Daniel Kleppner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:Short description Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

Daniel Kleppner (December 16, 1932 – June 16, 2025) was an American physicist who was the Lester Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-founder and co-director of the MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms. His areas of science included atomic, molecular, and optical physics, and his research interests included experimental atomic physics, laser spectroscopy, and high precision measurements.[1]

Working with Norman Ramsey Jr., he helped create the first hydrogen maser in 1960.[2]

Together with Robert J. Kolenkow, he authored a popular textbook An Introduction to Mechanics for advanced students.[3]

Early life

Kleppner was born in New York City on December 16, 1932, and grew up in nearby New Rochelle, New York.[4] His father was Otto Kleppner, founder of an advertising agency.[5]

Education and career

Kleppner graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in 1953 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He also attended Cambridge University in England with a B.A. in 1955, and Harvard University, he attended the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with a Ph.D. in 1959.[6]

In the 1950s, Kleppner became a physics doctoral student at Harvard University, where he worked under Norman Ramsey. Here, Kleppner took the concepts behind an ammonia maser and applied them to a hydrogen maser, which became his Ph.D. thesis. This enabled the development of more precise atomic clocks. Kleppner did important research into Rydberg atoms,[7] which enabled development of the neutral atom quantum computer.[8]

Later, he became interested in creating a hydrogen Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). In 1995, a group of researchers, including Kleppner's former students, made a BEC using rubidium atoms. It was not until 1998 that Kleppner and Tom Greytak finally created a hydrogen BEC.[9] The advancements in cooling technology needed to achieve this contributed to even more precise atomic clocks.[8] Kleppner went on to become one of the founders of a MIT-Harvard joint research lab, the Center for Ultracold Atoms.[8]

Personal life and death

Kleppner married Beatrice Spencer in 1958, and they had three children.[4] They were longtime residents of Belmont, Massachusetts.[10] After falling ill while visiting family in California, Kleppner died at a hospital in Palo Alto on June 16, 2025, at the age of 92.[4][11][12]

Honors and awards

Kleppner was the recipient of many awards including

Within MIT he won the institute's prestigious James R. Killian, Jr. Faculty Achievement Award, conferring him the title of Killian Award Lecturer[17] for 1995-1996.[18]

He was elected the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1986,[19] a Fellow of OSA in 1992,[20] the French Academy of Sciences in 2004,[21] and the American Philosophical Society in 2007.[22]

Books

Kleppner and Robert J. Kolenkow wrote An Introduction to Mechanics in 1973. 40 years later, Kleppner and Kolenkow returned to edit and publish a second edition in 2013.

Kleppner and his thesis adviser (and Nobel laureate) Norman Ramsey wrote the text Quick Calculus, joined for the 3rd edition by MIT professor Peter Dourmashkin:

Selected publications

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."MIT Department of Physics". Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Beehler, R. E. (June 1967). "A Historical Review of Atomic Frequency Standards". Proceedings of the IEEE. 55 (6): 792–805.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."13 BOOK Recommendations on SPECIAL RELATIVITY!!". YouTube. For the Love of Physics. May 25, 2022. review of An Introduction to Mechanics by Kleppner & Kolenkow, 4:08 to 6:46 in video
  4. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McClain, Dylan Loeb (July 12, 2025). "Daniel Kleppner, Physicist Who Brought Precision to GPS, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Otto Kleppner". The New York Times. August 5, 1982. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  6. ^ Daniel Kleppner Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  7. ^ Daniel Kleppner | MIT150 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology 150th anniversary Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  8. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Anusha Mathur (June 30, 2025). "Daniel Kleppner, MIT prize-winning physicist, dies at 92". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner | The Franklin Institute". Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tzouvelis, Joanna K. (August 12, 2021). "Belmont couple's marriage going strong, 63 years and counting". Wicked Local. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mathur, Anusha (June 26, 2025). "Daniel Kleppner, prize-winning physicist, dies at 92". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2025.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner Obituary (2025) - Colma, CA - Colma Cremation & Funeral Services - Colma". Legacy.com. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner » MIT Physics". MIT Physics. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kleppner awarded international Wolf Prize for physics | MIT News". Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2006.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner". 2014 Franklin Institute Awards. Retrieved November 6, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."2017 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research". www.aps.org. September 21, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."About | MIT Killian Lectures". killianlectures.mit.edu. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kleppner to give Killian Lecture today". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. March 13, 1996. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner | Optica". www.optica.org. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Kleppner | Liste des membres de l'Académie des sciences / K | Listes par ordre alphabétique | Listes des membres | Membres | Nous connaître". www.academie-sciences.fr. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."An Introduction to Mechanics | General and classical physics". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."An Introduction to Mechanics | General and classical physics". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved June 3, 2022.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Daniel_Kleppner&oldid=2406393"