Nobel Prize in Physics in 1943 2026-10-18
Awarded to Otto Stern for the molecular beam method and discovery of the proton magnetic moment. The molecular beam article develops direct measurements of particle speeds.[ref]
Otto Stern - Facts by Nobel Prize Outreach. Official award record: laureate, year and stated scientific subject
Otto Stern Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-11-05
Otto Stern developed molecular-beam methods that infer microscopic properties from controlled particle trajectories. With Walther Gerlach, he sent a neutral silver beam through a magnetic field gradient, producing discrete deposited components. The beam's translational motion carries information about its internal magnetic moment projection to a macroscopic detector. Changing the magnetic field geometry or the beam preparation changes that mapping, making the apparatus part of the interpretation of the Stern-Gerlach experiment.[ref]
Der experimentelle Nachweis der Richtungsquantelung im Magnetfeld by Walther Gerlach and Otto Stern. Original beam-splitting experiment
[ref]The Method of Molecular Rays by Otto Stern. Nobel lecture: trajectory methods and magnetic-moment measurements
A physicist.[ref]
Otto Stern - Facts by Nobel Prize Outreach. Biographical identity and professional specialization
The Stern-Gerlach experiment with Walther Gerlach tested the deflection of a neutral silver atomic beam in a nonuniform magnetic field.
Portrait of Otto Stern
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