Owen Chamberlain
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Owen Chamberlain
Nobel Prize in Physics 1959
Born: 10 July 1920, San Francisco, CA, USA
Died: 28 February 2006, Berkeley, CA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Prize motivation: “for their discovery of the antiproton”
Prize share: 1/2
Work
The matter around us has a kind of mirror image—antimatter. A particle and its antiparticle have an opposite electrical charge, among other things. The electron’s antiparticle positron was the first to be discovered. With high concentrations of energy, a pair of particles and antiparticles can be created, but when a particle and an antiparticle meet, both are annihilated and their mass is converted into radiation. In a 1955 experiment with a powerful particle accelerator, Owen Chamberlain and Emilio Segrè confirmed the existence of the proton’s antiparticle, the antiproton.
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 10 laureates' work and discoveries range from optogenetics to efforts to promote peace and international law.
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