Enrico Persico (August 9, 1900 – June 17, 1969) was an Italian physicist notable for propagating the field of

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...

in Italy. He was a professor at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

and is also notable as the doctoral advisor of

Ugo Fano Ugo Fano (July 28, 1912 – February 13, 2001) was an Italian American physicist, notable for contributions to theoretical physics. Biography Ugo Fano was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Turin, Italy. His father was Gino Fano, a professo ...

Career

Persico was born in Rome on 9 August 1900. During his university years his friendship with Enrico Fermi intensified. He graduated in 1921. In 1926 he was already teaching physics at the University of Rome, and co-authored with Fermi on the topic of wave mechanics. He then moved to Florence, where he organized lectures on wave mechanics. At the end of 1930 he was called to Turin. From Turin he maintained relationships with Fermi. He was a witness to the discovery of the slowing down of neutrons and recorded results of the readings of the counters used by Fermi in order to measure the activity induced by neutrons in particles of silver, with and without the presence of paraffin. In the autumn of the 1949 Persico, discouraged from the oppressive atmosphere of the post-war period, accepted a position in Canada, taking the place of Franco Rasetti. In the autumn of 1950 he returned to Rome, to take up the advanced Physical Chair. He continued an interest in optoelectronics, an area that had already cultivated in Canada. In the 1953 Persico directed the theoretical work that underpinned the construction of a 1.1 GeV synchrotron. He also developed the general theory of loaded particle injection in

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

Books by Persico

* ''Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics'' (1950) * ''Gli atomi e la loro energia'' (1959) * ''Principles of particle accelerators'' (1968)

External links

University of Chicago

1900 births 1969 deaths 20th-century Italian physicists University of Turin faculty {{Italy-physicist-stub