Victor Schumann (21 December 1841 – 1 September 1913) was a
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
and
spectroscopist who in 1893 discovered the vacuum
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...
.
Schumann wished to study the "
Extreme Ultraviolet
Extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV or XUV) or high-energy ultraviolet radiation is electromagnetic radiation in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum spanning wavelengths from 124 nm down to 10 nm, and therefore (by the Planck–E ...
"
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
. For this, he used a
prism and
lenses in fluorite instead of
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...
allowing himself to be the first to measure spectra below 200 nm. Oxygen gas would absorb the radiation with a wavelength below 195 nm but Schumann placed the entire apparatus under vacuum. He prepared his own photographic plates with a reduced layer of gelatin.
He published on the
Hydrogen line in the spectrum of
Nova Aurigae and in the spectrum of
vacuum tubes
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as a ...
.
[Schumann V, ''Astronomy and astrophysics'', Volume 12, Carleton College (Northfield, Minn.). Goodsell Observatory]
His work opened the way to atomic emission spectroscopy, leading eventually to the discovery of the hydrogen spectral lines series (
Lyman series) by
Theodore Lyman in 1914.
[
]
References
External links
*
Victor Schumann at encyclopedia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schumann, Victor
19th-century German physicists
1841 births
1913 deaths
Spectroscopists
People from Leipzig (district)