Paschen
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| Paschen | |
|---|---|
| Name | Paschen |
| Fields | Spectroscopy; Plasma physics |
| Known for | Paschen series; Paschen's law |
Paschen Paschen is a surname associated with contributions to spectroscopy and gas discharge physics, notably linked to discoveries in infrared emission series and breakdown voltage behavior in gases. The name appears in the histories of spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, physics, and electrical engineering through work conducted in contexts including the University of Berlin, the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, the Royal Society, and interactions with researchers at institutions such as Imperial College London and the Harvard College Observatory. Figures bearing the name influenced developments connected to the Balmer series, the Lyman series, the Rydberg formula, the Bohr model, and later quantum electrodynamics.
Etymology
The surname is of German origin and appears in records tied to regions like Berlin, Hamburg, and Prussia during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Genealogical traces link bearers to professions recorded in archives of the German Empire, municipal registers of the Weimar Republic, and civil lists maintained by institutions such as the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Deutsches Museum.
Paschen family and notable individuals
Members of the family include experimentalists and academics who worked at establishments like the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, the University of Göttingen, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, and the Max Planck Society. Associated persons interacted with figures from the Royal Society, collaborated on projects with researchers at ETH Zurich, exchanged correspondence with scientists at the Cavendish Laboratory, and contributed to publications in journals of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft and the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Their careers intersected with contemporaries in the networks of Hermann von Helmholtz, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, and Arnold Sommerfeld.
Paschen series (spectroscopy)
The infrared emission sequence bearing the name comprises transitions of the hydrogen atom analogous to the Balmer series and the Lyman series, described using the Rydberg formula and observed with instruments developed at facilities like the Kaiser Wilhelm Society laboratories and the Harvard College Observatory. Observations used gratings and spectrometers similar to equipment at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and techniques refined alongside researchers at École Normale Supérieure and University of Paris (Sorbonne). The series provided empirical support to the Bohr model and later to quantum treatments by Werner Heisenberg and Paul Dirac, contributing to precision tests later pursued in atomic physics at centers such as the Institute for Advanced Study and CERN.
Paschen's law (gas discharge)
Paschen's relationship for breakdown voltage in gases quantifies the dependence of onset voltage on pressure and electrode separation, a result experimentally established with apparatus comparable to setups in the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt and replicated in laboratories at the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The law connects phenomenology observed in early experiments by researchers at the Royal Institution with theoretical frameworks developed by scientists affiliated with the Prussian Academy of Sciences and informs models used in studies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Its formulation relates to investigations into corona discharge and spark gap behavior that influenced devices produced by firms such as Siemens and General Electric.
Applications and significance
Practical applications span technologies in telecommunications, vacuum tubes, neon lighting, gas-filled surge arresters, and vacuum systems used at facilities like Bell Labs, RCA Laboratories, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The concepts underpin design criteria in high-voltage engineering projects at organizations such as Siemens AG and Alstom, and inform safety standards adopted by agencies including the International Electrotechnical Commission and national standards bodies. Scientific significance appears in contexts of research at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and university programs at Caltech and Stanford University where gas discharge phenomena and infrared spectroscopy remain active topics.
Historical development and discoveries
Early measurements were carried out in late 19th and early 20th century German and European laboratories, paralleling contemporaneous work by researchers at the Royal Society, the French Academy of Sciences, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Subsequent theoretical interpretations engaged scientists associated with the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and later institutions like the Max Planck Institute and the University of Munich, linking empirical series to quantum models advanced by Niels Bohr, Arnold Sommerfeld, and Louis de Broglie. Later experimental refinements occurred in the mid-20th century at centers including Brookhaven National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and modern precision studies continue at institutions such as NIST and CERN.