Helen Quinn

Helen Quinn

Helen Quinn (born 1943) is an Australian-born particle physicist. She went to school in Victoria, Australia, and entered college at the University of Melbourne before moving to the USA and transferring to Stanford University. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford in 1967, at a time when less than 2% of physicists were women. She did her postdoctoral work at the DESY (the German Synchrotron Laboratory) in Hamburg, Germany. She next spent seven years at Harvard University before returning to Stanford where she is now a professor of physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Working with Howard Georgi and Steven Weinberg, Helen showed how the three types of particle interactions (strong, electromagnetic, and weak), which look very different as we see their impact in the world around us, become very similar in extremely high-energy processes and so might be three aspects of a single unified force. She suggested a possible near-symmetry of the universe (now known as Peccei-Quinn symmetry) to explain how strong interactions can maintain CP-symmetry (the symmetry between matter and antimatter) when weak interactions do not. One consequence of this theory is a particle known as the axion which has yet to be observed but is one candidate for the dark matter that pervades the universe.

She showed how the physics of quarks can be used to predict certain aspects of the physics of hadrons (which are particles made from quarks) regardless of the details of the hadron’s structure (with Enrico Poggio and Steven Weinberg). This useful property is now known as quark-hadron duality.

Helen also works with elementary and high school teachers in California to make physics fun and exciting for students. She has given public talks in various countries on "The Missing Antimatter", in which she suggests that this area of research is promising.

Honors

* Fellow and Past President, American Physical Society
* Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
* Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* 2000 Dirac Medal of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy (with Howard Georgi and Jogesh Pati) for pioneering contributions to the quest for a unified theory of quarks and leptons and of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions
* 2004 Order of Australia recipient
* 2008 Oscar Klein medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

References

* [http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer/PageServer?pagename=INTERVIEWS_Helen_Quinn Interview about women in physics]
* R. D. Peccei, H. R. Quinn, CP conservation in the presence of pseudoparticles, "Physical Review Letters", 38(1977) p. 1440.
* T Appelquist, HR Quinn, Divergence cancellations in a simplified Weak Interaction Model," "Physics Letters" 39B: 229 (1972).
* H Georgi, HR Quinn, S Weinberg, Hierarchy of interactions in Unified Gauge Theories, "Physical Review Letters" 33: 451 (1974).


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Helen Quinn — Helen Rhoda Quinn (* 19. Mai 1943 in Melbourne) ist eine australische theoretische Physikerin, die hauptsächlich im Bereich der Elementarteilchenphysik arbeitet. Quinn besuchte in Victoria in Australien die Schule und studierte an der University… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Quinn (Familienname) — Quinn ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Aidan Quinn …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Helen Giddings — is a lifelong resident of Dallas County, and believes that public service identifies her. She is a community leader, successful entrepreneur, and is currently serving an eighth term as a member of the Texas State House of Representatives. Rep.… …   Wikipedia

  • Helen Morgendorffer — Infobox character | name = Helen Morgendorffer caption = Helen Morgendorffer portrayer = Wendy Hoopes (voice) creator = Glenn Eichler gender = Female first = Esteemsters (1997) last = Is It College Yet? (2002) age = 48 (by the end of series)… …   Wikipedia

  • Helen Flynn — Personaje de Home and Away Helen Flynn Interpretada por: Lisa Faulkner Duración: 2002 Primera Aparición: Temporada 1, Episodio 1 Última Aparición: Temporada 1, Episodio 2 Causa: Murió luego de ser torturada por Kevin McNally …   Wikipedia Español

  • Quinn Morgendorffer — Infobox character | name = Quinn Morgendorffer caption = Quinn Morgendorffer, in a scene from Is It Fall Yet? portrayer = Wendy Hoopes (voice) creator = Glenn Eichler gender = Female first = Esteemsters (1997) last = Is It College Yet? (2002) age …   Wikipedia

  • Helen Hartness Flanders — Infobox Person name = Helen Hartness Flanders caption = Helen Hartness Flanders ca. 1945. birth name = Helen Edith Hartness birth date = birth date|1890|5|19 birth place = Springfield, Vermont death date = Death date|1972|5|23 death place =… …   Wikipedia

  • Helen Hayes Theatre — This article is about the Broadway theatre. For the theatre of the same name built in 1911 and demolished in 1982, see Fulton Theatre. The Helen Hayes Theatre, 2006 …   Wikipedia

  • Helen Flynn — Infobox character name = Helen Flynn caption = portrayer = Lisa Faulkner gender = Female first = 2002 last = 2002 last cause = Murdered on operation occupation = Administrative Officer family = spouse = children = Helen Flynn, played by Lisa… …   Wikipedia

  • Tom Quinn — Personaje de Spooks Tom Quinn Interpretado por: Matthew Macfadyen Duración: 2002 2004, 2011 Primera Aparición: Temporada 1, Episodio 1 Última Aparición: Temporada 10, Episodio 6 Temporada 3, Episodio 2 Causa: Deja el MI5 luego de poner en riesgo… …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”