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Pierre Auger – Lise Meitner: Comparative contributions to the Auger effect

Published/Copyright: June 11, 2013
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International Journal of Materials Research
From the journal International Journal of Materials Research Volume 100 Issue 9

Abstract

It has been claimed by R. Sietmann that the attribution of the discovery of the so-called ‘Auger’ effect to Pierre Auger was a false attribution and that Lise Meitner should have got the credit for that discovery. However Sietmann himself recognised that Meitner's description of this effect was ‘buried in’ two larger papers whose primary concern was nuclear physics. Sietmann only mentioned Auger's 1925 article and did not mention his 1923 article, an omission now found in many places. We examine again L. Meitner's and P. Auger's contributions to the description of the ‘Auger’ effect. Meitner's concern was the exact nature of the (nuclear) beta radiations about which she opposed Ch. D. Ellis, and this had been the subject of an intense Berlin–Cambridge controversy where Ellis' description eventually prevailed. Auger's observations were the central theme of his PhD thesis at the J. Perrin's laboratory on the composed photoelectric effect. We thus believe that while L. Meitner should have shared the Nobel Prize with O. Hahn, the Auger effect has rightly been attributed to Auger.

Keywords: History of Sciences; Auger Effect; Nuclear beta decay; Secondary electronic emission in solids
* Correspondence address, O. Hardouin Duparc, LSI, UMR 7642 CNRS-CEA-X, École Polytechnique91128 Palaiseau, France, Tel.: +33 1 69 33 45 32, Fax: +33 1 69 33 45 54, E-mail:

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Received: 2008-9-2
Accepted: 2008-10-27
Published Online: 2013-06-11
Published in Print: 2009-09-01

© 2009, Carl Hanser Verlag, München

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Contents
  2. Contents
  3. History
  4. Pierre Auger – Lise Meitner: Comparative contributions to the Auger effect
  5. Surface and grain-boundary segregation studied by quantitative AES and XPS
  6. High temperature mechanical spectroscopy of fine-grained ceramics
  7. The effect of electro-thermal fatigue on the structure of power electronic devices. Micro-structural evolution of the metallization layer
  8. f-Element hydrides: structure and magnetism
  9. Basic
  10. Hydrogen as a probe into 5f-magnetism
  11. Magnetism in PrPdSn and NdPdSn studied on single crystals
  12. Magnetic properties of fcc Ni-based transition metal alloys
  13. X-ray characterization of magnetic digital alloys
  14. Are RENiAl hydrides metallic?
  15. HoZn5Al3: rare-earth magnetism in a new structure type
  16. The influence of substitutions on the magnetocaloric effect in RCo2 compounds
  17. Thickness shear modes and magnetoelastic waves in a bi-layered structure: magnetic film–non-magnetic substrate
  18. Electrochemical properties of fine-grained AZ31 magnesium alloy
  19. Severe plastic deformation in Gum Metal with composition at the structural stability limit
  20. Applied
  21. Structural, magnetic, and transport properties of quantum well GaAs/δ-Mn/GaAs/InxGa1–xAs/GaAs heterostructures
  22. Effect of co-doping by Pb and La on structural and magnetic properties of Bi2212 superconducting ceramics
  23. Magnetic properties of the hydrogenated unconventional superconductor UCoGe–H
  24. Electrophoresis deposition of metal nanoparticles with reverse micelles onto InP
  25. Electronic structure and electric field gradient calculations for the Zr2Ni intermetallic compound
  26. Solution growth of the Gd–Cu–Al systems in the low-gadolinium concentration range
  27. Low-temperature specific heat of selected ceramics
  28. Novel behaviors in rare-earth-filled skutterudites studied by bulk-sensitive photoemission spectroscopy
  29. Charge transport in photosensitive nanocrystalline PbTe(In) films in an alternating electric field
  30. Enrichment and depletion of alloying elements in surface layers of iron base alloys annealed under different conditions
  31. Notifications
  32. Personal
https://doi.org/10.3139/146.110163
Keywords for this article
History of Sciences; Auger Effect; Nuclear beta decay; Secondary electronic emission in solids

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Contents
  2. Contents
  3. History
  4. Pierre Auger – Lise Meitner: Comparative contributions to the Auger effect
  5. Surface and grain-boundary segregation studied by quantitative AES and XPS
  6. High temperature mechanical spectroscopy of fine-grained ceramics
  7. The effect of electro-thermal fatigue on the structure of power electronic devices. Micro-structural evolution of the metallization layer
  8. f-Element hydrides: structure and magnetism
  9. Basic
  10. Hydrogen as a probe into 5f-magnetism
  11. Magnetism in PrPdSn and NdPdSn studied on single crystals
  12. Magnetic properties of fcc Ni-based transition metal alloys
  13. X-ray characterization of magnetic digital alloys
  14. Are RENiAl hydrides metallic?
  15. HoZn5Al3: rare-earth magnetism in a new structure type
  16. The influence of substitutions on the magnetocaloric effect in RCo2 compounds
  17. Thickness shear modes and magnetoelastic waves in a bi-layered structure: magnetic film–non-magnetic substrate
  18. Electrochemical properties of fine-grained AZ31 magnesium alloy
  19. Severe plastic deformation in Gum Metal with composition at the structural stability limit
  20. Applied
  21. Structural, magnetic, and transport properties of quantum well GaAs/δ-Mn/GaAs/InxGa1–xAs/GaAs heterostructures
  22. Effect of co-doping by Pb and La on structural and magnetic properties of Bi2212 superconducting ceramics
  23. Magnetic properties of the hydrogenated unconventional superconductor UCoGe–H
  24. Electrophoresis deposition of metal nanoparticles with reverse micelles onto InP
  25. Electronic structure and electric field gradient calculations for the Zr2Ni intermetallic compound
  26. Solution growth of the Gd–Cu–Al systems in the low-gadolinium concentration range
  27. Low-temperature specific heat of selected ceramics
  28. Novel behaviors in rare-earth-filled skutterudites studied by bulk-sensitive photoemission spectroscopy
  29. Charge transport in photosensitive nanocrystalline PbTe(In) films in an alternating electric field
  30. Enrichment and depletion of alloying elements in surface layers of iron base alloys annealed under different conditions
  31. Notifications
  32. Personal
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