Jochen Heisenberg (born 16 May 1939) is a German physicist specializing in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

, and Professor Emeritus of Physics at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

. He is the son of

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

-winning physicist

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

, who was a co-founder of the

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

, and who, in particular, introduced the

uncertainty principle The uncertainty principle, also known as Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle, is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. It states that there is a limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties, such as position a ...

. He is the brother of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

neurobiologist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, neural circuits, and glia, and their behavioral, biological, and psychological roles in health and disease. ...

and

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

Martin Heisenberg and the uncle of film director Benjamin Heisenberg.

Professional career

Heisenberg studied physics with Willibald Jentschke at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

and received his PhD in 1968. He then spent a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. From 1970 to 1978, he was a member of the faculty at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. During his early career at Stanford and MIT, Heisenberg participated in numerous experimental studies of nuclear reactions. Using the Bates Linear Accelerator, he published numerous papers on electroexcitations. After his move to the

(UNH), he began to study methods for theoretical prediction of such reactions. During the past ten years, he has been active in the development of computational models of large nuclei and has published several papers on these topics.

Historical perspectives

Heisenberg has spoken several times to provide a historical perspective on the activities of his father during and after World War II. He has been invited to comment on Michael Frayn's well-known play ''

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

'' and has published his perspectives on his father's activities. He maintained a
informational website
containing biographical information and reference material on

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heisenberg, Jochen 1939 births German nuclear physicists Jochen Living people University of New Hampshire faculty University of Hamburg alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni 20th-century German physicists Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty