Herbert Walther (physicist)

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Herbert Walther (born January 19, 1935 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein , † July 22, 2006 in Munich ) was a German physicist . He was director at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching .

Live and act

Walther studied physics at the University of Heidelberg , where he received his doctorate in 1962. After research work at the University of Hanover , where he completed his habilitation in 1968, at the "Laboratoire Aimé Cotton" (1969) of the CNRS in Orsay and at the " Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics " (1970) in Boulder , Colorado, he became a professor in 1971 at the University of Bonn and then in the same year full professor at the University of Cologne .

From 1975 until his retirement in 2003 he was Professor of Experimental Physics at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . He was one of the founding directors of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, which was founded in 1981 and emerged from the “Laser Research” project group of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics . He worked there until his death.

Walther's research was in the field of quantum optics , e.g. B. The work that led to the development of the “one-atom maser ” and high-resolution spectroscopy of ultra-cold ions trapped in Paul traps . In addition, his employees were engaged in experiments on the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, for example the quantum eraser . Walther is co-author of over 600 scientific papers.

Awards and honors

Walther has been a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences since 1983 and a corresponding member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1995 and of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences since 1994 . He was also a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (since 1986), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 1993) and the Academia Europaea (since 1996) as well as an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Romanian Academy of Sciences.

In 2008 the German Physical Society and the Optical Society of America donated the Herbert Walther Prize for significant contributions in the fields of quantum optics and atomic physics .

Fonts (selection)

  • as publisher: Laser spectroscopy of atoms and molecules . Springer, Berlin et al. 1976, ISBN 3-540-07324-8 , ( Topics in Applied Physics 2).
  • with Edward Roy Pike (Ed.): Photons and Quantum Fluctuations . Adam Hilger, Bristol et al. 1988, ISBN 0-85274-240-1 , ( Malvern physics series 5), (Special Office of Naval Research Seminar, Cortina d´Ampezzo, January 21-22, 1988).
  • with Bertold-Georg Englert: Complementarity in Quantum Mechanics . In: Physics in Our Time , 1992, Issue 5, ISSN  0031-9252 , pp. 213-220.
  • with Bertold-Georg Englert, Marlan Scully : Complementarity and wave particle dualism . In: Spektrum der Wissenschaft , Issue 2, February 1995, ISSN  0170-2971 , pp. 50-56.
  • Quantum phenomena of a single atom . In: Physikalische Blätter , Volume 54, 1998, ISSN  0031-9252 , pp. 625-631, online
  • with Theodor W. Hänsch : Laser spectroscopy and quantum optics . In: Reviews of Modern Physics Centennial Issue, Volume 71, 1999, pp. 242f.
  • with Thomas Walther : What is light? From classic optics to quantum optics . CH Beck, Munich 1999, ( Beck'sche Reihe, CH Beck Wissen 2122), (2nd edition, ibid, 2004, ISBN 3-406-44722-8 ).
  • Quantum physics between theory and application . In: Physikalische Blätter , Volume 56, Issue 12, December 2000, ISSN  0031-9252 , pp. 57-63 (Issue on 100 Years of Quantum Theory ), online
  • What is light . In Heiner Müller-Krumbhaar , Hermann-Friedrich Wagner (ed.): ... and he does roll the dice. From exploring the very big, the very small and the many things . Wiley-VCH, Weinheim et al. 2001, ISBN 3-527-40328-0 , (anthology for the year of physics 2000 by the DPG, German Physical Society).
  • with Wolfgang P. Schleich (Ed.): Elements of Quantum Information , Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-527-40725-5 , (reprint from: Progress in Physics 54, 2006, 8/10), ( State-of-the-art summary of the various projects of the 'Quantum Information Highway A8' (Competence Network Quantum Information A8).
  • Atome im Nichtklassischen Licht , Physikalische Blätter, Volume 47, 1991, pp. 38-41, online
  • The one-atom maser: quantum electrodynamics in a resonator and the generation of non-classical radiation fields , Physikalische Blätter, Volume 43, 1987, pp. 33-39, online

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Charles Hard Townes Award
  2. ^ Albert A. Michelson Medal
  3. ^ Frederic Ives Medal

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Walther, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigshafen am Rhein
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 2006
Place of death Munich