Simon Pasternack (1914–January 26, 1976) was a North American theoretical physicist and editor of ''Physical Review''. He is known for the Pasternack effect in the spectrum of hydrogen, which later became known as the

Lamb shift In physics, the Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb, is an anomalous difference in energy between two electron orbitals in a hydrogen atom. The difference was not predicted by theory and it cannot be derived from the Dirac equation, which pre ...

. Kramers–Pasternack recursion relations for the

fine structure In atomic physics, the fine structure describes the splitting of the spectral lines of atoms due to electron spin and relativistic corrections to the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation. It was first measured precisely for the hydrogen atom ...

and Bateman–Pasternack polynomials are also named after him.

Life

Pasternack graduated from

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, and obtained a PhD from

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

in 1939. His thesis was titled "Transition Probabilities of Forbidden Lines" and his doctoral advisor was William V. Houston. He held teaching positions in San Bernardino Valley College and

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, until joining the staff he joined the

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratories, United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, New York, a hamlet of the Brookhaven, New York, Town of Brookhaven. It w ...

from 1947 to 1951. He was also chairman of the

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP; ) is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the ...

(IUPAP), and editor of ''Physical Review'' from 1951. He shared the editorial board with Samuel Goudsmit as editor-in-chief, Pasternack being assistant editor. During this time, Pasternack and Goudsmit are known for having rejected

Theodore Maiman Theodore Harold Maiman (July 11, 1927 – May 5, 2007) was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser.Johnson, John Jr. (May 11, 2008). "Theodore H. Maiman, at age 32; scientist created the first L ...

's 1960 publication of the first working

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

. He had a son and two daughters. He died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 1976 in Blue Point, New York.

Research

During his thesis, Pasternack worked on the

of hydrogen. He came up in 1937 with a mathematical relation now know as Kramers–Pasternack recursion relation, named after him and

Hans Kramers Hendrik Anthony "Hans" Kramers (17 December 1894 – 24 April 1952) was a Dutch physicist who worked with Niels Bohr to understand how electromagnetic waves interact with matter and made important contributions to quantum mechanics and statistica ...

, who independently discovered them a year later. During this time, he also theorized a new effect given a discrepancy between the predictions of the

and the 1934 measurements by Robley C. Williams and Roswell Clifton Gibbs of the 2s level, which he published in 1938. This effect became known as the Pasternack effect. The effect was measured precisely by

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 ...

and Robert Retherford in 1947 and became known as the

. This discovery led to the development of

quantum electrodynamics In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the Theory of relativity, relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quant ...

. In 1939, he generalized the mathematical work of Harry Bateman, introducing what is now known as Bateman–Pasternack polynomials. Pasternack also worked in radiation and

neutron scattering Neutron scattering, the irregular dispersal of free neutrons by matter, can refer to either the naturally occurring physical process itself or to the man-made experimental techniques that use the natural process for investigating materials. Th ...

. His last paper in 1963 was on hydrogen-like wavefunctions, but after that Pasternack dedicated himself exclusively to editor duties.

Honors and awards

In 1999, two

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 ...

Editorial Offices was named after Goudsmit and Pasternack for their editorial work.

Notes

References

20th-century physicists Brookhaven National Laboratory staff California Institute of Technology alumni {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasternack, Simon 1914 births 1976 deaths