Friedrich E. Wagner (born November 16, 1943, sometimes abbreviated as Fritz Wagner) is a German physicist and
emeritus professor
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
who specializes in
. He was known to have discovered the
high-confinement mode High-confinement mode, or H-mode, is an operating mode possible in toroidal magnetic confinement fusion devices mostly tokamaks, but also in stellarators.[magnetic confinement
Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with i ...]
in fusion plasmas while working at the
ASDEX tokamak in 1982. For this discovery and his subsequent contributions to fusion research, was awarded the
John Dawson Award
The American Physical Society gives out a number of awards for research excellence and conduct; topics include outstanding leadership, computational physics, lasers, mathematics, and more.
;David Adler Lectureship Award in the Field of Materials ...
in 1987, the
Hannes Alfvén Prize
The Hannes Alfvén Prize is a prize established by the European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics Division in 2000. The Prize is awarded annually by the European Physical Society at the EPS Conference on Plasma Physics for outstanding work in t ...
in 2007 and the
Stern–Gerlach Medal in 2009.
Life and career
Wagner was born in
Pfaffenhofen an der Roth
Pfaffenhofen an der Roth is a municipality in the district of Neu-Ulm in Bavaria in Germany. Its most famous son is Hermann Köhl, an aviation pioneer of the 1920s.
Geography
Pfaffenhofen lies along the river Roth. The village of Pfaffenhofen pr ...
in
Bavaria, Germany
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. He studied at the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Establis ...
and completed his doctorate in 1972. He then worked at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
from 1973 to 1974. At first, he worked on
low-temperature physics
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
, but switched to
plasma fusion research during the energy crisis of the time. In 1975, he started working for the
Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, IPP) is a physics institute investigating the physical foundations of a fusion power plant.
The IPP is an institute of the Max Planck Society, part of th ...
, and in 1986 he led the tokamak experiment
ASDEX.
In 1988, Wagner habilitated at
Heidelberg University
}
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, ...
and was given a teaching position there. He was then appointed honorary professor at the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Establis ...
. From 1989 to 1993, Wagner was project manager of the
Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator experiment.
In 1993, he became the director of the
Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, IPP) is a physics institute investigating the physical foundations of a fusion power plant.
The IPP is an institute of the Max Planck Society, part of th ...
and was Chairman of the Plasma Physics Department of the
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...
between 1996 and 2004. In 1999, he became full professor at the
Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald. From 2003 to 2005, he was head of the
Wendelstein 7-X
The Wendelstein 7-X (abbreviated W7-X) reactor is an experimental stellarator built in Greifswald, Germany, by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), and completed in October 2015.[European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...]
between 2007 and 2009.
Honors and awards
Wagner is an honorary member of the
Ioffe Institute
The Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (for short, Ioffe Institute, russian: Физико-технический институт им. А. Ф. Иоффе) is one of Russia's largest research centers specialized ...
at St. Petersburg and a fellow of the
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
and the
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
.
In 1987, Wagner was awarded the
John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research from the
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
.
In 2007, he received the
Hannes Alfvén Prize
The Hannes Alfvén Prize is a prize established by the European Physical Society (EPS) Plasma Physics Division in 2000. The Prize is awarded annually by the European Physical Society at the EPS Conference on Plasma Physics for outstanding work in t ...
from the
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...
for his contributions to fusion research by
magnetic confinement
Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with i ...
.
In 2009, he received the
Stern–Gerlach Medal, the highest honour for
experimental physics
Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and ...
awarded by the
German Physical Society
The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...
. He was awarded in honor of his work in high-temperature plasma physics and fusion research, especially for the discovery of self-organizing transport barriers (i.e. H-mode), which was groundbreaking for the mastery of fusion plasmas.
Publications
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Friedrich
Living people
1943 births
German plasma physicists
Technical University of Munich alumni
Fellows of the Institute of Physics
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Presidents of the European Physical Society