Sulamith Goldhaber (; November 4, 1923 – December 11, 1965), , was a high-energy physicist and molecular spectroscopist. Goldhaber was a world expert on the interactions of K⁺ mesons with

nucleons In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number. Until the 1960s, nucleons were thought to be ele ...

and made numerous discoveries relating to it.

Biography

Sulamith Low was born November 4, 1923, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria. Goldhaber grew up in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

after her family emigrated out of Austria. She attended

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

where she met her future husband,

Gerson Goldhaber Gerson Goldhaber (February 20, 1924 – July 19, 2010) was a German-born American particle physicist and astrophysicist. He was one of the discoverers of the J/ψ meson, which is the bound state of a charm quark and a charm anti-quark. Together ...

. Goldhaber graduated with an M.Sc. in 1947, and was married to Gerson the same year. The Goldhabers moved to the United States to pursue doctorates at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

which they were awarded in 1951. The couple with their son Amos Nathaniel moved to Columbia University in New York City, where Gerson worked in the physics department, and Sulamith, despite her degree in physical chemistry, found work as an assistant to

Jack Steinberger Jack Steinberger (born Hans Jakob Steinberger; May 25, 1921December 12, 2020) was a German-born American physicist noted for his work with neutrinos, the subatomic particles considered to be elementary constituents of matter. He was a recipient o ...

, working on what were then considered high energy experiments at the Nevis Laboratory of Columbia. Goldhaber became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

of the United States in 1953. The Goldhabers moved to

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 1953 when Gerson was given a job as an

assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...

at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

. While Goldhaber had previously worked in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

, she was able to transition to

high energy physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and neutrons, while the stu ...

and form a collaboration with her husband working on

nuclear emulsion A nuclear emulsion plate is a type of particle detector first used in nuclear and particle physics experiments in the early decades of the 20th century. https://cds.cern.ch/record/1728791/files/vol6-issue5-p083-e.pdf''The Study of Elementary Partic ...

. The Goldhabers hoped to use their nuclear emulsion technique with the newly opened

Bevatron The Bevatron was a particle accelerator — specifically, a Weak focusing, weak-focusing proton synchrotron — located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S., which began operations in 1954. The antiproton was discovered there in ...

— at the time the highest energy accelerator in operation — and it was through their methods that they observed some of the earliest interactions between K⁻ mesons and

protons A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' ( elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an electron (the pro ...

. Using the Bevatron and the nuclear emulsion technique Goldhaber was the first to observe mass splitting in charged E

hyperon In particle physics, a hyperon is any baryon containing one or more strange quarks, but no charm, bottom, or top quarks. This form of matter may exist in a stable form within the core of some neutron stars. Hyperons are sometimes generically re ...

s as well as the first nuclear interactions of the

antiproton The antiproton, , (pronounced ''p-bar'') is the antiparticle of the proton. Antiprotons are stable, but they are typically short-lived, since any collision with a proton will cause both particles to be annihilated in a burst of energy. The exis ...

. In the 1960s the Goldhabers realized that they should begin using the

bubble chamber A bubble chamber is a vessel filled with a superheated transparent liquid (most often liquid hydrogen) used to detect electrically charged particles moving through it. It was invented in 1952 by Donald A. Glaser, for which he was awarded th ...

to continue their studies instead of nuclear emulsion so they formed the "Goldhaber-Trilling Group" with George Trilling. Goldhaber quickly became a renowned expert in hydrogen bubble chamber physics, accruing a lengthy list of invited papers and conference talks. The Goldhabers were the first to measure the spin of the K* meson and the first to study the simultaneous production of pairs of resonant states. They also invented the

triangle diagram A ternary plot, ternary graph, triangle plot, simplex plot, or Gibbs triangle is a barycentric plot on three variables which sum to a constant. It graphically depicts the ratios of the three variables as positions in an equilateral triangle. ...

to aid in their research. Early in this period, the Goldhabers were both

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

fellows at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

where they co-authored a CERN report together with B. Peters. Goldhaber was in high demand as a speaker at scientific conferences due to her mastery of her field, and her ability to express herself beautifully. Goldhaber gave a seminal talk on the production and interaction of heavy

mesons In particle physics, a meson () is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles, the ...

and hyperons at the 1956 Rochester Conference that marked the transition from

cosmic ray Cosmic rays or astroparticles 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 ...

based experiments to

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

base experiments in the study of

strange Strange may refer to: Fiction * Strange (comic book), a comic book limited series by Marvel Comics * Strange (Marvel Comics), one of a pair of Marvel Comics characters known as The Strangers * Adam Strange, a DC Comics superhero * The title c ...

particles. In the fall of 1965 the Goldhabers took a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

to travel around the world visiting high energy laboratories and giving lectures. They first stopped at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

for the biennial European conference on high energy physics, and then

so that Goldhaber could discuss methods of making automatic film measurements with Berkeley's Hough-Powell device. The Goldhabers then traveled to

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

to lecture, and spent a month at the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

in preparation for the lectures Sulamith was to give in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, India. In Madras Goldhaber suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Exploratory surgery Exploratory surgery is surgery whose purpose is to look inside the body to help diagnose an ailment. Because surgery is an invasive and often risky intervention, it is typically only used when other methods such as external observation and testin ...

revealed a growing

brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...

. She died without having regained consciousness on December 11, 1965. Goldhaber had one son with her husband named

Amos Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

. She was remembered by her friends and colleagues as "a distinguished scientist, a remarkable homemaker and hostess, and a devoted wife and mother".

Awards and honors

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

member * 1964-65

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

* 1960-61

Fellow

References

External links

* Sulamith Goldhaber i
CWP at UCLA
* Luis Alvarez
Sulamith Goldhaber
in

Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brook ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldhaber, Sulamith 1923 births 1965 deaths 20th-century American chemists 20th-century American physicists 20th-century Austrian physicists 20th-century American women scientists American women chemists American women physicists American physical chemists Austrian chemists Austrian physicists Austrian physical chemists Austrian women chemists 20th-century Austrian chemists Austrian women physicists Israeli chemists Israeli physicists Israeli physical chemists Israeli women chemists Israeli women physicists American experimental physicists Jewish physicists Jewish women scientists Scientists from Vienna People associated with CERN University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Austrian Jews 20th-century Israeli Jews Austrian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Israeli emigrants to the United States Deaths from brain cancer in India