Robert Homer ( born Robert Gomer ; March 24, 1924, Vienna , Austria - December 12, 2016, Chicago , USA) is an American physicist-chemist of Austrian descent, one of the pioneers of surface science.
| Robert Homer | |
|---|---|
| Robert Gomer | |
| Date of Birth | March 24, 1924 |
| Place of Birth | Vienna , Austria |
| Date of death | December 12, 2016 (92 years old) |
| A place of death | Chicago , USA |
| A country | Austria, USA |
| Scientific field | physical chemistry |
| Place of work | Harvard University University of Chicago |
| Alma mater | College of Pomona University of Rochester |
| Known as | one of the pioneers of surface science |
| Awards and prizes | Guggenheim Fellowship [d] ( 1981 ) |
Biography
Robert Homer was born in Vienna, which he left in 1938, first moving to the UK, and in 1940 to the United States. In 1944, he received his bachelor's degree , and in 1949 he defended his doctoral dissertation in chemistry at the University of Rochester . For a year, he studied molecular chemical kinetics at Harvard University under the direction of Georgy Kistyakovsky . In 1950, the scientist moved to Chicago and for the rest of his life worked at and at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Chicago , first as an instructor and then as a professor. In 1977-1983, he served as director of the Institute, in 1984 he received the position of “Professor with Outstanding Merits ” ( Carl W. Eisendrath Distinguished Service Professor ), and in 1996 - the title of Honorary Professor .
Homer was an active opponent of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and at one time headed the editorial board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists . In 1966, together with three colleagues, he wrote a secret report in which he criticized the idea of using nuclear weapons in the Vietnam War . In addition to politics, he was keenly interested in culture, especially theater, was an avid skier. Homer and his wife Anna had two children - daughter Maria and son Richard, professor of biology at Texas A&M University .
The scientist died on December 12, 2016 from complications associated with Parkinson's disease .
Scientific activity
Robert Homer was one of the scientists who stood at the origins of modern chemistry and surface physics. Having visited one of Erwin Müller 's reports, Homer became interested in field electron microscopy , built his own apparatus and used it to study atomic and molecular processes occurring on the surface of a sample. In particular, he studied the adsorption and thermal desorption of simple gases and alkali metal atoms. Homer also developed a theoretical description of surface processes involving electrons, including the first theoretical explanation of the adsorption bond (together with J. Robert Schriffer ) and proposed a mechanism for the desorption of atoms and molecules based on the exchange of charge with the surface. Later, the scientist studied the process of surface diffusion, which plays a key role in the catalysis and dynamics of two-dimensional systems, in particular, developed a new experimental method based on measuring fluctuations of the tunneling current in an field electron microscope.
Awards and Memberships
- Member of the US National Academy of Sciences (1981)
- American Physical Society (1981,)
- American Vacuum Society (1989)
- Arthur Adamson American Chemical Society Award for Excellence in Surface Chemistry (1996)
Main publications
- Inghram MG, Gomer R. Mass spectrometric analysis of ions from the field microscope // Journal of Chemical Physics . - 1954. - Vol. 22 (7). - P. 1279. - DOI : 10.1063 / 1.1740380 .
- Gomer R., Wortman R., Lundy R. Mobility and adsorption of hydrogen on tungsten // Journal of Chemical Physics. - 1957. - Vol. 26 (5). - P. 1147. - DOI : 10.1063 / 1.1743484 .
- Gomer R. Field emission and field ionization. - Harvard University Press, 1961.
- Gomer R., Swanson LW Theory of field desorption // Journal of Chemical Physics. - 1963. - Vol. 38 (7). - P. 1613. - DOI : 10.1063 / 1.1776932 .
- Menzel D., Gomer R. Desorption from metal surfaces by low-energy electrons // Journal of Chemical Physics. - 1964. - Vol. 41 (11). - P. 3311. - DOI : 10.1063 / 1.1725730 .
- Halpern B., Gomer R. Field emission in liquids // Journal of Chemical Physics. - 1969. - Vol. 51 (3). - P. 1031. - DOI : 10.1063 / 1.1672102 .
- Schrieffer JR, Gomer R. Induced covalent bond mechanism of chemisorption // Surface Science. - 1971. - Vol. 25 (2). - P. 315-320. - DOI : 10.1016 / 0039-6028 (71) 90252-4 .
- Gomer R. Current fluctuations from small regions of adsorbate covered field emitters: A method for determining diffusion coefficients on single crystal planes // Surface Science. - 1973. - Vol. 38 (2). - P. 373-393. - DOI : 10.1016 / 0039-6028 (73) 90168-4 .
- DiFoggio R., Gomer R. Diffusion of hydrogen and deuterium on the (110) plane of tungsten // Physical Review B. - 1982. - Vol. 25 (6). - P. 3490-3511. - DOI : 10.1103 / PhysRevB.25.3490 .
- Gomer R. Diffusion of adsorbates on metal surfaces // Reports on Progress in Physics. - 1990. - Vol. 53 (7). - P. 917. - DOI : 10.1088 / 0034-4885 / 53/7/002 .
Literature
- Menzel D., Tringides MC, Schmidt LD Robert Gomer // Physics Today . - 2017 .-- Vol. 70 (5). - P. 67. - DOI : 10.1063 / PT.3.3563 .
Links
- Robert Gomer // Physics History Network
- Borzo G. Robert Gomer, chemist, longtime teacher and cherished colleague, 1924-2016 // UChicago News