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Encyclopedia > E. P. Wigner
E. P. Wigner
Eugene Paul Wigner (1902-1995)
Eugene Paul Wigner (1902-1995)
Born November 17, 1902
Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died January 1, 1995
Princeton, USA
Residence Germany, USA
Nationality Hungarian
American (post-1936)
Field Physicist
Institution University of Göttingen
University of Wisconsin
Princeton University
Alma mater Technische Hochschule Berlin
Academic advisor Michael Polanyi
Notable students John Bardeen
Victor Frederick Weisskopf Marcos Moshinsky
Known for Law of conservation of parity
Wigner D-matrix
Wigner-Eckart theorem
Notable prizes Nobel Prize in Physics (1963)
Religion Jewish

Eugene Paul Wigner (usually E. P. Wigner among physicists) (Hungarian Wigner Pál Jenő) (November 17, 1902January 1, 1995) was a Hungarian physicist and mathematician. Image File history File links Wigner. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nassau Street, Princetons main street. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ... Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey in the United States of America. ... The Central Institute for Modern Languages at the Technical University The Technical University of Berlin (TUB, TU Berlin, German: Technische Universität Berlin) is located in Berlin in Germany. ... Michael Polanyi (March 11, 1891 - February 22, 1976) was a Hungarian/ British polymath whose thought and work extended across physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. ... John Bardeen (May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American physicist and electrical engineer. ... Image File history File links Nobel. ... Weisskopf redirects here. ... Marcos Moshinsky (born April 20, 1921) is a Mexican physicist of Ukrainian origin whose work in the field of elementary particles won him the Prince of Asturias Prize for Scientific and Technical Investigation in 1988. ... In physics, a conservation law states that a particular measurable property of an isolated physical system does not change as the system evolves. ... Look up Parity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Parity is a concept of equality of status or functional equivalence. ... The Wigner-Eckart theorem is a theorem of representation theory and quantum mechanics allowing operators to be transformed from one basis to another. ... Image File history File links Nobel. ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... Leonhard Euler is considered by many to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is the person whose primary area of study and research is the field of mathematics. ...


He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles". Wigner was sometimes referred to as the Silent Genius as some of his contemporaries considered him the intellectual equal to Einstein, without the prominence. Wigner is famous for laying the foundation for the theory of symmetries in quantum mechanics as well as for his research into atomic nuclei, and for his several theorems. Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Fig. ... A semi-accurate depiction of the helium atom. ...

Contents

Early life

Wigner was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary) to a Jewish middle-class family. At age 11, he was thought possibly to have contracted tuberculosis, and was sent for six weeks to a sanitorium in the Austrian mountains. During this period he began to develop an interest in mathematical problems. From 1915 till 1919, concurrently with John von Neumann, Wigner studied at the Lutheran Fasori Evangélikus Gimnázium where they both greatly benefited from encouragement by the legendary mathematics teacher László Rátz. In 1919, to escape the Bela Kun communist regime, the family briefly moved to Austria, returning after the downfall of the Kun government. Partly as a reaction to the prominent presence of Jews in the Kun regime, the family converted to Lutheranism [1]. In 1921, Wigner studied chemical engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Berlin (today the Technische Universität Berlin). He also attended the Wednesday afternoon colloquia of the German Physical Society. These colloquia featured such luminaries as Max Planck, Max von Laue, Rudolf Ladenburg, Werner Heisenberg, Walther Nernst, Wolfgang Pauli and — most of all — Albert Einstein. Wigner also met physicist Leó Szilárd, who at once became Wigner's closest friend. A third experience in Berlin was formative. Wigner worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, and there met Michael Polanyi, who would become, after László Rátz, Wigner's greatest teacher. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for Tubercle Bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by the mycobacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Mycobacterium bovis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system, lymphatic system, circulatory system, genitourinary system, bones, joints, and even the... John von Neumann (Hungarian Margittai Neumann János Lajos) (born December 28, 1903 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary; died February 8, 1957 in Washington D.C., United States) was a Hungarian-born mathematician and polymath who made contributions to quantum physics, functional analysis, set theory, topology, economics, computer science, numerical analysis... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... Fasori Gimnázium (lit. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, known today as the father of geometry; shown here in a detail of The School of Athens by Raphael. ... la Kun B la Kun (February 20, 1886 - 1939?) was a Hungarian Communist who ruled Hungary for a brief time in 1919. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for full calendar). ... The Central Institute for Modern Languages at the Technical University The Technical University of Berlin (TUB, TU Berlin, German: Technische Universität Berlin) is located in Berlin in Germany. ... The Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG) is a worldwide operating physics organization. ... Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (April 23, 1858 – October 4, 1947) was a German physicist. ... Max von Laue (October 9, 1879 - April 24, 1960) was a German physicist, who studied under Max Planck. ... Werner Karl Heisenberg (December 5, 1901 – February 1, 1976) was a celebrated German physicist and Nobel laureate, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, and acknowledged to be one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century. ... Walther Nernst. ... This article is about Austrian-Swiss physicist Wolfgang Pauli. ... Albert Einstein ( ) (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely considered one of the greatest physicists of all time. ... Leó Szilárd (February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964 Originaly Szilárd Leó) was a Hungarian-American physicist who conceived the nuclear chain reaction and worked on the Manhattan Project. ... Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (in German Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft) was the name of a number of scientific institutes in Germany before World War II. After 1945 they were re-organised and renamed as Max Planck Institutes. ... Michael Polanyi (March 11, 1891 - February 22, 1976) was a Hungarian/ British polymath whose thought and work extended across physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. ...


Middle years

In the late 1920s, Wigner deeply explored the field of quantum mechanics. A period at Göttingen as an assistant to the great mathematician David Hilbert proved a disappointment, as Hilbert was no longer active in his works. Wigner nonetheless studied independently. He laid the foundation for the theory of symmetries in quantum mechanics and in 1927 introduced what is now known as the Wigner D-matrix.[2] It is safe to state that he and Hermann Weyl carry the sole responsibility for the introduction of group theory into quantum mechanics (they spread the "Gruppenpest"). See Wigner's 1931 monograph for a survey of his work on group theory. In the late 1930s, he extended his research into atomic nuclei. He developed an important general theory of nuclear reactions (see for instance the Wigner-Eckart theorem). By 1929, his papers were drawing notice in the physics world. In 1930, Princeton University recruited Wigner and Von Neumann, which was timely as the Nazi Regime in Germany emerged. In Princeton in 1934 Wigner introduced his sister Manci to the physicist Paul Dirac. They married, and the ties between Wigner and Dirac deepened. Fig. ... Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... David Hilbert (January 23, 1862, Königsberg, East Prussia – February 14, 1943, Göttingen, Germany) was a German mathematician, recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. ... Hermann Weyl Hermann Weyl (November 9, 1885 – December 8, 1955) was a German mathematician. ... Group theory is that branch of mathematics concerned with the study of groups. ... The 1930s (years from 1930-1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ... The Wigner-Eckart theorem is a theorem of representation theory and quantum mechanics allowing operators to be transformed from one basis to another. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS (IPA: [dɪræk]) (August 8, 1902 – October 20, 1984) was a British theoretical physicist and a founder of the field of quantum physics. ...


In 1936, Princeton did not rehire Wigner, so he moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There he met his first wife, a physics student named Amelia Frank. Yet she died in 1937, leaving Wigner distraught. On January 8, 1937, Wigner became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Princeton University shortly invited Wigner back, and he rejoined faculty in the fall of 1938. Though a professed political amateur, in 1939 and 1940 Dr. Wigner played a major role in agitating for the Manhattan Project, which would develop the first atomic bomb. However, he was by personal preference a pacifist. He would later contribute to civil defense in the US. In 1946, Wigner accepted a job as director of research and development at Clinton Laboratory (now Oak Ridge National Laboratory) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. When this did not work out especially well, Wigner returned to Princeton. 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The University of Wisconsin–Madison (also known as UW–Madison, Madison, University of Wisconsin, or UW) is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Naturalization is the process whereby a person becomes a national of a nation, or a citizen of a country, other than the one of his birth. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... The Manhattan Project resulted in the development of the first nuclear weapons, and the first-ever nuclear detonation, at the Trinity test of July 16, 1945. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... A combination of federal, state and private funds is providing $300 million for the construction of 13 facilities on ORNLs new main campus. ... Oak Ridge is an incorporated city in Anderson and Roane Counties in East Tennessee, about 25 miles northwest of Knoxville. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area  Ranked 36th  - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²)  - Width 120 miles (195 km)  - Length 440 miles (710 km)  - % water 2. ...


In appreciation of Professor Wigner, written 1987, Alvin M. Weinberg stated: "...this tract of Wigner’s [giving credit to his young collaborators] explains why so much, not only of reactor theory but of theoretical physics from 1930 to 1965 – though it may not bear Wigner’s name – actually has origin in a suggestion made or question asked by Professor Wigner." ...


Last years

In 1960, Wigner gave a thought-provoking insight into the power of mathematics in his best-known essay outside physics, now a classic paper, The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences. He argued that biology and cognition could be the origin of physical concepts, as we humans perceive them, and that the happy coincidence that mathematics and physics were so well matched, seemed to be "unreasonable" and hard to explain. Even so, he found resistance to this theory, notably by distinguished mathematician Andrew M. Gleason. In 1963, Wigner received the Nobel Prize in Physics. He professed never to have even considered the possibility that this might occur, and added: "I never expected to get my name in the newspapers without doing something wicked." He would later go on to win the Enrico Fermi award, and the National Medal of Science. In 1992, at the age of 90, he published a memoir, The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner with Andrew Szanton. Wigner died three years later in Princeton. One of his significant students was Abner Shimony. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... In 1960, the physicist Eugene Wigner published an article titled The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences, arguing that the way in which the mathematical structure of a physical theory often points the way to further advances in that theory and even to empirical predictions, is not a... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995) accepting the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetohydrodynamics [1]. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... Enrico Fermi (September 29, 1901 – November 28, 1954) was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, particle physics and statistical mechanics. ... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... Media:rofl. ... Andrew Szanton (born in Washington, D.C. in 1963) is an American collaborative memoirist. ... Abner Shimony (born 1928, Columbus, Ohio) is an American physicist and philosopher of science specializing in quantum theory. ...


Eugene Wigner was asked in the late 1970's 'Do you remember Rátz?', one of his teachers, to which he answered: 'There he is!' and pointed to a picture of Rátz on his office wall.


Near the end of his life his thought turned more philosophical. In his memoir, Wigner said: "The full meaning of life, the collective meaning of all human desires, is fundamentally a mystery beyond our grasp. As a young man, I chafed at this state of affairs. But by now I have made peace with it. I even feel a certain honor to be associated with such a mystery". He developed interest in the Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism, particularly with its ideas of the universe as an all pervading consciousness. In his collection of essays (Symmetries and Reflections- Scientific Essays), he commented "It was not possible to formulate the laws (of quantum theory) in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness". This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and ones environment. ...


Also in the realm of theoretics is the thought experiment, Wigner's friend paradox. It is often seen as an extension of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. The Wigner's friend experiment asks the question: at what stage does a "measurement" take place? Wigner designed the experiment to highlight how he believed consciousness is necessary to the quantum mechanical measurement process. Wigners friend is a thought experiment proposed by the physicist Eugene Wigner; it is an extension of the Schrödingers cat experiment designed as a point of departure for discussing the mind-body problem as viewed by the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. ... Schrödingers Cat: If the nucleus in the bottom left decays, the geiger counter on its right will sense it and trigger the release of the gas. ...


References

  • Alvin M. Weinberg, Eugene P. Wigner Physical Theory of Neutron Chain Reactors (University of Chicago Press, 1958) ISBN 0-226-88517-8
  • E. P. Wigner, Gruppentheorie und ihre Anwendungen auf die Quantenmechanik der Atomspektren, Vieweg Verlag, Braunschweig (1931). Translated into English: J. J. Griffin, Group Theory and its Application to the Quantum Mechanics of Atomic Spectra Academic Press, New York (1959).
  • Eugene P. Wigner, Symmetries and Reflections: Scientific Essays (MIT Press, 1970) ISBN 0-262-73021-9
  • Eugene Paul Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton The Recollecions of Eugene P. Wigner (Plenum, 1992) ISBN 0-306-44326-0
  • Eugene Paul Wigner, G. G. Emch, Jagdish Mehra (editor), Arthur S. Wightman (editor) Philosophical Reflections and Syntheses (Springer, 1997) ISBN 3-540-63372-3

Notes

  1. ^ Eugene Paul Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton The Recollecions of Eugene P. Wigner (Plenum, 1992) ISBN 0-306-44326-0
  2. ^ E. Wigner, Zeitschrift f. Physik, vol. 43, pp. 624-652 (1927)

See also

The Wigner semicircle distribution, named after the physicist Eugene Wigner, is the probability distribution supported on the interval [−R, R] the graph of whose probability density function f is a semicircle of radius R centered at (0, 0) and then suitably normalized (so that it is really a semi-ellipse... The Wigner quasi-probability distribution was introduced by Eugene Wigner in 1932 to study quantum corrections to classical statistical mechanics. ... There is a natural connection, first discovered by Eugene Wigner, between the properties of particles, the representation theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, and the symmetries of the universe. ... The Wigner effect (named for its discoverer, Eugene Wigner), also known as the discomposition effect, is the displacement of atoms in a solid caused by neutron radiation. ...

External links

Persondata
NAME Wigner, Eugene Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wigner, E. P. (professional name); Wigner Pál Jenő (Hungarian)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning physicist
DATE OF BIRTH November 17, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest, Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH January 1, 1995
PLACE OF DEATH Princeton, New Jersey, USA


 
 

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