Fritz Zwicky

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Fritz Zwicky (born February 14, 1898 in Varna , Principality of Bulgaria ; † February 8, 1974 in Pasadena , California ) was a Swiss physicist and astronomer who worked primarily at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Life

Zwicky was the son of a Swiss cotton merchant operating in Bulgaria. At the age of six he was sent to his grandparents in Glarus to start school. He later passed the Matura in Zurich with top marks. Between 1917 and 1925 he studied mathematics and experimental physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich , where he obtained his doctorate on the subject of the tear strength of rock salt monocrystals at different temperatures .

Equipped with a Rockefeller scholarship , he emigrated to Pasadena in 1925 to continue his studies at Caltech . He later gave lectures in atomic physics there as an assistant professor .

He devised numerous cosmological theories that made important contributions to our understanding of the universe today. In 1942 he was appointed professor of astronomy . He also worked as a consultant to the Aerojet Engineering Corporation between 1943 and 1961 and tested various fuels and materials to advance rocket technology for space travel . From 1948 he was also a member of the Mount Wilson Observatory and the Observatory on Mount Palomar .

In 1932 he married Dorothy Vernon Gates, who came from a well-known California family. That marriage ended by mutual consent nine years later. In 1947 he married Anna Margaritha Zürcher, 32 years his junior, in Switzerland. This second marriage resulted in three daughters.

Fritz Zwicky died in Pasadena at the age of 75 and was buried in his home town of Mollis .

He loved the mountains and in his spare time was an enthusiastic and ambitious mountaineer. According to his fellow men, he should have been difficult to deal with. He advocated the construction of the US atomic bomb to forestall the German Reich , but condemned its use against Japan . Friedrich Dürrenmatt was fascinated by Zwicky, and he served him as a model for the character Möbius in the tragic comedy Die Physiker .

plant

The memorial plaque on the house where he was born in Varna: This is where Fritz Zwicky, the astronomer who discovered neutron stars and dark matter, was born.

As a pioneer of new astronomical ideas, Zwicky provided important insights into extragalactic star systems . He discovered the compact galaxies , in 1938 he was the first to hypothesize that supernova explosions are the result of a gravitational collapse , and for this purpose, together with Walter Baade, founded the theory that supernovae could produce neutron stars . Furthermore, in 1933 he was the first to apply the virial theorem to galaxy clusters and thus concluded that dark matter existed . In the same year he made his first thoughts on the appearance of galaxies as gravitational lenses , after Einstein had only thought of stars with this effect and therefore considered it too small to be observable. Zwicky discovered a total of 123 supernovae, more than any other individual astronomer to date. The prediction that the Crab Nebula was the remnant of the supernova of 1054 observed by Chinese astronomers can also be traced back to him . Zwicky suggested using supernova explosions as standard candles for measuring distances. Since the beginning of the 21st century, more work has been done to make this idea a reality. Fritz Zwicky also suggested explaining the redshift of the galaxies as a phenomenon of light fatigue . His model was later rejected entirely in favor of an explanation through cosmological expansion .

He also compiled the Catalog of Galaxies and of Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG).

On October 16, 1957 - eleven days after the launch of the first Soviet satellite Sputnik - Zwicky succeeded in using an Aerobee rocket and a directed explosive charge to create a globule about one centimeter in diameter as Artificial Planet No. To transport Zero into space in such a way that he no longer falls back to earth.

Zwicky was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1972. Since 1926 he was a fellow of the American Physical Society .

In addition to his astronomical activities, he dealt with the method of developing concrete products from ideas (see morphological analysis ) .

An asteroid , a moon crater and a dwarf galaxy are named after Fritz Zwicky.

Publications

  • Morphological research. Nature and change of material and spiritual structural relationships. (= Series of publications by the Fritz Zwicky Foundation. Volume 4). Baeschlin, Glarus 1989, ISBN 3-85546-038-8 .
  • Everyone a genius. The famous astrophysicist revolutionized our "way of thinking". (= Series of publications by the Fritz Zwicky Foundation. Volume 6). Baeschlin, Glarus 1992, ISBN 3-85546-058-2 .
  • Morphological Astronomy . Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1957.
  • Morphological research. Winterthur AG, Winterthur 1959. (New edition: (= series of the Fritz Zwicky Foundation. Volume 4). Baeschlin, Glarus 1989, ISBN 3-85546-038-8 )
  • Morphology of Propulsive Power. (= Monographs on morphological research. 1). Society for Morphology, Pasadena CA 1962.
  • Discover, invent, research in the morphological worldview . Droemer / Knaur, Munich / Zurich 1966.

literature

  • Alex Capus : sky striker. Twelve portraits . Knaus, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8135-0314-2 , pp. 184ff.
  • John Johnson Jr .: Zwicky; The Outcast Genius Who Unmasked the Universe , Harvard University Press 2019
  • Roland Müller: Fritz Zwicky: Life and work of the great Swiss astrophysicist, rocket researcher and morphologist (1898–1974). (= Series of publications by the Fritz Zwicky Foundation. Volume 3). Fritz Zwicky Foundation. Baeschlin, Glarus 1986, ISBN 3-85546-024-8 . (With a foreword by Bruno Stanek and a chapter: Fritz Zwicky and the Swiss national defense by Franz Aebi)
  • Roland Müller: Success with morphology (= series of the Fritz Zwicky Foundation. Volume 7). Baeschlin, Glarus 1993, ISBN 3-85546-057-4 (biography of Fritz Zwicky).
  • Alfred Stöckli, Roland Müller: Fritz Zwicky, astrophysicist. Genius with rough edges. A biography . NZZ Libro, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-03823-458-6 .

Trivia

According to research dated August 1, 2015, Shri Kulkarni used the "Zwicky" unit to assess the scientific excellence of astronomers. He complained that there are almost only micro-zwickies, milli-zwickies are rare.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Alex Capus: Himmelsstürmer: Twelve Portraits. Knaus-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8135-0314-2 , pp. 184ff.
  2. ↑ Genius, visionary, Glarus. In: Die Weltwoche . No. 48, November 26, 2009.
  3. ^ F. Zwicky: The redshift of extragalactic nebulae. In: Helvetica Physica Acta. Vol. VI, 1933, p. 110.
  4. ^ F. Zwicky: On the Masses of Nebulae and of Clusters of Nebulae. In: Astrophysical Journal. vol. 86, 1937, p. 217. doi: 10.1086 / 143864 .
  5. ^ Roland Müller: Fritz Zwicky. Life and work of the great Swiss astrophysicist, rocket researcher and morphologist. Verlag Baeschlin, Glarus 1986, ISBN 3-85546-024-8 , p. 427ff.
personal data
SURNAME Zwicky, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss physicist and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Varna , Principality of Bulgaria
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1974
Place of death Pasadena, California , USA