Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Planck's constant

(Encyclopedia)Planck's constant plängks [key], fundamental constant of the quantum theory. It is represented by the letter h and has a value of 6.62607 × 10−34 joule-second. The combination h/2π, denoted by h ...

Krausz, Ferenc

(Encyclopedia)Ferenc Krausz, 1962– , b. Mór, Hungary, Hungarian physicist, studied at Eötvös Loránd University and Technical University of Budapest in Hungary ...

parity

(Encyclopedia)parity or space parity, in physics, quantity that refers to the relationship between an object or process and the image that it can produce in a mirror. For example, any right-handed object will produ...

Jevons, William Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Jevons, William Stanley jĕvˈənz [key], 1835–82, English economist and logician. After working in Australia as assayer to the mint, he taught at Owens College, Manchester, and University College, ...

radiometer

(Encyclopedia)radiometer rāˌdēŏmˈətər [key], instrument for detection or measurement of electromagnetic radiation; the term is applied in particular to devices used to measure infrared radiation. One of the ...

Nash, John Forbes, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Nash, John Forbes, Jr., 1928–2015, American mathematician, b. Bluefield, W.Va., grad. Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon Univ., B.A. and M.A. 1948), Ph.D. Princeton 1950. During a...

Hamilton, Sir William Rowan

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Sir William Rowan, 1805–65, Irish mathematician and astronomer, b. Dublin. A child prodigy, he had mastered 13 languages by the age of 13 and was still an undergraduate when he became prof...

Taylor, Richard Edward

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Richard Edward, 1930–2018, Canadian experimental physicist. He was associated primarily with Stanford, where he received his doctorate (1962) and helped build and then worked—first (1962) ...

statistical mechanics

(Encyclopedia)statistical mechanics, quantitative study of systems consisting of a large number of interacting elements, such as the atoms or molecules of a solid, liquid, or gas, or the individual quanta of light ...

tunneling

(Encyclopedia)tunneling, quantum-mechanical effect by which a particle can penetrate a barrier into a region of space that would be forbidden by ordinary classical mechanics. Tunneling is a direct result of the wav...