View source for Burton Richter

{{Short description|American physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Burton Richter
| image = Burton Richter NSF crop.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|03|22|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Brooklyn, New York]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|07|18|1931|03|22|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Stanford, California]], U.S.
| residence = 
| field = 
| work_institutions = [[Stanford University]] <br> [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]]
| alma_mater = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[Bernard T. Feld]]<ref>{{cite thesis |author=Burton Richter |year=1956 |title=Photoproduction of Positive Pions from Hydrogen by 265 MEV Gamma Rays |url=http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/12136/31848569.pdf? |access-date=2014-02-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227003712/http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/12136/31848569.pdf |archive-date=2014-02-27 }}</ref><ref name="MITlib">{{cite web|url=http://library.mit.edu/F/4G7YKPHGF7T49U357K9TQ1CJ81DCSTQN977HM3IDU4R5FQH5C5-46531?func=full-set-set&set_number=008083&set_entry=000002&format=999|title=PDS login|website=library.mit.edu}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for = [[J/ψ meson]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| prizes = {{nowrap|[[Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award|E. O. Lawrence Award]] (1975)<br>[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1976)<br> [[Enrico Fermi Award]] (2012)<br>[[National Medal of Science]] (2012)}}
| footnotes = 
| signature = 
| spouse = Laurose Becker (m. 1960; 2 children)
}}

'''Burton Richter''' (March 22, 1931 – July 18, 2018)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://beta.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/burton-richter-nobel-prize-winning-physicist-dies-at-87/2018/07/21/a0baaede-8c8c-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html|title=Obituaries - Burton Richter, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, dies at 87|last=Weil|first=Martin|date=21 July 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release|title=Nobel Prize-winning physicist Burton Richter dies at 87|publisher=Stanford News|date=2018-07-19|url=https://news.stanford.edu/2018/07/19/nobel-prize-winning-physicist-burton-richter-dies-87/|access-date=2018-07-20|website=Stanford News}}</ref> was an American physicist. He led the [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]] (SLAC) team which co-discovered the [[J/ψ meson]] in 1974, alongside the [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]] (BNL) team led by [[Samuel C. C. Ting|Samuel Ting]] for which they won [[Nobel Prize for Physics]] in 1976. This discovery was part of the [[November Revolution (physics)|November Revolution]] of particle physics. He was the SLAC director from 1984 to 1999.

==Life and work==
A native of [[New York City]], Richter was born into a [[Jews|Jewish]]<ref>Shalev, Baruch A. (2002). ''100 Years of Nobel Prizes''. The Americas Group. p. 61. {{ISBN|978-0-935047-37-0}}</ref> family in [[Brooklyn]], and was raised in the [[Queens]] neighborhood of [[Far Rockaway, Queens|Far Rockaway]].<ref name=":0">
{{cite news
 |date=October 26, 1986
 |title=In Search of the Z Particle
 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F50710F93F5F0C758EDDA90994DE484D81
 |work=[[The New York Times]]
 |access-date=2007-10-02
 |quote=Burton Richter was born in Brooklyn 55 years ago, but grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens.
| first1=Robert P.
| last1=Crease
| first2=Charles C.
| last2=Mann
}}</ref> His parents were Fanny (Pollack) and Abraham Richter, a textile worker.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Burton_Richter.aspx|title=Burton Richter facts, information, pictures - Encyclopedia.com articles about Burton Richter|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> He graduated from [[Far Rockaway High School]], a school that also produced fellow laureates [[Baruch Samuel Blumberg]] and [[Richard Feynman]].<ref>
{{cite web
 |author      = Schwach, Howard
 |date        = April 15, 2005
 |title       = Museum tracks down FRHS Nobel laureates
 |url         = http://www.rockawave.com/news/2005/0415/Community/186.html
 |work        = [[The Wave (newspaper)|The Wave]]
 |access-date  = 2007-10-02
 |quote       = Burton Richter graduated from Far Rockaway High School in 1948.
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011232135/http://rockawave.com/news/2005/0415/Community/186.html
 |archive-date = October 11, 2007
}}</ref> He attended [[Mercersburg Academy]] in Pennsylvania, then continued on to study at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], where he received his bachelor's degree in 1952 and his PhD in 1956. He then joined the faculty of [[Stanford University]], becoming a full professor in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Burton-Richter|title=Burton Richter {{!}} American physicist|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-09-15}}</ref> Richter was director of the [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]] (SLAC) from 1984 to 1999. He was a senior fellow of the [[Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies]] and Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences Emeritus of Stanford University.<ref name="fermi" />

As a professor at Stanford, Richter designed the [[SPEAR]] (Stanford Positron-Electron Asymmetric Ring)  [[particle accelerator]] with the help of another Stanford physics professor, [[David Ritson]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.slac.stanford.edu/vault/pubvault/ST04no2_Allen.pdf|title=Deeper and Deeper into the Atom|access-date=15 September 2019|journal=Sandstone and Tile|publisher=Stanford Historical Society|volume=4|issue=2|date=Winter 1980|author=Peter C. Allen}}</ref> When eventually resources were secured, Richter led the building of SPEAR, with the support of the [[U.S. Atomic Energy Commission]]. With it he led a team that discovered a new [[subatomic particle]] he called a ''ψ'' ([[psi (letter)|psi]]). This discovery was also made by the team led by [[Samuel C. C. Ting|Samuel Ting]]  at [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]], but he called the particle ''J''.  The particle thus became known as the [[J/ψ meson]]. Richter and Ting were jointly awarded the 1976 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for their work.<ref name=":0" />

During 1975 Richter spent a sabbatical year at [[CERN]] where he worked on the [[Intersecting Storage Rings|ISR]] experiment R702.<ref>{{cite news
 |url=https://home.cern/cern-people/obituaries/2018/07/burton-richter-1931-2018
 |title=Burton Richter (1931-2018)
| first=Matthew
| last=Chalmers
| date=August 15, 2018
| access-date=August 20, 2018
}}</ref>

In 1987, Richter received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>

Richter was a member of the [[JASON (advisory group)|JASON advisory group]] and served on the board of directors of [[Scientists and Engineers for America]], an organization focused on promoting sound science in [[American government]].<ref name="fermi">{{cite web
|url=http://energy.gov/articles/president-obama-names-scientists-mildred-dresselhaus-and-burton-richter-enrico-fermi-award
|title=President Obama Names Scientists Mildred Dresselhaus and Burton Richter as the Enrico Fermi Award Winners
|date=January 11, 2012
}}</ref>

Richter was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Burton+Richter&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-06-22|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

In May 2007, he visited [[Iran]] and [[Sharif University of Technology]].<ref>{{cite news
 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/05/AR2008060503904.html?nav=rss_email/components&sid=ST2008060602843
 |title=Iran makes the sciences a part of its revolution
| newspaper=The Washington Post
| first=Thomas
| last=Erdbrink
| date=June 6, 2008
| access-date=April 27, 2010
}}</ref>

Richter is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President [[George W. Bush]] in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]’s [[Office of Science]], the [[National Science Foundation]], and the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Letter from America's Physics Nobel Laureates|url=https://fire.pppl.gov/nobel_bush_fy08_050808.pdf}}</ref>

In 2012, President [[Barack Obama]] announced that Burton Richter was a co-recipient of the [[Enrico Fermi Award]], along with [[Mildred Dresselhaus]].<ref name="fermi" />

In 2014, President Obama also awarded Richter the 2012 [[National Medal of Science]]. His citation read, "For pioneering contributions to the development of electron accelerators, including circular and linear colliders, synchrotron light sources, and for discoveries in elementary particle physics and contributions to energy policy."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalmedals.org/laureates/burton-richter|title=Burton Richter, 2012 National Medal of Science, Physical Sciences|date=2019|website=National Science & Technology Medal Foundation|access-date=15 Sep 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory|title=President Obama Bestows National Medal of Science on SLAC Director Emeritus and Nobelist Burton Richter|date=2014-11-20|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaclab/15660865247/|access-date=2019-09-15}}</ref>

In 2013, Richter commented on an open letter from [[Tom Wigley]], [[Kerry Emanuel]], [[Ken Caldeira]], and [[James Hansen]], that [[Angela Merkel]] was "wrong to shut down nuclear".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/03/world/nuclear-energy-climate-change-scientists/ | work=CNN | title=Environmental scientists tout nuclear power to avert climate change - CNN.com | date=November 3, 2013}}</ref>

In 2014, Richter was among the residents of a continuing care retirement center who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against a continuing care retirement home's financial practices.<ref>
{{cite court
|litigants=Burton Richter, Linda Collins Cork, Georgia L. May, Thomas Merigan, Alfred Spivack, Janice R. Anderson v. CC-Palo Alto, Inc.
|court=United States District Court for the Northern District of California
|case=5:14-cv-00750-EJD
|url=http://www.paloaltoonline.com/media/reports/1392935589.pdf
|access-date=2015-01-27
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20141125f09|title=RICHTER v. CC-PALO ALTO, {{!}} Case No. 5:14... {{!}} 20141125f09 {{!}} Leagle.com|website=Leagle|language=en|access-date=2019-09-15}}</ref>

Richter died on July 18, 2018, in [[Stanford, California]], at the age 87.

==See also==
* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]
* [[List of independent discoveries#20th century|List of independent discoveries]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Publications==
*Barber, W. C.; Richter, B.; Panofsky, W. K. H.; O'Neill, G. K. & B. Gittelman. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4081479-experiment-limits-quantum-electro-dynamics   "An Experiment on the Limits of Quantum Electro-dynamics"], High-Energy Physics Laboratory at [[Stanford University]], [[Princeton University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), [[Office of Naval Research]], (June 1959).
*Richter, B. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4459754-design-considerations-high-energy-electron-positron-storage-rings  "Design Considerations for High Energy Electron – Positron Storage Rings"], [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]], [[Stanford University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (November 1966).
*Boyarski, A. M.; Coward, D.; Ecklund, S.; Richter, B.; Sherden, D.; Siemann, R. & C. Sinclair. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4606846-inclusive-yields-pi-sup-pi-sup-sup-sup-from-sub-photoproduced-gev-forward-angles "Inclusive Yields of pi{sup +}, pi{sup -}, K{sup +}, and K{sup -} from H{sub 2} Photoproduced at 18 GeV at Forward Angles"], [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]], [[Stanford University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (1971).
*Richter, B. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5184400-total-hadron-cross-section-new-particles-muon-electron-events-sup-sup-annihilation-spear  "Total Hadron Cross Section, New Particles, and Muon Electron Events in e{sup +}e{sup -} Annihilation at SPEAR"], [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]], [[Stanford University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the U.S. [[Energy Research and Development Administration]] (ERDA)), (January 1976).
*Richter, B. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5515899-forty-five-years-sup-sup-annihilation-physics  "Forty-five Years of e{sup +}e{sup -} Annihilation Physics: 1956 to 2001"], [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]], [[United States Department of Energy]], (August 1984).
*Richter, B. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/899843-charting-course-elementary-particle-physics "Charting the Course for Elementary Particle Physics"], [[Stanford Linear Accelerator Center]], [[United States Department of Energy]], (February 16, 2007).
*Richter, B. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Changes and Energy in the 21st Century. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-107-67372-4}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1976 ''From the Psi to Charm – The Experiments of 1975 and 1976''
*[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1976/summary/ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1976]
*[http://nobel.bh.org.il/en/persona/richter-burton/ Richter Burton], Nobel Luminaries Project, [[The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot]] 
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaclab/sets/72157699275040695/with/15660865247/ SLAC Flickr album]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010721190418/http://www.slac.stanford.edu/~hll/photos/Richter/Historical/index.html Historical photos of Burton Richter]
*[http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nif/seab1c.asp NIF Secretary of Energy Board]
*[http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR19/Session/N03 Honoring Burton Richter] at APS April 2019
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/richter-burton.pdf Persis Drell, Vera Luth, and Maury Tigner, "Burton Richter", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2022)]
*[https://aip.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/AIP/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:6667/one Oral History Interview with Burton Richter by Elizabeth Paris, 1996 July 15, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives]

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Wolfgang Panofsky]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[SLAC]] Director |years=1984–1999}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jonathan M. Dorfan]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1976 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Presidents of the American Physical Society}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Burton}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Enrico Fermi Award recipients]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of JASON (advisory group)]]
[[Category:Stanford University SLAC faculty]]
[[Category:Jewish American physicists]]
[[Category:Mercersburg Academy alumni]]
[[Category:American people of German-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Far Rockaway High School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Far Rockaway, Queens]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:People associated with CERN]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Jewish Nobel laureates]]