Theodor W. Hänsch

Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch, called Ted Hänsch, ( born October 30, 1941 in Heidelberg) is a physicist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching near Munich. He is considered a pioneer of laser spectroscopy and was awarded in December 2005, together with John Lewis Hall next to Roy J. Glauber (both USA) with the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Life

Hänsch received his doctorate in 1969 at the Ruprecht -Karls- University of Heidelberg with a thesis to the interaction of two laser light fields with excited neon atoms. He then went on a DAAD scholarship to NATO Arthur L. Schawlow at Stanford University, California. Hänsch had Schawlow, in 1981 received the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy, met during a summer school in Scotland. During his time as a postdoc researcher Hänsch together with Schawlow at various issues of laser physics, and both were honored in 1973 for her work as "California Scientist of the Year". Two years later Hänsch finally got a personal Chair at Stanford. His students include, among others, Carl Edwin Wieman, who was her doctorate in 1977 and in 2001 awarded at Stanford with the Nobel Prize for Physics. One of his most famous handset is likely to be Steve Jobs probably, which the Apple company director until August 2011. In 1986, Hänsch Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and a professor at the Ludwig- Maximilians- University in Munich.

He is a regular member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, since 2005 a member of the Mathematics and Science Class of the Berlin- Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and since 2008 member of the Order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts in Berlin since 1991.

Work

Hänsch worked in the field of experimental laser physics and quantum optics from the beginning and has significantly influenced the development of this area.

Among his most important research is one of the frequency comb, which provides on the basis of interference a way to very accurately measuring the frequency of light. For the development of the frequency comb in conjunction with his other achievements in laser spectroscopy Hänsch received the 2005 Nobel Prize.

The ERC approved Hänsch in June 2011 a grant in the amount of 2.39 million euros over a period of five years. Together with his team Hänsch is thus deepen its work on frequency comb at the Ludwig- Maximilians- University of Munich.

Furthermore, he was co-inventor of the method of laser cooling, a method by which atoms by irradiation of laser light to near absolute zero temperature can be cooled. This process is essential for experiments with Bose -Einstein condensates. Hänsch also developed the first continuously tunable monochromatic dye laser. With these developments, among other things, the basis for the high-precision measurement of the Rydberg constant, the charge radii of protons and neutrons and other important atomic sizes were created.

His many contributions to the high-resolution laser spectroscopy, in particular for Doppler-free laser spectroscopy, are now recognized as the standard method and widely used.

Retirement

Theodor Hänsch was honored at the age of 64 years with the Nobel Prize, only a year before the retirement age in Germany - according to the applicable legal regulations he would, therefore, went into Germany on 30 October 2006 to retire. This circumstance forced retirement for scientists discussed: to continue doing active research, Hänsch would have had to go abroad - like many other scientists before. For Hänsch a special provision was announced on 21 July 2006, after ensuring the Free State of Bavaria, the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation and the Ludwig- Maximilians- University of the necessary financial and human resources even after his retirement. Further work at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics is funded by the Max Planck Support Foundation.

Awards

Hänsch received an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin ( 2006), the University of St Andrews (2006) and Bar-Ilan University ( 2008).

In 2006 he became a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Académie des Sciences, Paris.

Also in 2006, he was made an honorary citizen of the cities Garching near Munich and Florence.