專八人文知識(shí)需知的美國名人--恩里科費(fèi)米

　　物理學(xué)巨人Enrico Fermi

　　Enrico Fermi (29 September 1901 28 November 1954) wasan Italian physicist, particularly remembered for his work on thedevelopment of the first nuclear reactor, and for hiscontributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclearand particle physics, and statistical mechanics. Awarded theNobel Prize in Physics in 1938 for his work on inducedradioactivity, Fermi is widely regarded as one of the leadingscientists of the 20th century, highly accomplished in both theory and experiment.Fermium, asynthetic element created in 1952, the Fermi National Accelerator Lab, the Fermi Gamma-raySpace Telescope, and a type of particles called fermions are named after him.

　　Early years

　　Enrico Fermi was born in Rome, Italy, to Alberto Fermi, a Chief Inspector of the Ministry ofCommunications, and Ida de Gattis, an elementary school teacher who built her own pressurecooker[2]. As a young boy, he enjoyed learning physics and mathematics and shared his interestswith his older brother, Giulio. When Giulio died unexpectedly of a throat abscess in 1915, Enricowas distraught, and immersed himself in scientific study to distract himself. According to his ownaccount, each day he would walk in front of the hospital where Giulio died until he became inuredto the pain. One of the first sources for the study of physics was a book found at the local marketof Campo de' Fiori in Roma. The 900 page book, entitled Elementorum physicae mathematicae,was written in Latin by Jesuit Father Andrea Caraffa, a professor at the Collegio Romano, coveredsubjects like mathematics, classical mechanics, astronomy, optics, and acoustics. Notes found inthe book indicate that Fermi studied it intensely. Later, Enrico befriended another scientificallyinclined student named Enrico Persico, and the two worked together on scientific projects such asbuilding gyroscopes, and measuring the Earth's magnetic field. Fermi's interest in physics wasfurther encouraged by a friend of his father, Adolfo Amidei, who gave him several books on physicsand mathematics, which he read and assimilated quickly.

　　Professor in Rome

　　Aged 24, Fermi took a professorship at the University of Rome (first in atomic physics in Italy)which he won in a competition held by Professor Orso Mario Corbino, director of the Institute ofPhysics. Corbino helped Fermi in selecting his team, which soon was joined by notable minds likeEdoardo Amaldi, Bruno Pontecorvo, Franco Rasetti and Emilio Segrè. For the theoretical studiesonly, Ettore Majorana also took part in what was soon nicknamed "the Via Panisperna boys" (afterthe name of the road in which the Institute had its labs). The group went on with its now famousexperiments, but in 1933 Rasetti left Italy for Canada and the United States, Pontecorvo went toFrance and Segrè left to teach in Palermo.

　　During their time in Rome, Fermi and his group made important contributions to many practicaland theoretical aspects of physics. These include the theory of beta decay, with the inclusion ofthe neutrino postulated in 1930 by Pauli, and the discovery of slow neutrons, which was to provepivotal for the working of nuclear reactors. His group systematically bombarded elements with slowneutrons, and during their experiments with uranium, narrowly missed observing nuclear fission. Atthat time, fission was thought to be improbable if not impossible, mostly on theoretical grounds.While people expected elements with higher atomic number to form from neutron bombardmentof lighter elements, nobody expected neutrons to have enough energy to actually split a heavieratom into two light element fragments. However, the chemist Ida Noddack had criticised Fermi'swork and had suggested that some of his experiments could have produced lighter elements. Atthe time, Fermi dismissed this possibility on the basis of calculations.

　　Fermi was well-known for his simplicity in solving problems[3]. He began his inquiries with thesimplest lines of mathematical reasoning, then later produced complete solutions to the problemshe deemed worth pursuing. His abilities as a great scientist, combining theoretical and appliednuclear physics, were acknowledged by all. He influenced many physicists who worked with him,such as Hans Bethe, who spent two semesters working with Fermi in the early 1930s. From thetime he was a boy, Fermi meticulously recorded his calculations in notebooks, and later used tosolve many new problems that he encountered based on these earlier known problems.

　　When Fermi submitted his famous paper on beta decay to the prestigious journal Nature, thejournal's editor turned it down because "it contained speculations which were too remote fromreality". Thus Fermi saw the theory published in Italian and in German before it was published inEnglish. Nature eventually did publish Fermi's report on beta decay on January 16, 1939.

　　Fermi remained in Rome until 1938.

　　恩里科費(fèi)米(Enrico Fermi，1901年9月29日1954年11月28日)，美籍意大利裔物理學(xué)家，1938年諾貝爾物理學(xué)獎(jiǎng)獲得者。他對(duì)理論物理學(xué)和實(shí)驗(yàn)物理學(xué)方面均有重大貢獻(xiàn)，首創(chuàng)了β衰變的定量理論，負(fù)責(zé)設(shè)計(jì)建造了世界首座自持續(xù)鏈?zhǔn)搅炎兒朔磻?yīng)堆，發(fā)展了量子理論。

　　費(fèi)米出生于意大利首都羅馬，父親阿爾貝托費(fèi)米是通訊部的職員。他在中學(xué)時(shí)代就展現(xiàn)了在數(shù)學(xué)和物理方面的才能。1918年獲得比薩高等師范學(xué)校的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。四年之后他在比薩大學(xué)獲得了物理學(xué)博士，導(dǎo)師是普契安提教授。

　　1923年到1924年期間，他通過意大利政府和洛克菲勒基金會(huì)的資助訪問了德國哥廷根大學(xué)的馬克思玻恩教授和荷蘭萊頓大學(xué)的艾倫法斯特教授。1924年，他回到意大利，在佛羅倫薩大學(xué)任職數(shù)學(xué)物理和力學(xué)科講師。

　　1926年，費(fèi)米發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種新的統(tǒng)計(jì)定律費(fèi)米-狄拉克統(tǒng)計(jì)。他發(fā)現(xiàn)這種統(tǒng)計(jì)適用于所有遵循泡利不兼容原理的粒子，這些粒子現(xiàn)在被稱為費(fèi)米子。費(fèi)米-狄拉克統(tǒng)計(jì)和玻色子所遵循的玻色-愛因斯坦統(tǒng)計(jì)是量子世界的基本統(tǒng)計(jì)規(guī)律。

　　1927年，費(fèi)米當(dāng)選為羅馬大學(xué)的理論物理學(xué)教授。他在這個(gè)教席上一直任職到1938年。由于他的夫人勞拉是猶太裔，為逃避墨索里尼法西斯政府的迫害，他們?cè)?938年接受諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)之后移居到了美國。1938年到1942年期間，費(fèi)米任紐約哥倫比亞大學(xué)教授。從1942年直至去世，他是芝加哥大學(xué)的物理學(xué)教授。

　　在羅馬大學(xué)的早期時(shí)間費(fèi)米主要的研究課題是電動(dòng)力學(xué)和光譜學(xué)，但是隨后他把研究重點(diǎn)放在了原子核本身而不是核外電子上。1934年他在原先的輻射理論和泡利的中微子理論基礎(chǔ)上提出了β衰變的費(fèi)米理論。在人工放射性被發(fā)現(xiàn)后不久，他實(shí)驗(yàn)演示了幾乎所有元素在中子轟炸下都會(huì)發(fā)生核變化。這個(gè)工作促使了慢中子和核裂變的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

　　在1939年哈恩和斯特拉斯曼發(fā)現(xiàn)核裂變后，費(fèi)米馬上意識(shí)到次級(jí)中子和鏈?zhǔn)椒磻?yīng)的可能性。1942年12月2日他在芝加哥大學(xué)體育場(chǎng)的壁球館試驗(yàn)成功了首座受控核反應(yīng)堆。在二戰(zhàn)期間第一枚原子彈的建造過程中(曼哈頓計(jì)劃)，他是主要領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者之一。

　　第二次世界大戰(zhàn)之后，費(fèi)米的主要研究方向是高能物理，他在介子核相互作用和宇宙射線的來源等方面都做出了開創(chuàng)性的工作。費(fèi)米于1954年在芝加哥去世。

　　由于在人工放射性和慢中子方面的工作，費(fèi)米被授予了1938年諾貝爾物理學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。他還是一位杰出的老師。他的學(xué)生中有六位獲得過諾貝爾物理學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。為紀(jì)念這位物理學(xué)家，費(fèi)米國家實(shí)驗(yàn)室和芝加哥大學(xué)的費(fèi)米研究所都以他的名字命名。