Felix Hans Boehm (June 9, 1924,
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
– May 25, 2021,
Altadena, California
Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...
)
was a Swiss-American experimental physicist, known for his research on
weak interaction
In nuclear physics and particle physics, the weak interaction, which is also often called the weak force or weak nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions, with the others being electromagnetism, the strong interaction, ...
s,
parity violation
In physics, a parity transformation (also called parity inversion) is the flip in the sign of ''one'' spatial coordinate. In three dimensions, it can also refer to the simultaneous flip in the sign of all three spatial coordinates (a point refle ...
, and
neutrino
A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) is a fermion (an elementary particle with spin of ) that interacts only via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass ...
physics.
Biography
He had four brothers and both his father and his paternal grandfather were in the publishing business. Felix Boehm completed his ''
Matura
or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...
'' in 1943 and was drafted into Swiss army, which allowed him to study physics part-time at the
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...
. In the autumn of 1943 he matriculated at
ETH Zurich
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
. There he took several classes from
Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (; ; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics fo ...
and graduated in physics with his ''
Diplom
A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus ...
'' in 1948 and his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
in 1951
with doctoral advisor
Paul Scherrer
Paul Hermann Scherrer (3 February 1890 – 25 September 1969) was a Swiss physicist. Born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, he studied at Göttingen, Germany, before becoming a lecturer there. Later, Scherrer became head of the Department of Physics ...
. Boehm worked as an assistant to Scherrer from 1951 to March 1952 and then went as a Boese Fellow to
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he studied with
C. S. Wu for a year and a half. As a postdoctoral research fellow he went in July 1953 to
Caltech
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 ...
, where he studied with
Jesse DuMond and
Charles Lauritsen
Charles Christian Lauritsen (April 4, 1892 – April 13, 1968) was a Danish/American physicist.
Early life and career
Lauritsen was born in Holstebro, Denmark and studied architecture at the Odense Tekniske Skole, graduating in 1911. In 191 ...
. In 1957 Boehm married Ruth Sommerhalder, whom he met in 1956 at a social occasion at the Swiss consulate in Los Angeles.
[ At Caltech he became in 1958 an assistant professor, in 1961 a full professor at Caltech,][ in 1985 William L. Valentine Professor of Physics,][ and in 1995 professor emeritus in retirement. In 1960 he played an essential role in bringing ]Rudolf Mössbauer
Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer (German spelling: ''Mößbauer''; ; 31 January 1929 – 14 September 2011) was a German physicist best known for his 1957 discovery of ''recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence'' for which he was awarded the 1961 Nobe ...
to the California Institute of Technology.[ In 1961 Boehm was awarded a 2-year ]Sloan Research Fellowship
The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States.
...
.
He held visiting positions in 1957/58 at the University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
(at the invitation of Jensen),[ 1965/66 at the ]University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
, in 1971/72 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 a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
, and in 1979/80 at the Institut Laue-Langevin
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes can ...
in Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
,[ where he also worked with scientists from the ]Paul Scherrer Institute
The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is a multi-disciplinary research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland. It is located in the Canton of Aargau in the municipalities Villigen and Würenlingen on either side of the River A ...
. He was a visiting professor in 1980 at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
and 1981 at ETH Zurich.[ (Years earlier he had turned down an offer of a professorship at ETH in favor of Caltech.)][
In the 1950s Boehm worked on experiments on ]parity violation
In physics, a parity transformation (also called parity inversion) is the flip in the sign of ''one'' spatial coordinate. In three dimensions, it can also refer to the simultaneous flip in the sign of all three spatial coordinates (a point refle ...
and experimentally confirmed the violation first reported by C. S. Wu. In 1956 Boehm and Aaldert Wapstra made the confirmation by measuring the circular polarization of gamma rays in beta decay. At Caltech Boehm came into contact with the theorists Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
and Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...
. Boehm did research on X-ray spectroscopy in nuclear physics, specifically, isotope shift of K-shell electrons and then experiments involving muons at CERN and at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility
The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), formerly known as the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF), is one of the world's most powerful linear accelerators. It is located in Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico in Technical Ar ...
(LAMPF). He collaborated with French and Swiss scientists on neutrino detection with an experiment set up in the Gotthard Tunnel
, it, Galleria del San Gottardo
, other_name =
, line = Gotthard Line
, location = Traversing the Saint-Gotthard Massif in the middle of the Swiss Alps
, coordinates =
, os_grid_ref =
, status =
, system ...
. For a number of years, he and his group also searched in vain for violations of time reversal invariance in nuclear physics (but found upper bounds for such violations). At Caltech he did research on double beta decay
In nuclear physics, double beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which two neutrons are simultaneously transformed into two protons, or vice versa, inside an atomic nucleus. As in single beta decay, this process allows the atom to move clos ...
.[ In 1969 and 1970 he and J. C. Vanderleeden found parity non-conservation in nuclear forces by measuring the circular polarization of gamma rays from unpolarized atomic nuclei. Beginning in 1970 he collaborated extensively with the theorist Petr Vogel.
In 1980 Boehm received the ]Humboldt Research Award
The Humboldt Prize, the Humboldt-Forschungspreis in German, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of G ...
.[ In 1983 he was elected a member of the ]National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
.
In 1995 he received the Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics
The Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics is an annual prize awarded by the American Physical Society's Division of Nuclear Physics. Established in 1964, and currently consisting of $10,000 and a certificate, the Bonner Prize was founded in memor ...
with citation:
In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
.
Upon his death in 2021 he was survived by his widow and their two sons.[
]
Selected publications
Articles
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Books
* 1st edition 1988
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boehm, Felix
1924 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American physicists
20th-century Swiss physicists
ETH Zurich alumni
California Institute of Technology faculty
Scientists from Basel-Stadt
Experimental physicists
Nuclear physicists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Swiss emigrants to the United States