Edward Teller's Discoveries
Edward Teller was a controversial American physicist who is known as the father of the hydrogen bomb, also known as the "H-bomb." He was born in Hungary in 1908 and moved to Germany when he was 18 years old. In Germany, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, and later a doctorate in physics. He worked as professor at Georgetown Washington University in 1935, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1941. Aside from his recognized efforts towards the development of the H-bomb, Edward Teller had several other scientific discoveries in the fields of quantum mechanics and thermonuclear devices.
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Development of the Hydrogen Bomb
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Edward Teller, along with Stanislaw Ulam and other scientists, met in 1946 to discuss the study of using fusion reaction to develop a "super bomb," which would be considerably more powerful than the atomic bomb. They came up with the Tellar-Ulam configuration, which features an atomic bomb placed at one end of an H-bomb --- away from a fusion fuel. X-rays then transport the energy very rapidly from the atomic bomb to the fusion fuel, igniting the fission element and starting a chain reaction that will release more energy before the actual explosion.
Jahn-Teller Effect
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Several researchers have extolled the discovery of the Jahn-Teller Effect as Edward Teller's most important scientific achievement. This discovery is mostly significant in the study of metallic dyes and their chemical reactions. It clarifies the geometrical deformation, or spectral shift, of molecules.
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Thomas-Fermi "No Binding" Theorem
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Among Edward Teller's other achievements was a published paper about the Thomas-Fermi atomic model. The paper explained why molecular binding is not feasible with the Thomas-Fermi or Thomas-Fermi-Diac quantum approximations. This paper was an important reference used by Elliot Lieb and associates in the study they conducted on the stability of matter.
Physical Details of Landau Diamagnetism
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Edward Teller also accomplished valuable research and proof of the Landau Diamagnetism Theory. His analysis proved the Poisson sum quantum calculation done by a Russian physicist named Lev Davidovich Landau. The physical explanation provided by Edward Teller supported inferences on the de Haas-van Alphen oscillation effect as well as the Quantum Hall Effect.
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References
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