Polykarp Kusch
German-American physicist (1911-1993) · United States · Scientists · Died at 82
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Something wrong?He measured the electron's magnetic moment with such precision that the number didn't match theory - and that tiny discrepancy cracked open quantum electrodynamics, earning him half the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics.
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About this person
Polykarp Kusch was born in Germany on January 26, 1911, and later became a German-American physicist working at the fine edge of experimental measurement. His breakthrough came when he determined with exceptional accuracy that the electron's magnetic moment was greater than what the existing theoretical models predicted. That mismatch - small in magnitude, enormous in implication - forced physicists to reconsider the foundations of quantum electrodynamics and spurred a wave of theoretical innovation. In 1955 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Willis Eugene Lamb for the work. He died on March 20, 1993.
Scientists from the United States 6
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