Saturday Science Lecture with Michael Ogilvie on Oppenheimer’s pre-war research and the rise of American quantum physics
Michael Ogilvie from the Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, will be hosting this Saturday's Science Lecture, "Oppenheimer’s pre-war research and the rise of American quantum physics"
J. Robert Oppenheimer, like Arthur Holly Compton, was one of the first great American quantum physicists. Before his academic research career gave way to his work on the Manhattan project, Oppenheimer worked on many aspects of quantum physics. We will discuss some of Oppenheimer’s lasting contributions to science, including the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, his work on molecular band structure, his research on the Lamb shift with his Nobel prize-winning student Willis Lamb, his work with his student Melba Phillips on the Oppenheimer-Phillips nuclear process, and his contribution to the theory of antiparticles.