physics

Simon Pasternack

Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack rather than just read about it. In short: Simon Pasternack (1914–January 26, 1976) was a North American theoretical physicist and editor of Physical Review. He is known for the Pasternack effect in the spectrum of hydrogen, which later became known as the Lamb shift.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Simon Pasternack (1914–January 26, 1976) was a North American theoretical physicist and editor of Physical Review. He is known for the Pasternack effect in the spectrum of hydrogen, which later became known as the Lamb shift. Kramers–Pasternack recursion relations for the fine structure and Bateman–Pasternack polynomials are also named after him.

Life Pasternack graduated from University of Alberta, and obtained a PhD from California Institute of Technology in 1939. His thesis was titled "Transition Probabilities of Forbidden Lines" and his doctoral advisor was William V. Houston. He held teaching positions in San Bernardino Valley College and University of Pennsylvania, until joining the staff he joined the Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1947 to 1951. He was also chairman of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), and editor of Physical Review from 1951. He shared the editorial board with Samuel Goudsmit as editor-in-chief, Pasternack being assistant editor. During this time, Pasternack and Goudsmit are known for having rejected Theodore Maiman's 1960 publication of the first working laser. He had a son and two daughters. He died from a heart attack in 1976 in Blue Point, New York.

Research During his thesis, Pasternack worked on the fine structure of hydrogen. He came up in 1937 with a mathematical relation now known as the Kramers–Pasternack recursion relation, named after him and Hans Kramers, who independently discovered them a year later. During this time, he also theorized a new effect given a discrepancy between the predictions of the fine structure and the 1934 measurements by Robley C. Williams and Roswell Clifton Gibbs of the 2s level, which he published in 1938. This effect became known as the Pasternack effect. The effect was measured precisely by Willis Lamb and Robert Retherford in 1947 and became known as the Lamb shift. This discovery led to the development of quantum electrodynamics. In 1939, he generalized the mathematical work of Harry Bateman, introducing what is now known as Bateman–Pasternack polynomials. Pasternack also worked in radiation and neutron scattering. His last paper in 1963 was on hydrogen-like wavefunctions, but after that Pasternack dedicated himself exclusively to editor duties.

Honors and awards In 1999, two American Physical Society Editorial Offices were named after Goudsmit and Pasternack for their editorial work.

Notes

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Simon Pasternack

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack

In research: Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack 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: Simon Pasternack is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1914 births, 1976 deaths, 20th-century physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Simon Pasternack in simple terms?

Why does Simon Pasternack 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 Simon Pasternack?

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 Simon Pasternack.