Sulamith Goldhaber ( he, שולמית גולדהבר; November 4, 1923 – December 11, 1965) was a high-energy physicist and molecular spectroscopist. Goldhaber was a world expert on the interactions of K⁺ mesons with

nucleons In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number (nucleon number). Until the 1960s, nucleons we ...

and made numerous discoveries relating to it.

Biography

Goldhaber was born November 4, 1923, in Vienna, Austria. Goldhaber grew up in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

after her family emigrated out of Austria. She attended

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 ...

where she met her future husband,

Gerson Goldhaber Gerson Goldhaber (February 20, 1924 – July 19, 2010) was a German-born American particle physicist and astrophysicist. He was one of the discoverers of the J/ψ meson which confirmed the existence of the charm quark. He worked at Lawrence Be ...

. Goldhaber graduated with an M.Sc. in 1947, and was married to Gerson the same year. The Goldhabers moved to the United States to pursue doctorates at University of Wisconsin–Madison which they were awarded in 1951. The couple with their son Amos Nathaniel moved to Columbia University in New York City, where Gerson worked in the Physics Department, and Sulamith, despite her degree in physical chemistry, found work as an assistant to Jack Steinberger, working on what were then considered high energy experiments at the Nevis Laboratory of Columbia. Goldhaber became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1953. The Goldhabers moved to

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, California in 1953 when Gerson was given a job as an assistant professor at the University of California. While Goldhaber had previously worked in physical chemistry, she was able to transition to high energy physics and form a collaboration with her husband working on nuclear emulsion. The Goldhabers hoped to use their nuclear emulsion technique with the newly opened Bevatron — at the time the highest energy accelerator in operation — and it was through their methods that they observed some of the earliest interactions between K⁻ mesons and protons. Using the Bevatron and the nuclear emulsion technique Goldhaber was the first to observe mass splitting in charged E hyperons as well as the first nuclear interactions of the antiproton. In the 1960s the Goldhabers realized that they should begin using the bubble chamber to continue their studies instead of nuclear emulsion so they formed the "Goldhaber-Trilling Group" with

George Trilling George H. Trilling (18 September 1930 – 30 April 2020) was a Polish-born American particle physicist. He was co-discoverer of the J/ψ meson which evinced the existence of the charm quark. Trilling joined the Physics Department faculty at the ...

. Goldhaber quickly became a renowned expert in hydrogen bubble chamber physics, accruing a lengthy list of invited papers and conference talks. The Goldhabers were the first to measure the spin of the K* meson and the first to study the simultaneous production of pairs of resonant states. They also invented the

triangle diagram A ternary plot, ternary graph, triangle plot, simplex plot, Gibbs triangle or de Finetti diagram is a barycentric plot on three variables which sum to a constant. It graphically depicts the ratios of the three variables as positions in an equ ...

to aid in their research. Early in this period, the Goldhabers were both Ford Foundation fellows 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 ...

where they co-authored a CERN report together with B. Peters. Goldhaber was in high demand as a speaker at scientific conferences due to her mastery of her field, and her ability to express herself beautifully. Goldhaber gave a seminal talk on the production and interaction of heavy mesons and

hyperons In particle physics, a hyperon is any baryon containing one or more strange quarks, but no charm, bottom, or top quark. This form of matter may exist in a stable form within the core of some neutron stars. Hyperons are sometimes generically repre ...

at the 1956 Rochester Conference that marked the transition from cosmic ray based experiments to particle accelerator base experiments in the study of

strange Strange may refer to: Fiction * Strange (comic book), a comic book limited series by Marvel Comics * Strange (Marvel Comics), one of a pair of Marvel Comics characters known as The Strangers * Adam Strange, a DC Comics superhero * The title char ...

particles. In the fall of 1965 the Goldhabers took a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

to travel around the world visiting high energy laboratories and giving lectures. They first stopped at Oxford for the biennial European conference on high energy physics, and then

so that Goldhaber could discuss methods of making automatic film measurements with Berkeley's Hough-Powell device. The Goldhabers then traveled to Ankara to lecture, and spent a month at the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli univ ...

in preparation for the lectures Sulamith was to give in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. In Madras Goldhaber suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. Exploratory surgery revealed a growing brain tumor. She died without having regained consciousness on December 11, 1965. Goldhaber had one son with her husband named Amos. She was remembered by her friends and colleagues as "a distinguished scientist, a remarkable homemaker and hostess, and a devoted wife and mother".

Awards and honors

* Sigma Xi member * 1964-65

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

* 1960-61 Ford Foundation Fellow

References

External links

* Sulamith Goldhaber i
CWP at UCLA
* Luis Alvarez
Sulamith Goldhaber
in

Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brookli ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldhaber, Sulamith 1923 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American chemists 20th-century American physicists 20th-century Austrian scientists 20th-century American women scientists American women chemists American women physicists American physical chemists Austrian chemists Austrian physicists Austrian physical chemists Austrian women chemists Austrian women physicists Israeli chemists Israeli physicists Israeli physical chemists Israeli women chemists Israeli women physicists Experimental physicists Jewish physicists Jewish women scientists Scientists from Vienna People associated with CERN University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Austrian Jews 20th-century Israeli Jews Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Israeli emigrants to the United States Deaths from brain cancer in India Ford Foundation fellowships