June 28, 1906 - Birth of Maria Goeppert-Mayer, the second woman to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics

She was the second woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics (the first was Marie Curie) for her research in nuclear physics.

He studied mathematics at the University of Gottingen. She did not last long as that same year, theoretical physicist Max Born invited her to join a physics seminar, which caused a change in her orientation. She preferred to solve physical problems (of nature) than mathematical ones (created by men). In those years Born participated in the basis of a scientific revolution, Quantum Mechanics. Goeppert's training helped him understand the mathematical concepts linked to this discipline. She chose Born as her thesis advisor. The topic was the double photon process. She calculated the probability that an electron orbiting the nucleus of an atom would emit two photons of light as it jumped into an orbit closer to the nucleus. Her calculations could be confirmed experimentally in 1961, after the invention of the laser beam.

Although Goeppert-Mayer had all the training to teach at the university, the so-called "rule against nepotism" (prohibited hiring relatives of professors at universities), prevented her from doing so (being a professor's wife), so she had to settle for an office and work part-time without pay for years in the university's physics department.

In this national laboratory, Goeppert-Mayer, he carried out the work that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics. When he arrived in Chicago, he had no experience in nuclear physics and through the influence of his friend Enrico Fermi, he began to study nuclear physics. He worked with Edward Teller to determine the origin of the elements.

The investigations led them to establish the theory of nuclear levels. This is: the nucleus of the atom is made up of layers. The more saturation there is in the layers, the more stable the nucleus and therefore the element will be. Those nuclei with 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, or 126 protons or neutrons were particularly stable. These numbers were called “magic numbers”. Goeppert-Mayer made them stop being magical, since she developed the spin-orbit theory of the nucleus. That is to say: she applied the same theory to nucleons as to electrons.

In 1960, Maria Goeppert-Mayer was offered a full-time position as Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego. It was the first recognized and paid job that she got. She was 54 years old.

If you want to know more about this scientist, click on: María Goeppert-Mayer

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