Franz N. D. Kurie
Encyclopedia
Franz Newell Devereux Kurie (February 6, 1907 in Victor, Colorado
– June 12, 1972) was an American physicist
who, while working at Yale
in 1933, showed that the neutron
was neither a dumb-bell-shaped combination of proton
and electron
, nor an onion-shaped combination of an electron embracing the proton. Consequently, and until the discovery of the quark
structure of hadron
s, the neutron was assumed to be an elementary particle
.
His Kurie plot is used in the study of beta decay
.
Kurie earned his B.Sc. at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 1927 and his Ph.D. at Yale in 1932. He then worked with Ernest Lawrence at the new Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California
before taking up an assistant professorship at Indiana University. He spent World War II working at the US Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory in San Diego, and after holding postwar positions at Washington University in St. Louis and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, he returned to San Diego as technical director of what had by then been renamed the US Navy Electronics Laboratory. He continued to head the San Diego laboratory until he was debilitated by a serious stroke in 1960.
Victor, Colorado
Victor is a Statutory City in Teller County, Colorado, United States. The population was 445 at the 2000 census.Victor is in the heart of Colorado's gold country, home to two of the major gold mines in the Cripple Creek mining district...
– June 12, 1972) was an American physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
who, while working at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in 1933, showed that the neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
was neither a dumb-bell-shaped combination of proton
Proton
The proton is a subatomic particle with the symbol or and a positive electric charge of 1 elementary charge. One or more protons are present in the nucleus of each atom, along with neutrons. The number of protons in each atom is its atomic number....
and electron
Electron
The electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
, nor an onion-shaped combination of an electron embracing the proton. Consequently, and until the discovery of the quark
Quark
A quark is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are never directly...
structure of hadron
Hadron
In particle physics, a hadron is a composite particle made of quarks held together by the strong force...
s, the neutron was assumed to be an elementary particle
Elementary particle
In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not known to be made up of smaller particles. If an elementary particle truly has no substructure, then it is one of the basic building blocks of the universe from which...
.
His Kurie plot is used in the study of beta decay
Beta decay
In nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted from an atom. There are two types of beta decay: beta minus and beta plus. In the case of beta decay that produces an electron emission, it is referred to as beta minus , while in the case of a...
.
Kurie earned his B.Sc. at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 1927 and his Ph.D. at Yale in 1932. He then worked with Ernest Lawrence at the new Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
before taking up an assistant professorship at Indiana University. He spent World War II working at the US Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory in San Diego, and after holding postwar positions at Washington University in St. Louis and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, he returned to San Diego as technical director of what had by then been renamed the US Navy Electronics Laboratory. He continued to head the San Diego laboratory until he was debilitated by a serious stroke in 1960.