Bertram N. Brockhouse

Facts

Bertram N. Brockhouse

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Bertram N. Brockhouse
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1994

Born: 15 July 1918, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Died: 13 October 2003, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Affiliation at the time of the award: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Prize motivation: “for the development of neutron spectroscopy”

Prize share: 1/2

Work

Atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons. Bertram Brockhouse and Clifford Shull developed methods for investigating different materials with beams of neutrons created in a nuclear reactor. When neutron beams come in contact with a material, some of the neutron’s energy is converted into vibrations. The vibrations, known as phonons, correspond to fixed energy levels that form a spectrum. During the 1950s Bertram Brockhouse developed methods for using these spectrums to chart properties of different molecules and materials.

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MLA style: Bertram N. Brockhouse – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Wed. 6 Dec 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1994/brockhouse/facts/>

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