Wolfgang Paul

Wolfgang Paul (German pronunciation: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈpaʊ̯l] (listen); 10 August 1913 – 7 December 1993) was a German professor awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1989.

Wolfgang Paul
Born	(1913-08-10)10 August 1913 Lorenzkirch, Saxony, German Empire
Died	7 December 1993(1993-12-07) (aged 80) Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Nationality	Germany
Alma mater	Technical University of Munich Technical University of Berlin University of Göttingen
Known for	Ion traps
Awards	Nobel Prize in physics (1989) Dirac Medal (1992)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics
Institutions	University of Bonn University of Kiel
Doctoral advisor	Hans Kopfermann
Notes
He humorously referred to Wolfgang Pauli as his "imaginary part".

Biography

Paul was born on August 10 of 1913 in the German city of Lorenzkirch, Saxony. When he was young, his family moved to Munich, where his father taught pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Munich. In 1932, he began his studies of physics at the Superior School in Munich, and soon moved to the 1934 at the headquarters of Berlin, getting his doctorate in 1939.

In 1944, he began his teaching at the University of Göttingen and 1952 was hired at the University of Bonn as director of its Institute of Experimental Physics, a position he kept until his death.

Wolfgang Paul died December 7 of 1993 at his residence in Bonn.

Scientific research

During WWII he investigated the separation of isotopes, which is necessary to produce material to make nuclear fission for use in nuclear weapons.

He started his research into ions, developing the so-called ion trap.

For this discovery, in 1989 he was awarded half of the Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with Hans G. Dehmelt.

Between 1965 and 1967, he was appointed Director of the Division of Nuclear Physics at CERN.