Lothar Köster (physicist)
Lothar Köster (born October 19, 1922 in Essen ; † September 7, 2015 in Garching near Munich ) was a German physicist .
Life
During the Second World War Köster was a soldier in the Wehrmacht , was wounded and was taken prisoner.
Koester then studied at the University of Heidelberg physics and there with his in was Heinz Maier-Leibnitz and Walther Bothe -built nuclear physics work easier measurements of decay energies elements to Z = 31 1953 doctorate . Then he became department head in the isotope laboratory of the paint factory Bayer .
In 1958, Maier-Leibnitz, now scientific director of the Munich Research Reactor (FRM) , appointed Köster as initially deputy and from 1960 as technical director of the FRM. He organized the technical operation and built new types of instruments for basic studies with and on neutrons , in particular the gravity refractometer with a 100 m long flight path for the precise measurement of the effect of gravity on neutrons and the interactions between neutrons and protons , deuterons and electrons . The focus was on precise measurements of the neutron scattering length . The collected data were used to study the interaction of neutrons with matter. In 1970 he completed his habilitation with the thesis New Methods for Measuring Coherent Scattering Lengths for Neutrons at the Technical University of Munich . Under his leadership, the FRM became a model for other research reactors.
Köster's ideas and developments influenced the work at the Jülich nuclear research facility and at the Laue-Langevin Institute as well as the construction of the FRM II . His international contacts also led to an early first scientific exchange with the USSR after the war . In the 1980s, in collaboration with medical professionals , he developed a neutron therapy station for treating tumors with fast neutrons. In addition, he had taken on an extraordinary professorship in the physics department of the Technical University of Munich . In 1987 he retired.
Köster was married and had three children.
Honors
- Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class (1987)
literature
- Helmut Rauch : Obituary for Lothar Köster . Physik Journal 15 (2016) No. 1, p. 48.
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, from September 10, 2015: Obituary for Professor Lothar Köster (accessed on January 22, 2016).
Individual evidence
- ^ Obituary notice Lothar Köster In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , September 9, 2015 (accessed January 22, 2016).
- ↑ ATOM LAW Secret federal matter . Der Spiegel June 20, 1956 (accessed January 22, 2016).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Koster, Lothar |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Koester, Lothar |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 19, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Essen , Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 7, 2015 |
| Place of death | Garching near Munich , Germany |