Otto Stern

Otto Stern was a German-American physicist whose molecular-beam experiments tested quantum physics and measured atomic magnetic moments. He received the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to the development of the molecular-ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton.

Stern–Gerlach experiment: A 1922 experiment that sent silver atoms through a nonuniform magnetic field and found discrete spatial splitting. Stern and Walther Gerlach used this beam experiment to reveal quantized angular momentum.
Molecular beam: A narrow stream of atoms or molecules moving through a low-pressure environment. Stern’s experimental method depended on preparing and steering such beams.
Walther Gerlach: A German physicist who collaborated with Stern on the 1922 magnetic-beam experiment. Gerlach shared responsibility for the experiment now bearing both scientists’ names.
University of Breslau: A historic university in Breslau, now Wrocław, where Stern studied and later taught. Stern’s academic training and early teaching career began there.
Space quantization: The restriction of angular-momentum orientations to discrete values relative to a chosen axis. The split beam provided striking evidence for quantized orientations.
Stern–Gerlach experiment with silver atoms: The specific Stern–Gerlach experiment in which a beam of silver atoms split into two parts. Stern’s best-known experiment used silver atoms to test predictions about magnetic orientation.
Effusion: The escape of gas molecules through a small opening into a region of lower pressure. Effusion helped produce the directed atomic and molecular streams used in Stern’s apparatus.
Immanuel Estermann: A physicist who collaborated with Stern on molecular-beam experiments, including measurements of proton properties. Estermann helped carry Stern’s beam techniques into later precision measurements.
University of Frankfurt: A German university where Stern held an academic post and conducted early molecular-beam research. Stern led experimental work in Frankfurt before moving to Hamburg.
Quantum mechanics: A physical theory describing matter and radiation through quantized states and probabilistic predictions. Stern’s experiments helped establish quantum mechanics as an experimentally testable theory.

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