| John L. Hall AKA John Lewis Hall Born: 21-Aug-1934
Birthplace: Denver, CO
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Physicist Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Quantum optics John L. Hall won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005, sharing the honor with Roy J. Glauber and Theodor W. Hänsch. As a post-grad student at Carnegie Mellon University, he constructed a microwave spectrometer for studying almost unimaginably tiny wavelengths. His life's work was conducted at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, a project jointly funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder. His Nobel-winning efforts involved laser-based precision spectroscopy, development of an optical frequency comb to parse the spectrum of a mode locked laser.
Among his other studies, Hall worked on optical atomic clocks based on a strontium "atomic fountain"; used classical electro-optical methods to pursue amplitude stabilization near the "photon-shot-noise" level; , determining the color of light at the atomic and molecular level; and applied continuous-wave technology toward increasing the accuracy of gravity-wave antennas and measurements of magnetically induced vacuum birefringence. The practical applications of his work include improved lasers and Global Positioning System technology. He was first hired at NIST, an agency of the Department of Commerce, by its then-director Allen V. Astin, father of actor John Astin. He won the Department of Commerce Gold Medal three times, in 1969, 74, and 2002. Friends call him 'Jan'.
Father: John Ernest Hall (electrical engineer)
Mother: Rae Long Hall (singer)
Wife: Marilyn Robinson ('Lindy', school teacher)
Daughter: Carey Hall (school teacher)
Son: Jon Hall (auto repairman)
Son: Thomas Hall (computer repairman)
University: BS Physics, Carnegie Mellon University (1956)
University: MS Physics, Carnegie Mellon University (1958)
University: PhD Physics, Carnegie Mellon University (1961)
Scholar: Physics, National Institute of Standards and Technology (1961-79)
Teacher: Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder (1967-)
Administrator: Senior Scientist, National Institute of Standards and Technology (1979-2004)
French Legion of Honor 2004
Nobel Prize for Physics 2005 (with Roy J. Glauber and Theodor W. Hänsch)
American Physical Society
National Academy of Sciences
Optical Society of America
Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
Author of books:
Sub Doppler Spectroscopy: Methane Hyperfine Spectroscopy and the Ultimate Resolution Limits (1974)
Laser Frequency Stabilization: Standards, Measurement, and Applications (2001)
Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.
Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile
Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications
| 
