Peng Huanwu (; October 6, 1915 – February 28, 2007) was a Chinese physicist. He was a member of

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

(CAS), and a leader of Chinese nuclear weaponry projects.

Life and career

Peng was born in

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 ...

Jilin Province Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

; his father was from Macheng County,

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

. After graduating from department of physics of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

, Peng continued to pursue his postgraduate degree. After the outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

in July 1937, he went to teach at

Yunnan University Yunnan University (, Acronym: YNU) is a national key university in Yunnan Province, China. Its main campuses are located in the provincial capital city of Kunming. Founded in December 1922, Yunnan University started to enroll in April 1923. It ...

. In 1938, Peng was enrolled in foreign study program and went to study at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and worked with prominent physicist

Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a ...

. Peng was granted his PhD in 1940 and DSc in 1945. Recommended by Born, Peng worked at

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

as a postdoctoral scholar from 1941 to 1943 and later as an assistant professor from 1945 to 1947. While at DIAS Peng worked with another one of Born's students Sheila Tinney to produce important work on crystal lattices.MacTutor biography of Sheila Christina Power Tinney
/ref> From August 1941 to July 1943, Peng collaborated with

Walter Heitler Walter Heinrich Heitler (; 2 January 1904 – 15 November 1981) was a German physicist who made contributions to quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory. He brought chemistry under quantum mechanics through his theory of valence bo ...

and James Hamilton to study

cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

, and developed HHP theory. Together with Born, Peng was awarded the

Makdougall Brisbane Prize The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

by the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1945. He supervised Cécile DeWitt-Morette on the production of artificial mesons in 1946. He was elected as a member of

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one its leading cultural ...

in 1948. In the same year he received a personal invitation from Ireland's

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

Peng returned to China in 1947, and taught at

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

and

University of Science and Technology of China A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usua ...

. He was involved in and led the development of China's atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb. He served as vice director of Institute of Modern Physics of CAS, vice director of Institute of High Energy Physics of CAS, among other posts. From 1978 to 1983, he was the director of Institute of Theoretical Physics of CAS.

Honours and recognition

Peng received numerous prestigious prizes in China including National Natural Science Prize and National Science and Technology Advancement Prize. In recognition of his contribution to China's nuclear physics, the asteroid #48798 was named after him as "Penghuanwu".Asteroid Named after Chinese Physicist
www.china.org.cn In 1999, Peng was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peng, Haunwu 1915 births 2007 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Boxer Indemnity Scholarship recipients Chinese nuclear physicists Cosmic ray physicists Educators from Jilin Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Peking University faculty People from Changchun Physicists from Jilin Tsinghua University faculty University of Science and Technology of China faculty Yunnan University faculty Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies