Hans Graßmann

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Hans Graßmann (born May 21, 1960 in Bamberg ) is a German physicist , author and entrepreneur.

Life

Hans Graßmann studied physics at the University of Erlangen . For his diploma thesis he and his supervisor Eckart Lorenz ( MPI Munich ) developed a calorimeter made of cesum iodide-thallium crystals, which was used in some physical experiments, including at CERN .

In 1984 Graßmann became a member of Carlo Rubbia's group of researchers who worked on the UA1 experiment at the European nuclear research center CERN in Geneva . In the same year he did his doctorate on his search for Leptoquarks ( Limits on Leptoquarks from missing energy and from muon events at the ppbar collider ).

He made contributions in the field of elementary particle physics and is the author of popular science books. Furthermore, he researches methods for the use of renewable energies and information processing alongside his teaching activities at the University of Udine .

The spin-off company Isomorph srl, founded in 2004 . should enable free research, financed by the economic use of its results. The financial gain should not be the main aim. Rather, according to Graßmann, research is the profit. In autumn 2007, Isomorph financed an interdisciplinary conference in Duino Castle on the subject of “Information theory in practice”, in which Valentin Braitenberg , Gregory Chaitin and Klaus Kornwachs took part.

Act

From 1988 Graßmann researched at the Fermilab . In 1990 he used data from the Tevatron to develop an analysis of the charge asymmetry in the decay of W particles. The Tevatron accelerator made it possible to derive results that were largely independent of experimental uncertainties from the decay properties of the W particles.

In the following years, Graßmann and other scientists at the Fermilab developed a new method to detect the top quark . In 1994 he managed, Giorgio Bellettini and Marina Cobal, to observe the top quark using this method. In 1995 the result was finally confirmed.

After the discovery of the top quark, Graßmann worked on the connection between information theory and physics. As Szilárd , Bennett and Landauer have shown, there must be a connection between information theory and physics, because in certain situations storing or erasing a bit has to dissipate energy . Nevertheless, neither classical information theory nor algorithmic information theory contain physical variables. Information theory uses the term “ entropy ”, but it is not about thermodynamic entropy, but an indication of the information density. It is Graßmann's endeavor to insert the existing concepts of information theory, such as “message” or “information quantity” into a new mathematical structure using Boolean and vector algebra.

Linear mirror

At the same time, he and his company "Isomorph" are working on the efficient use of renewable energies such as wind power and solar energy. The development of a wind turbine with a shell structure (partially static turbine) was scientifically successful, which , despite the economic advantage of low electricity costs, did not find any buyers in industry and which is now in competition with similar products from abroad; further development would be deficient. In 2006 a project began with a mirror system for the use of solar energy ( linear mirror ) which, due to its simplicity, can be financed without external partners. The prototype was put into operation in autumn 2008 and is delivering promising results. The Italian Physical Society Società Italiana di Fisica recognized the project as one of the best presentations on the linear mirror system by Alessandro Perst, a young scientist whose work is funded by Isomoroph. The SIF regularly awards two such prizes in each subject area.

Graßmann is the author of four popular science books. He goes a special way of the physics didactics in that he concentrates on the essence of the presented physical topics and tries to make them understandable. In addition, he criticizes - also in newspapers and interviews - contemporary phenomena such as the alienation of physics and everyday culture or the scientific enterprise, which in his opinion needs a reform so that young scientists have more opportunities. The tenor is to see physics idealistically, to do physics for the sake of physics. In 2011 he received the Nuclear-Free Future Award in the Solutions category.

Publications

  • H. Graßmann: Das Top Quark, Picasso and Mercedes Benz - or what is physics? , Rowohlt Berlin, 1997, ISBN 3-87134-328-5 .
  • H. Graßmann: Everything quark? A physics book , Rowohlt Berlin, Berlin, 2000, ISBN 3-87134-362-5 .
  • H. Graßmann: Thought and its future - from the peculiarity of humans , Hoffman and Campe, Hamburg, 2001, ISBN 3-455-09333-7 .
  • H. Graßmann: Knowledge of matter - physics for everyone. , Dumont, 2008, ISBN 978-3832180829 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Grassmann, Hans - Author profile . INSPIRE-HEP . Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  2. ^ S. Leone: Lepton charge asymmetry from W + - → lepton + - neutrino at the Tevatron collider . Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  3. ↑ F. Abe et al .: Lepton Asymmetry in W-boson decays from ppabr Collisions at sqrt (s) = 1.8 TeV . Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  4. ↑ M. Cobal, H. Grassmann, S. Leone: On exploiting the single-lepton event structure for the top search . Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  5. ↑ M. Cobal, H. Grassmann, G. Bellettini: Search for the top quark at CDF: Studying the structure of events with one lepton, a neutrino and jets . Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  6. ↑ F.Abe et al .: Identification of Top Quark using kinematic variables . Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  7. ^ H. Grassmann: On the mathematical structure of messages and message processing systems . Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ L. Szilárd: About the decrease in entropy in a thermodynamic system when intelligent beings intervene . Journal of Physics 1929; 53: 840–856, Berlin (habilitation thesis)
  9. ^ R. Landauer: Irreversibility and heat generation in the computing process , IBM Journal of Research and Development, vol. 5, pp. 183-191, 1961.
  10. ^ CH Bennett, The Thermodynamics of Computation - A Review , International Journal of Theoretical Physics, vol. 21, no.12, pp. 905-940, 1982.
  11. ^ F. Bet, H. Grassmann: Upgrading conventional wind turbines . In: Renewable Energy . 28, Issue 1, January 2003, Pages 71-78, August. doi : 10.1016 / S0960-1481 (01) 00187-2 .
  12. ^ H. Grassmann, F. Bet, G. Cabras, M. Ceschia, D. Cobai and C. DelPapa: A partially static turbine — first experimental results . In: Renewable Energy . 28, Issue 11, September 2003, Pages 1779–1785, August. doi : 10.1016 / S0960-1481 (03) 00061-2 .
  13. ^ H. Grassmann, F. Bet, M. Ceschia and ML Ganis: On the physics of partially static turbines . In: Renewable Energy . 29, Issue 4, April 2004, Pages 491-499, August. doi : 10.1016 / j.renene.2003.07.008 .
  14. ↑ FloDesign: FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp . Retrieved February 10, 2009.
  15. ^ Design for Cheaper Wind Power . Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  16. ^ A. Perst, H. Grassmann, The linear mirror for solar energy exploitation , submitted to Nuovo Cimento Letters on 30-12-2008.
  17. ^ Società Italiana di Fisica: Migliori comunicazioni 2008 . Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  18. ↑ Hans Graßmann: Lock the Desy! In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 1999 ( online ).
  19. ^ Johann Grolle: At the end of the Enlightenment? In: Der Spiegel . No. 47 , 1999 ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Graßmann, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist and author
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Bamberg