Robert C. Richardson
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Robert C. Richardson
Nobel Prize in Physics 1996
Born: 26 June 1937, Washington, D.C., USA
Died: 19 February 2013, Ithaca, NY, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Prize motivation: “for their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3”
Prize share: 1/3
Work
When certain substances are cooled to extremely low temperatures, they become superfluid, flowing without any friction. This applies to helium-4, the most common form of helium, but for a long time the superfluidity of helium-3 was in dispute. The different types of helium are described by different quantum mechanical rules and equations under which helium-4 has a whole-number spin while helium-3 has a half-number spin. In 1972 Robert Richardson, David Lee, and Douglas Osheroff verified that helium-3 also becomes superfluid at extremely low temperatures.
Streams during Nobel Week
Watch the 2025 Nobel Prize lectures, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.
