As ...

(1845–1923) * Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850–1918) *

Henri Becquerel Antoine Henri Becquerel ( ; ; 15 December 1852 – 25 August 1908) was a French nuclear physicist who shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Marie and Pierre Curie for his discovery of radioactivity. Biography Family and education Becq ...

(1852–1908) * Albert Abraham Michelson (1852–1931) * Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926) * J. J. Thomson (1856–1940) *

Heinrich Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism. Biography Heinri ...

(1857–1894) * Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858–1937) *

Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( ; ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, Radiochemistry, radiochemist, and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, ...

(1859–1906) * William Henry Bragg (1862–1942) *

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

(1867–1934) * Robert Andrews Millikan (1868–1953) *

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both Atomic physics, atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nu ...

(1871–1937) *

Lise Meitner Elise Lise Meitner ( ; ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission. After completing her doctoral research in 1906, Meitner became the second woman ...

(1878–1968) * Max von Laue (1879–1960) * Clinton Davisson (1881–1958) *

Hans Geiger Johannes Wilhelm Geiger ( , ; ; 30 September 1882 – 24 September 1945) was a German nuclear physicist. He is known as the inventor of the Geiger counter, a device used to detect ionizing radiation, and for carrying out the Rutherford scatt ...

(1882–1945) * C. V. Raman (1888–1970) *

William Lawrence Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg (31 March 1890 – 1 July 1971) was an Australian-born British physicist who shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics with his father William Henry Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by ...

(1890–1971) *

James Chadwick Sir James Chadwick (20 October 1891 – 24 July 1974) was an English nuclear physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935 for his discovery of the neutron. In 1941, he wrote the final draft of the MAUD Report, which inspired t ...

(1891–1974) *

Arthur Compton Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American particle physicist who won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiati ...

(1892–1962) * Pyotr Kapitsa (1894–1984) * Charles Drummond Ellis (1895–1980) * John Cockcroft (1897–1967) * Patrick Blackett (Baron Blackett) (1897–1974) * Ukichiro Nakaya (1900–1962) * Enrico Fermi (1901–1954) * Ernest Lawrence (1901–1958) * Walter Houser Brattain (1902–1987) * Pavel Cherenkov (1904–1990) * Abraham Alikhanov (1904–1970) *

Carl David Anderson Carl David Anderson (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American particle physicist who shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics with Victor Francis Hess for his discovery of the positron. Biography Anderson was born in New York Cit ...

(1905–1991) *

Felix Bloch Felix Bloch (; ; 23 October 1905 – 10 September 1983) was a Swiss-American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics with Edward Mills Purcell "for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and di ...

(1905–1983) * Ernst Ruska (1906–1988) *

John Bardeen John Bardeen (; May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American solid-state physicist. He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Houser Brattain for their inventio ...

(1908–1991) *

William Shockley William Bradford Shockley ( ; February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American solid-state physicist, electrical engineer, and inventor. He was the manager of a research group at Bell Labs that included John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brat ...

(1910–1989) *

Dorothy Hodgkin Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (née Crowfoot; 12 May 1910 – 29 July 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning English chemist who advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of biomolecules, which became essential for ...

(1910–1994) * Luis Walter Alvarez (1911–1988) * Chien-Shiung Wu (1912–1997) *

Willis Lamb Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. (; July 12, 1913 – May 15, 2008) was an American physicist who shared the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics with Polykarp Kusch "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum". Lamb was able to p ...

(1913–2008) * Charles Hard Townes (1915–2015) * Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958) * Owen Chamberlain (1920–2006) *

Nicolaas Bloembergen Nicolaas Bloembergen (March 11, 1920 – September 5, 2017) was a Dutch- American physicist and Nobel laureate, recognized for his work in developing driving principles behind nonlinear optics for laser spectroscopy. During his career, he was a ...

(1920–2017) * Vera Rubin (1928–2016) * Mildred Dresselhaus (1930–2017) * Rainer Weiss (1932–) * Carlo Rubbia (1934–) * Barry Barish (1936–) * Samar Mubarakmand (1942–) * Serge Haroche (1944–) * Anton Zeilinger (1945–) * Alain Aspect (1947–) * Gerd Binnig (1947–) * Steven Chu (1948–) * Wolfgang Ketterle (1957–) * Andre Geim (1958–) * Lene Hau (1959–)

Timelines

See the timelines below for listings of physics experiments. * Timeline of atomic and subatomic physics * Timeline of classical mechanics * Timeline of electromagnetism and classical optics * Timeline of gravitational physics and relativity * Timeline of nuclear fusion * Timeline of particle discoveries * Timeline of particle physics technology * Timeline of states of matter and phase transitions * Timeline of thermodynamics

References

External links

* {{Authority control