Wigner, Eugene

Wigner, Eugene (Paul)

 orig. Jenó Pál Wigner

(born Nov. 17, 1902, Budapest, Hung.—died Jan. 1, 1995, Princeton, N.J., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. physicist. After studies at the University of Berlin, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1930 and joined the faculty of Princeton University. He was instrumental in getting the Manhattan Project started and was present when Enrico Fermi initiated the first chain reaction. He determined that the nuclear force is short-range and does not involve an electric charge, using group theory to investigate atomic structure. His name was given to several formulations, including the Breit-Wigner formula, which describes resonant nuclear reactions. He won a 1963 Nobel Prize (shared with Maria Mayer and Hans Jensen [1907–73], who won for unrelated work) for his insights into quantum mechanics, especially principles governing interaction of protons and neutrons in the nucleus and his formulation of the law of conservation of parity (see conservation law). In addition to his many scientific awards, he received numerous awards for his work for peace.