Kaplun building Racah Institute Givat Ram 2010

Giulio (Yoel) Racah ( he, ג'וליו (יואל) רקח; February 9, 1909 – August 28, 1965) was an Italian–Israeli

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

. He was Acting President of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

from 1961 to 1962. The crater Racah on the Moon is named after him.

Biography

Giulio (Yoel) Racah was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He earned his BA from the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

in 1930, and continued his studies at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

with

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

. In 1939, due to application of Anti-Jewish laws in Italy, Racah

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

. In the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, Racah served as deputy commander of the Israeli forces defending

Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( he, הַר הַצּוֹפִים ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ar, جبل المشارف ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or ) is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Je ...

. Racah died at the age of 56, apparently asphyxiated by gas from a faulty heater while visiting Florence.

Academic and scientific career

In 1937 Racah was appointed Professor of Physics at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. In 1939, after his move to Palestine, he was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at the

, He later became Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and finally

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

and acting President from 1961 to 1962, following Benjamin Mazar and succeeded by

Eliahu Eilat Eliahu Elath (Hebrew: אליהו אילת, born ''Ilya Menakhemovich Epstein''; 16 July 1903 – 21 June 1990) was an Israeli diplomat and Orientalist. In 1948 he became the first Israeli ambassador to the United States, and between 1950 and 195 ...

. The physics institute at the Hebrew University is named " The Racah Institute of Physics". Racah's research was mainly in the fields of

quantum physics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...

and atomic

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 ...

. He first devised a systematic general procedure for classifying the

energy level A quantum mechanical system or particle that is bound—that is, confined spatially—can only take on certain discrete values of energy, called energy levels. This contrasts with classical particles, which can have any amount of energy. The te ...

s of open shell atoms, which remains to this day the accepted technique for practical calculations of

atomic structure Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

. This formalism was described in a monograph coauthored by his cousin

Ugo Fano Ugo Fano (July 28, 1912 – February 13, 2001) was an Italian American physicist, notable for contributions to theoretical physics. Biography Ugo Fano was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Turin, Italy. His father was Gino Fano, a professo ...

(''Irreducible Tensorial Sets'', 1959).

Awards and recognition

In 1958, Racah was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

in exact sciences.

References

External links

Timeline
(at Racah Institute of Physics at Hebrew University)
Racah Crater">Link to Racah Crater
on Google Moon {{DEFAULTSORT:Racah, Giulio 20th-century_Italian_mathematicians 20th-century_Israeli_physicists 20th-century_Israeli_mathematicians.html" ;"title="20th-century Israeli physicists">20th-century Italian mathematicians 20th-century Israeli physicists 20th-century Israeli mathematicians">20th-century Israeli physicists">20th-century Italian mathematicians 20th-century Israeli physicists 20th-century Israeli mathematicians 20th-century Italian physicists Italian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Italian Zionists 20th-century Italian Jews University of Florence alumni University of Pisa faculty Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty Israel Prize in exact science recipients Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were mathematicians Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were physicists Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Scientists from Florence 1909 births 1965 deaths Jewish physicists Presidents of universities in Israel Italian refugees

Biography

Academic and scientific career

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links