John C. Slater

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Slater in London in 1934

John Clarke Slater (born December 22, 1900 in Oak Park , Illinois , † July 25, 1976 on Sanibel Island , Florida ) was an American theoretical physicist and chemist . He was one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics in the United States in the 1920s.

Life

Slater studied physics from 1917 at the University of Rochester , where his father headed the English faculty. He then moved to Harvard University , where he heard quantum theory with EC Kemble and received his doctorate in 1923 with Percy W. Bridgman (The compressibility of the Alkali Halides). As a post-doctoral student he then went to Cambridge University and Copenhagen (with Niels Bohr ). The joint work with Bohr and Hendrik Anthony Kramers , which made him known at the time , also originated in Copenhagen ; the authors considered giving up the energy conservation law in quantum theory ( BKS theory ). He also visited Leipzig and Zurich and then returned to Harvard in 1925. He was professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1930 to 1966 . In the 1950s he founded the Solid State and Molecular Theory Group (SSMTG) there and used electronic computers in the group's many-particle calculations.

He made fundamental contributions to quantum mechanics , especially the structure of multi-electron systems, where the Slater determinant is named after him, a wave function in the form of a determinant in which the antisymmetrization rule for multi-electron systems (see Pauli principle ) is automatically fulfilled and which is often used for The starting point for calculations of the properties of atoms, molecules and solids is chosen (e.g. Hartree-Fock method ). In addition to theoretical atomic and molecular physics, he dealt with the application of quantum mechanics in solid state physics.

In 1927 Slater was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1928 a Fellow of the American Physical Society . In 1932 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences and in 1940 of the American Philosophical Society . In the Second World War he turned to radar research .

His graduate students included William Shockley and Nathan Rosen . Fernando J. Corbató also belonged to his SSMTG group .

Fonts

  • Modern Physics, McGraw Hill 1955
  • with NH Frank: Electromagnetism, McGraw Hill 1955, Dover 1969
  • Introduction to Chemical Physics, McGraw Hill 1939, reprint at Dover
  • with NH Frank: Introduction to Theoretical Physics, McGraw Hill 1933
  • with NH Frank: Mechanics, McGraw Hill 1947
  • Microwave Transmission, McGraw Hill 1942, reprint at Dover
  • Quantum theory of atomic structure, McGraw Hill 1960
  • Quantum theory of Matter, 2nd edition, McGraw Hill 1968
  • Quantum Theory of Molecules and Solids, 4 volumes, McGraw Hill 1963-1974
  • Solid-State and Molecular Theory: A Scientific Biography, Wiley 1975
  • The theory of complex spectra, Physical Review, Volume 34, 1929, pp. 1293-1323
  • The electronic structure of metals, Rev. Mod. Phys., Vol. 6. 1934, pp. 209-280
  • A simplification of the Hartree-Fock method, Physical Review, Vol. 81, 1951, 385-390

literature

  • Per-Olov Löwdin (Ed.): Quantum theory of atoms, molecules and the solid state. A tribute to John C. Slater , Academic Press 1966
    • Therein: Philip M. Morse , John Clarke Slater, A biographical note of appreciation , pp. 1-4, Robert S. Mulliken , John Clarke Slater, his work and a bibliography , reprint of Slater Cohesion in monovalent metals (Physical Review, vol 35, 1930, pp. 509-520), with commentary by Löwdin

See also

Web links

Commons : John C. Slater  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ N. Bohr, HA Kramers, JC Slater: The quantum theory of radiation . In: Philosophical Magazine . tape 47 , no. 281 , 1924, pp. 785-802 , doi : 10.1080 / 14786442408565262 .
  2. ^ JC Slater: The Theory of Complex Spectra . In: Physical Review . tape 34 , no. 10 , 1929, pp. 1293-1322 , doi : 10.1103 / PhysRev.34.1293 .
personal data
SURNAME Slater, John C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Slater, John Clarke
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist and theoretical chemist
DATE OF BIRTH 22nd December 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Oak Park , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 1976
Place of death Sanibel Island , Florida