Fritz Eduard Josef Maria Sauter (1906 – 1983) was an Austrian-German physicist who worked mostly in
quantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamics is a relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. QED was developed by a number of physicists, beginning in the late 1920s. It basically describes how light and matter interact. More specifically it deals with the interactions between electrons, positrons and photons...
and
solid-state physicsSolid-state physics, the largest branch of condensed matter physics, is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism and metallurgy. Solid-state physics considers how the large-scale properties of solid materials result from...
.
From 1924 to 1928, Sauter studied mathematics and physics at the
Leopold-Franzens-Universität InnsbruckUniversity of Innsbruck has been a university in Austria since 1669.It is currently the largest education facility in the Austrian Bundesland of Tirol and third largest in Austria according to student population, behind Vienna University and Graz University.-History:In 1562 a Jesuit grammar school...
. He received his doctorate in 1928 under Arthur March, with a thesis on
Kirchoff’sGustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects...
theory of diffraction. After graduation, he did postdoctoral studies with
Arnold SommerfeldArnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...
and was his assistant at the
Ludwig Maximilians University of MunichThe Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich , also known as LMU, is a university in Munich and, with more than 44,000 students, is the second-largest university in Germany....
. In January 1931, Sommerfeld recommended Sauter to
Max BornMax Born was a German born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
, director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the
Georg-August University of GöttingenThe University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.It was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and was then opened in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...
.
Fritz Eduard Josef Maria Sauter (1906 – 1983) was an Austrian-German physicist who worked mostly in
quantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamics is a relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. QED was developed by a number of physicists, beginning in the late 1920s. It basically describes how light and matter interact. More specifically it deals with the interactions between electrons, positrons and photons...
and
solid-state physicsSolid-state physics, the largest branch of condensed matter physics, is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism and metallurgy. Solid-state physics considers how the large-scale properties of solid materials result from...
.
Education
From 1924 to 1928, Sauter studied mathematics and physics at the
Leopold-Franzens-Universität InnsbruckUniversity of Innsbruck has been a university in Austria since 1669.It is currently the largest education facility in the Austrian Bundesland of Tirol and third largest in Austria according to student population, behind Vienna University and Graz University.-History:In 1562 a Jesuit grammar school...
. He received his doctorate in 1928 under Arthur March, with a thesis on
Kirchoff’sGustav Robert Kirchhoff was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects...
theory of diffraction. After graduation, he did postdoctoral studies with
Arnold SommerfeldArnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...
and was his assistant at the
Ludwig Maximilians University of MunichThe Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich , also known as LMU, is a university in Munich and, with more than 44,000 students, is the second-largest university in Germany....
. In January 1931, Sommerfeld recommended Sauter to
Max BornMax Born was a German born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
, director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the
Georg-August University of GöttingenThe University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.It was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and was then opened in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...
.
Career
From 1931 to 1934, Sauter was an assistant to
Richard BeckerRichard Becker was a German theoretical physicist who made contributions in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, superconductivity, and quantum electrodynamics.-Education:...
at the
Technische HochschuleTechnische Hochschule is, what an Institute of Technology used to be called in German speaking countries, before most of them changed their name to Technische Universität in the 1970s.This has to do with the fact, that in the Middle Ages, an educational institution was called a...
Berlin (Today:
Technische Universität BerlinThe Technical University of Berlin is located in Berlin, Germany....
.) in
CharlottenburgCharlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
. From 1933, he was also a lecturer at Berlin. While at Berlin, he did work on atomic physics and
Dirac’sPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was a British theoretical physicist. Dirac made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics...
theory of electrons.
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
came to power in Germany on 30 January 1933 and
Max BornMax Born was a German born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
took leave as director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the
Georg-August University of GöttingenThe University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.It was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and was then opened in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...
on 1 July of that year and emigrated to England. In 1934, Sauter, while only a
PrivatdozentPrivate docent is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor.-Becoming:Privatedocentship is conferred to academics who have...
, was brought in to Göttingen as acting director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics and lecturer on theoretical physics; Born was officially retired under the
Nuremberg LawsThe Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany which were introduced at the annual Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg. The laws classified people as German if all four of their grandparents were of "German or kindred blood", while people were classified as Jews if they descended from...
on 31 December 1935. Sauter continued in this role until 1936, when Becker was appointed director, after the
ReichserziehungsministeriumThe Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung .-Background:...
(Reich Education Ministry) eliminated his position at Berlin and reassigned him to Göttingen.
After Göttingen, Sauter took a teaching assignment and became acting director of the theoretical physics department at the
University of KönigsbergThe University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg, East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 by Albert, Duke of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina....
. In 1939, he became ordinarius professor of theoretical physics and director of the theoretical physics department at Königsberg. From 1942 to 1945, Sauter was ordinarius professor of theoretical physics at the
Ludwig Maximilians University of MunichThe Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich , also known as LMU, is a university in Munich and, with more than 44,000 students, is the second-largest university in Germany....
.
From 1950 to 1951, Sauter had a teaching assignment and was substitute director of the theoretical physics department at
Technische Hochschule HanoverThe University of Hanover, officially the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover or LUH, is a university located in Hanover, Germany. It was founded in 1831 and is organized in nine faculties.- History :...
. From 1951 to 1952, he had a teaching assignment at Göttingen and Bamberg Universities. In 1952, he became ordinarius professor and director of the theoretical physics department at the
University of CologneThe University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
, which he held until achieving emeritus status in 1971.
Having been a student of Sommerfeld, Sauter was a superb mathematician. He wrote his own book on differential equations of physics, and, after Sommerfeld’s death in 1951, Sauter was editor on the 4th, 5th, and 6th editions of Sommerfeld’s book on the same subject, and he was also editor of the four volume, collected works of Sommerfeld. Sauter was also editor of books by Becker, with whom he had been an assistant in Berlin.
Selected literature
- Fritz Sauter Über das Verhalten eines Elektrons im homogenen elektrischen Feld nach der relativistischen Theorie Diracs, Zeitschrift für Physik 69 (11-12) 742-764 (1931). Author cited as being at Munich.
- Fritz Sauter Über die Bremsstrahlung schneller Elektronen Annalen der Physik 412 (4) 404-412 (1934)
Books
- Fritz Sauter Differentialgleichungen der Physik (de Gruyter, 1950, 1958, and 1966)
- Arnold Sommerfeld, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Vorlesungen über theoretische Physik. Band 6: Partielle Differentialgleichungen der Physik. 4. Auflage, bearbeitet und ergänzt (Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1958)
- Arnold Sommerfeld, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Vorlesungen über theoretische Physik. Bd. 6. Partielle Differentialgleichungen der Physik. 5. Auflage, bearbeitet und ergänzt (Akademische Verl. Ges., 1962)
- Arnold Sommerfeld, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Vorlesungen über theoretische Physik. Band 6: Partielle Differentialgleichungen der Physik. 5. Auflage, bearbeitet und ergänzt (Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1962)
- Richard Becker, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Theorie der Elektrizität. Bd. 1. Einführung in die Maxwellsche Theorie (Teubner, 1957, 1962, 1964, and 1969)
- Richard Becker, author, Fritz Sauter, editor, and Ivor De Teissier, translator Electromagnetic Fields and Interactions, Volume I: Electromagnetic Theory and Relativity (Blaisdell, 1964)
- Richard Becker, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Theorie der Elektrizität. Bd. 2. Einführung in die Quantentheorie der Atome und der Strahlung (Teubner, 1959, 1963, 1970, and 1997)
- Richard Becker, author, Fritz Sauter, editor, and Ivor De Teissier, translator Electromagnetic Fields and Interactions, Volume II: Quantum Theory of Atoms and Radiation (Blaisdell, 1964)
- Arnold Sommerfeld, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Vorlesungen über theoretische Physik. Band 6: Partielle Differentialgleichungen der Physik. 6. Auflage, bearbeitet und ergänzt (Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1966)
- Fritz Sauter, editor Arnold Sommerfeld: Gesammelte Schriften, 4 Volumes (Braunschweig, 1968)
- Richard Becker, author and Fritz Sauter, editor Theorie der Elektrizität. Bd. 3. Elektrodynamik der Materie (Teubner, 1969)