Ephraim Fischbach (born 1942) is an American

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 a professor at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. He is best known for his attempts to find a

fifth force In physics, a fifth force refers to a hypothetical fundamental interaction (also known as fundamental force) beyond the four known interactions in nature: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces. Some speculativ ...

of nature and his research relating to the detection of

neutrinos A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass is so small ('' -ino'') that it ...

. He has also done work relating to the prediction of

solar flares A solar flare is a relatively intense, localized emission of electromagnetic radiation in the Stellar atmosphere, Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar partic ...

and the detection of radiation by cell phones. Fischbach studies variation in

radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

rates, suggesting that neutrino emission from the Sun reduces the rate of nuclear decay. He reanalysed the

Eötvös experiment The Eötvös experiment was a physics experiment that measured the correlation between inertial mass and gravitational mass, demonstrating that the two were one and the same, something that had long been suspected but never demonstrated with the ...

, which he saw as evidence for a fifth physical force. However, in 1992, he and Carrick Talmadge conducted an experiment which found no compelling evidence for a fifth force. Fischbach has been a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

since 2001, and a professor at Purdue since 1979. He also was an associate professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in

Stony Brook, New York Stony Brook is a political subdivisions of New York#Hamlet, hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, Town of Brookhaven, New York, Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the No ...

from 1978 to 1979. He received a B.A. in physics in 1963 from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and a Ph.D. in 1967 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

References

External links

* https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/44882 * https://www.physics.purdue.edu/people/faculty/ephraim.php * https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/05/physics-gravitating-toward-newtonian-forces/714bdabb-fbd8-4e8f-b9d9-205bacb71a9a/ * https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/08/nyregion/purdue-student-in-a-first-earns-a-double-doctorate.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss * https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4612-1438-0 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischbach, Ephraim 1942 births Physicists from New York (state) Living people American theoretical physicists Purdue University faculty University of Pennsylvania alumni Columbia University alumni 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society American particle physicists Stony Brook University faculty