physics

Klaus von Klitzing

Klaus von Klitzing is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Klaus von Klitzing rather than just read about it. In short: Klaus von Klitzing (German: [ˈklaʊs fɔn ˈklɪtsɪŋ] ; born 28 June 1943) is a German physicist, known for discovery of the integer quantum Hall effect, for which he was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics. Von Klitzing was born into the old noble Von Klitzing family from the Mittelmark region.

Key takeaways

Klaus von Klitzing belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Klaus von Klitzing to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Klaus von Klitzing from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Klaus von Klitzing (German: [ˈklaʊs fɔn ˈklɪtsɪŋ] ; born 28 June 1943) is a German physicist, known for discovery of the integer quantum Hall effect, for which he was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physics. Von Klitzing was born into the old noble Von Klitzing family from the Mittelmark region. He and his family arrived in Lutten near Vechta as German Expellees in 1945. In 1948 they moved to Oldenburg and in 1951 to Essen in the Cloppenburg district.

Education In Essen von Klitzing went to the Protestant elementary School where he was allowed to take advanced classes targeted at older students, and from 1953 onwards he attended the Artland-Gymnasium in Quakenbrück where he earned his Abitur at the top of his class in 1962. He then studied physics at the Braunschweig University of Technology, where he received his diploma in 1969. He continued his studies at the University of Würzburg at the chair of Gottfried Landwehr, completing his PhD thesis entitled Galvanomagnetic Properties of Tellurium in Strong Magnetic Fields (German: Galvanomagnetische Eigenschaften von Tellur in starken Magnetfeldern) in 1972, and gaining habilitation in 1978.

Research and career During his career Klitzing has worked at the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford and the Grenoble High Magnetic Field Laboratory in France (now LNCMI), where he continued to work until becoming a professor at the Technical University of Munich in 1980. He has been a director of the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart since 1985. The von Klitzing constant, RK = h/e2 = 25812.80745... Ω, is named in honor of Klaus von Klitzing's discovery of the quantum Hall effect, and is listed in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty. The inverse of the constant is equal to half the value of the conductance quantum. More recently, Klitzing's research focuses on the properties of low-dimensional electronic systems, typically in low temperatures and in high magnetic fields.

Honours and awards Von Klitzing has won numerous awards and honours including:

References

External links

Klaus von Klitzing on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, 9 December 1985 The Quantized Hall Effect

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Klaus von Klitzing

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Klaus von Klitzing claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Klaus von Klitzing before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Klaus von Klitzing ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Klaus von Klitzing

In research: Klaus von Klitzing appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Klaus von Klitzing in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Klaus von Klitzing is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1943 births, 20th-century German physicists, 21st-century German physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Klaus von Klitzing outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Klaus von Klitzing in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Klaus von Klitzing means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Klaus von Klitzing out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Klaus von Klitzing in simple terms?

Why does Klaus von Klitzing matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Klaus von Klitzing?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Klaus von Klitzing.