American physicist and mathematician
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (March 13, 1899 – October 27, 1980) was an
American
physicist and
mathematician . He was co-awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977, for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of
electronic
magnetism in
solids .
Education and early life
Van Vleck was born to mathematician
Edward Burr Van Vleck and Hester L. Raymond in
Middletown, Connecticut , while his father was an assistant professor at
Wesleyan University , and where his grandfather, astronomer
John Monroe Van Vleck , was also a professor. He grew up in
Madison, Wisconsin , and received an
A.B.
degree from the
University of Wisconsin in 1920, before earning his Ph.D. at
Harvard University in 1922 under the supervision of
Edwin C. Kemble .
[3]
[4]
Career and research
He joined the
University of Minnesota as an assistant
professor in 1923, then moved to the University of Wisconsin before settling at Harvard. He also earned
Honorary D. Sc. , or D.
Honoris Causa , degree from
Wesleyan University in 1936.
[5]
J. H. Van Vleck established the fundamentals of the
quantum mechanical theory of
magnetism ,
crystal field theory and
ligand field theory (
chemical bonding in
metal complexes ). He is regarded as the Father of Modern
Magnetism .
[6]
[7]
[8]
During
World War II , J. H. Van Vleck worked on
radar at the
MIT
Radiation Lab . He was half time at the
Radiation Lab and half time on the staff at
Harvard . He showed that at about 1.25-centimeter
wavelength
water molecules in the
atmosphere would lead to troublesome
absorption and that at 0.5-centimeter
wavelength there would be a similar
absorption by
oxygen
molecules .
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
This was to have important consequences not just for military (and civil)
radar systems but later for the new science of
radioastronomy .
Van Vleck (left) receives the
Lorentz Medal from
Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir at the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences , Amsterdam, 1974.
J. H. Van Vleck participated in the
Manhattan Project . In June
1942 ,
J. Robert Oppenheimer held a summer study for confirming the concept and feasibility of a
nuclear weapon at the
University of California, Berkeley . Eight theoretical scientists, including J. H. Van Vleck, attended it. From July to September, the theoretical study group examined and developed the principles of
atomic bomb design.
[13]
[14]
[15]
J. H. Van Vleck's theoretical work led to the establishment of the
Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Laboratory . He also served on the
Los Alamos Review committee in 1943. The committee, established by General
Leslie Groves , also consisted of
W. K. Lewis of
MIT , Chairman; E. L. Rose, of Jones & Lamson;
E. B. Wilson of
Harvard ; and
Richard C. Tolman , Vice Chairman of
NDRC . The committee's important contribution (originating with Rose) was a reduction in the size of the firing gun for the
Little Boy atomic bomb, a concept that eliminated additional design weight and sped up production of the bomb for its eventual release over
Hiroshima . However, it was not employed for the
Fat Man bomb at
Nagasaki , which relied on implosion of a plutonium shell to reach critical mass.
[16]
[17]
The philosopher and historian of science
Thomas Kuhn completed a Ph.D. in physics under Van Vleck's supervision at Harvard.
[18]
From 1951, Van Vleck was Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard. He concurrently held the first deanship of Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Physics until 1957.
[19]
Van Vleck's grave (back right) at Forest Hill Cemetery
In 1961/62 he was
George Eastman
Visiting Professor at
University of Oxford
[20] and held a
professorship at
Balliol College .
[21]
In 1950 he became foreign member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences .
[22] He was awarded the
National Medal of Science in 1966
[23] and the
Lorentz Medal in 1974.
[24]
For his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of
electrons in
magnetic
solids , Van Vleck was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics 1977, along with
Philip W. Anderson and Sir
Nevill Mott .
[25] Van Vleck transformations,
Van Vleck paramagnetism and
Van Vleck formula
[26] are named after him.
Van Vleck died in
Cambridge, Massachusetts , aged 81.
[27] He was buried at
Forest Hill Cemetery .
Awards and honors
Van Vleck was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1934,
[28] the United States
National Academy of Sciences in 1935,
[29] and the
American Philosophical Society in 1939.
[30] He was awarded the
Irving Langmuir Award in 1965, the
National Medal of Science in 1966 and elected a
Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1967 .
[1] He was awarded the
Elliott Cresson Medal in 1971, the
Lorentz Medal in 1974 and the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977.
Personal life
J. H. Van Vleck met Abigail Pearson, a student at University of Minnesota, during his professorship there, and married her on June 10, 1927.
[5] He and his wife Abigail were also important art collectors, particularly in the medium of Japanese woodblock prints (principally
Ukiyo-e ), known as Van Vleck Collection . It was inherited from his father
Edward Burr Van Vleck . They donated the collection to the
Chazen Museum of Art in
Madison, Wisconsin in 1980s.
[31]
Publications
The Absorption of Radiation by Multiply Periodic Orbits, and its Relation to the Correspondence Principle and the Rayleigh–Jeans Law. Part I. Some Extensions of the Correspondence Principle , Physical Review, vol. 24, Issue 4, pp. 330–346 (1924)
The Absorption of Radiation by Multiply Periodic Orbits, and its Relation to the Correspondence Principle and the Rayleigh–Jeans Law. Part II. Calculation of Absorption by Multiply Periodic Orbits , Physical Review, vol. 24, Issue 4, pp. 347–365 (1924)
The Statistical Interpretation of Various Formulations of Quantum Mechanics , Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 207, Issue 4, pp. 475–494 (1929)
Quantum Principles and Line Spectra , (Bulletin of the National Research Council; v. 10, pt 4, no. 54, 1926)
The Theory of Electric and Magnetic Susceptibilities (Oxford at Clarendon, 1932).
Quantum Mechanics, The Key to Understanding Magnetism , Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1977
The Correspondence Principle in the Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, vol. 14, pp. 178–188 (1928)
References
^
a
b
Bleaney, B. (1982).
"John Hasbrouck Van Vleck. 13 March 1899-27 October 1980" .
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society . 28 : 627–665.
doi :
10.1098/rsbm.1982.0024 .
JSTOR
769913 .
^ Bardeen, J. (1980).
"Reminiscences of Early Days in Solid State Physics" . Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences . 371 (1744): 77–83.
Bibcode :
1980RSPSA.371...77B .
doi :
10.1098/rspa.1980.0059 .
ISSN
0080-4630 .
JSTOR
2990278 .
S2CID
121788084 .
^
"John H. van Vleck Biographical" .
^
"NAS Biography of E.B. Van Vleck" (PDF) .
^
a
b
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck on Nobelprize.org
including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1977 Quantum Mechanics The Key to Understanding Magnetism
^
John H. van Vleck , International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.
^
On the verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the correspondence principle. Part One
Archived 2009-05-20 at the
Wayback Machine , Anthony Duncan, Michel Janssen; Elsevier Science, 8 May 2007.
^
On the verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the correspondence principle. Part Two
Archived 2009-05-20 at the
Wayback Machine , Anthony Duncan, Michel Janssen; Elsevier Science, 8 May 2007.
^
Norman F. Ramsey Oral History (1991) [
permanent dead link ] ,
NORMAN F. RAMSEY : An Interview Conducted by John Bryant, IEEE History Center, 20 June 1991.
^
Oral History Transcript
Archived 2015-01-12 at the
Wayback Machine , Interview with John H. Van Vleck by
Katherine Sopka at Lyman Laboratory of Physics, 28 January 1977.
^ Louis Brown,
A radar history of World War II , Institute of Physics Pub., 1999,
ISBN
0750306599 , pp. 442, 521.
^ Van Vleck, J.; Weisskopf, V. (1945).
"On the Shape of Collision-Broadened Lines" (PDF) . Reviews of Modern Physics . 17 (2–3): 227.
Bibcode :
1945RvMP...17..227V .
doi :
10.1103/RevModPhys.17.227 . Archived from
the original (PDF) on July 15, 2011.
^
New Weapons Laboratory Gives Birth to the "Gadget" , 50th Anniversary Article, Los Alamos National Laboratory.
^
Berkeley Summer Study Group
Archived 2012-02-21 at the
Wayback Machine , The Atomic Heritage Foundation.
^
Atomic History Timeline 1900– 1942
Archived 2012-02-21 at the
Wayback Machine , The Atomic Heritage Foundation.
^
"Oversight Committee Formed as Lab Begins Research – 50th Anniversary Article, Los Alamos National Laboratory" .
^
Leslie R. Groves , Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired; Now It Can Be Told , Harper, 1962, pp. 162–63.
^ Kuhn, Thomas S. (2000). Conant, Jim; Haugeland, John (eds.).
The Road Since Structure: Philosophical Essays, 1970-1993, with an Autobiographical Interview . University of Chicago Press. pp.
242 –245.
ISBN
9780226457987 .
^
"Van Vleck Dies at 81" . Harvard Crimson . October 28, 1980. Retrieved July 23, 2023 .
^
Nobel Laureates
Archived 2013-10-20 at the
Wayback Machine , University of Oxford.
^
Inspiring minds: the Eastman Professors , Floreat Domus, Balliol College News, Issue 12, June 2006.
^
"John Hasbrouck van Vleck (1899–1980)" . Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 17, 2015 .
^
"The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details" . National Science Foundation.
^
"The Lorentz medal" . Lorentz.leidenuniv.nl. Retrieved July 27, 2012 .
^
"The Nobel Prize in Physics 1977" . Nobelprize.org. Retrieved July 27, 2012 .
^ C.), Gutzwiller, M. C. (Martin (November 27, 2013). Chaos in classical and quantum mechanics . New York.
ISBN
978-1461209836 .
OCLC
883391909 . {{
cite book }}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link ) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link )
^
"John Van Vleck, Nobel Laureate Known for Work on Magnetism; Earned Three Degree" . The New York Times . October 28, 1980. p. A32.
^
"John Hasbrouck Van Vleck" . American Academy of Arts & Sciences . February 9, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023 .
^
"J. H. Van Vleck" . www.nasonline.org . Retrieved May 10, 2023 .
^
"APS Member History" . search.amphilsoc.org . Retrieved May 10, 2023 .
^
E. B. Van Vleck Collection
Archived 2008-10-06 at the
Wayback Machine , Chazen Museum of Art
External links
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck on Nobelprize.org
including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1977 Quantum Mechanics The Key to Understanding Magnetism
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck 13 March 1899-27 October 1980, Elected for Mem. R.S. 1967, by Brebis Bleaney, from Royal Society Publishing.
The Theory of Electric and Magnetic Susceptibilities
John Hasbrouck van Vleck
Duncan, Anthony and Janssen, Michel. "On the verge of Undeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the correspondence principle. Part one," Archive for History of Exact Sciences 2007, 61:6, pages 553–624.
[1]
Chazen Museum of Art
Oral histories
Oral history interview with John H. Van Vleck on 2 October 1963, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics - Session I
Oral history interview with John H. Van Vleck on 4 October 1963, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics - Session II
Oral history interview with John H. Van Vleck on 28 February 1966, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics - Session I
Oral history interview with John H. Van Vleck on 19 January 1973, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics - Session II
Oral history interview with John H. Van Vleck on 28 January 1977, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics
Archival collections
1901–1925 1926–1950 1951–1975 1976–2000 2001– present
1899–1925 1926–1950 1951–1975 1976–2000 2001–
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