Edwin E.

Salpeter
Edwin Ernest Salpeter (3 December 1924 – 26
November 2008,[1][2]) was an Austrian–Australian– Edwin Salpeter
American astrophysicist.[3]

Life
Born in Vienna to a Jewish family, Salpeter emigrated
from Austria to Australia while in his teens to escape
the Nazis. He attended Sydney Boys High School
(1939–40)[4] and Sydney University, where he
obtained his bachelor's degree in 1944 and his master's
degree in 1945. In the same year he was awarded an
overseas scholarship and attended the University of
Birmingham, England, where he earned his doctorate
in 1948 under the supervision of Sir Rudolf Peierls. He
spent the remainder of his career at Cornell University, Born 3 December 1924
where he was the James Gilbert White Distinguished Vienna, Austria
Professor of the Physical Sciences. Salpeter died of
Died 26 November 2008 (aged 83)
leukemia at his home in Ithaca, New York on 26
Ithaca, New York, U.S.
November 2008.[5]: 11
Alma mater University of Sydney (BSc)
University of Birmingham (PhD)
Scientific contributions Known for Salpeter initial mass function,
Bethe–Salpeter equation
In 1951 Salpeter suggested that stars could burn
Spouses Miriam Mark (1950–2000)
helium-4 into carbon-12 with the Triple-alpha process
not directly, but through an intermediate metastable Antonia Shouse (–2008)
state of beryllium-8, which helped to explain the Children 2
carbon production in stars. He later derived the initial Scientific career
mass function for the formation rates of stars of
Fields Astrophysics
different mass in the Galaxy.[5]: 3
Institutions Cornell University
Salpeter wrote with Hans Bethe two articles in 1951 Thesis On the electromagnetic self-
which introduced the equation bearing their names, the energy of the electron ([Link]
Bethe–Salpeter equation which describes the [Link]/title/91116838
interactions between a pair of fundamental particles 6) (1948)
under a quantum field theory.[5]: 5 Doctoral Rudolf Peierls
advisor
In 1955 he found the Salpeter function or the initial Doctoral Hubert Reeves
mass function (IMF).[6] It shows that the number of students
stars in each mass range decreases rapidly with
increasing mass.

In 1964 Salpeter and independently Yakov B. Zel'dovich were the first[7] to suggest that accretion discs
around massive black holes are responsible for the huge amounts of energy radiated by quasars (which
are the brightest active galactic nuclei). This is currently the most accepted explanation for the physical
origin of active galactic nuclei and the associated extragalactic relativistic jets.[8]

In early 1970s, Salpeter discovered that molecular hydrogen and many other molecular species are
formed in the interstellar medium not as much in the gas phase but primarily on the surfaces of dust
particles.[9]

Family
In 1950 he married Miriam (Mika) Mark (1929–2000), a neurobiologist born in Riga, Latvia; she was
chairwoman of the department of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell from 1982 to 1988.[10] The
Society for Neuroscience created the Mika Salpeter award in her memory; it "recognizes an individual
with outstanding career achievements in neuroscience who has also significantly promoted the
professional advancement of women in neuroscience."[11] The Salpeters had two daughters, Judy Salpeter
and Dr. Shelley Salpeter. After Miriam's death, Edwin married Antonia Shouse.[12]

Honors
Carnegie Institution for Science Award for Research in Astrophysics (1959)
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1967)[13]
Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (1967)[5]
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1973)
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1974)
J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize (1974)[14][15]
Member of the American Philosophical Society (1977)[16]
Karl Schwarzschild Medal (1985)
Bruce Medal (1987)
Dirac Medal of the University of South Wales (1996)
Crafoord Prize (with Fred Hoyle) (1997)[17]
Hans Bethe Prize (1999)

References
1. "Edwin E. Salpeter, Leader in Astrophysics Study, Dies at 83" ([Link]
8/11/29/nyregion/[Link]). NY Times. 2008.
 2. "Edwin E. Salpeter Dies at 83" ([Link]
e=LifeStory&PersonId=120720119). Ithaca Journal. 28 November 2008. Retrieved
29 November 2008.
3. Trimble, Virginia; Terzian, Yervant (2009). "Obituary: Edwin E. Salpeter (1924-2008)" (http
s://[Link]/web/20171008231745/[Link]
2008). Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 41 (4): 1208.
Bibcode:2009BAAS...41.1208T ([Link]
Archived from the original ([Link] on 8
October 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
4. [Link] Archived ([Link]
rg/web/20190323090429/[Link] 23
March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Edwin E. Salpeter (1924-2008)" ([Link]
irs/memoir-pdfs/[Link]) (PDF). Retrieved 24 February 2024.
6. Salpeter, Edwin (1955). "The luminosity function and stellar evolution". Astrophysical
Journal. 121: 161. Bibcode:1955ApJ...121..161S. doi:10.1086/145971.
7. Suzy Collin, Quasars and Galactic Nuclei, a Half-Century Agitated Story ([Link]
[Link]/abs/2006AIPC..861..587C/abstract), 2006, ALBERT EINSTEIN CENTURY
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 861, pp. 587-595
(2006).
8. Peterson, B. M. An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei. [Link]. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997
9. Cuppen, H. M.; Walsh, C.; Lamberts, T.; Semenov, D.; Garrod, R. T.; Penteado, E. M.;
Ioppolo, S. (2017). "Grain Surface Models and Data for Astrochemistry" ([Link]
007%2Fs11214-016-0319-3). Space Science Reviews. 212 (1–2): 1–58.
Bibcode:2017SSRv..212....1C ([Link]
doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0319-3 ([Link]
hdl:2066/180435 ([Link] S2CID 255073621 ([Link]
[Link]/CorpusID:255073621).
10. Wolfgang Saxon, "Miriam M. Salpeter, 71, Expert On Neuromuscular Disorders ([Link]
[Link]/2000/10/28/nyregion/miriam-m-salpeter-71-expert-on-neuromuscular-disord
[Link]?pagewanted=1)", New York Times, 28 October 2000.
11. Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award ([Link]
ninNeuroscience_cwinlaa). Archived ([Link]
[Link]/[Link]?pagename=WomeninNeuroscience_cwinlaa) 2 August 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
12. "Edwin E. Salpeter, Leader in Astrophysics Study, Dies at 83", The Associated Press, 28
November 2008.
13. "Edwin Ernest Salpeter" ([Link] American
Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
14. Walter, Claire (1982). Winners, the blue ribbon encyclopedia of awards ([Link]
etails/winnersblueribbo0000walt). Facts on File Inc. p. 438 ([Link]
sblueribbo0000walt/page/438). ISBN 9780871963864.
15. "Edwin Salpeter wins Oppenheimer Prize". Physics Today. 27 (3): 83–85. March 1974.
doi:10.1063/1.3128516 ([Link]
16. "APS Member History" ([Link]
lpeter&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=adva
nced). [Link]. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
17. "Edwin E Salpeter" ([Link] Crafoord
Prize. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
External links
Bruce Medal page ([Link]
bio page ([Link]
Oral History interview transcript with Edwin Ernest Salpeter on 30 March 1978, American
Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives ([Link]
s-bohr-library/oral-histories/4854) - interview conducted by Spencer Weart at Newman
Laboratory, Cornell University
Interviewed by Mark Turin on 12 November 2008 (video) ([Link]
a/1130197)
Yervant Terzian, "Edwin E. Salpeter," Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of
Sciences (2009) ([Link]
[Link])

Retrieved from "[Link]