NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Stanislaw Ulam

Stanisław Marcin Ulam (April 13, 1909 – May 13, 1984) was a Jewish-Polish mathematician who participated in the Manhattan Project and proposed the Teller–Ulam design of thermonuclear weapons. He also invented nuclear pulse propulsion and developed a number of mathematical tools in number theory, set theory, ergodic theory, and algebraic topology. Image File history File links StanisÅ‚aw Marcin Ulam, in the 1950s. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Leonhard Euler is considered by many to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time A mathematician is the person whose primary area of study and research is the field of mathematics. ... The Manhattan Project resulted in the development of the first nuclear weapons, and the first-ever nuclear detonation, at the Trinity test of July 16, 1945. ... The basics of the Tellerâ€“Ulam configuration: a fission bomb uses radiation to compress and heat a separate section of fusion fuel. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... An artists conception of a spacecraft powered by nuclear pulse propulsion Nuclear pulse propulsion (or External Pulsed Plasma Propulsion, as it is termed in one recent NASA document) is a proposed method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. ... Number theory is the branch of pure mathematics concerned with the properties of numbers in general, and integers in particular, as well as the wider classes of problems that arise from their study. ... Set theory is the mathematical theory of sets, which represent collections of abstract objects. ... In mathematics, a measure-preserving transformation T on a probability space is said to be ergodic if the only measurable sets invariant under T have measure 0 or 1. ... Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics in which tools from abstract algebra are used to study topological spaces. ...

Biography

Stanislaw Ulam was born in Lwów (German: Lemberg; Ukrainian: Lviv), Galicia, then in Austria-Hungary; since 1945, in Ukraine. He was part of the city's Polish majority population; when he grew up in the city, it was in Poland. His mentor in mathematics was Stefan Banach, a great Polish mathematician and one of the moving spirits of the Lwów School of Mathematics and more broadly of the remarkable Interbellum Polish School of Mathematics. Motto: Semper fidelis Oblast Lviv Oblast Municipal government City council (Ð›ÑŒÐ²Ñ–Ð²ÑÑŒÐºÐ° Ð¼Ñ–ÑÑŒÐºÐ° Ñ€Ð°Ð´Ð°) Mayor City chairman Lyubomyr Bunyak Area 171,01 kmÂ² Population - city - urban - density 808,900 ? 4786/kmÂ² Founded City rights 13th century 1353 Latitude Longitude 49Â°51â€² N 24Â°01â€² E Area code +0322 Car plates ? Twin towns Corning, Freiburg... Coat-of-arms of Galicia or Galicja Galicia (Ukrainian: , Polish: , German: , Hungarian: , Czech: , Turkish: ) is an historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... Stefan Banach Stefan Banach (March 30, 1892 in KrakÃ³w, Austria-Hungary now Polandâ€“ August 31, 1945 in LwÃ³w, Soviet Union - occupied Poland), was an eminent Polish mathematician, one of the moving spirits of the LwÃ³w School of Mathematics in pre-war Poland. ... The LwÃ³w School of Mathematics was a group of mathematicians in the corresponding Polish city (now Lviv, Ukraine) who worked together, meeting particularly at the Scottish CafÃ© to discuss mathematical problems. ... Anthem: Mazurek DÄ…browskiego Capital Warsaw Language(s) Polish Government Republic President List Prime minister List Legislature Sejm Historical era Interwar period - World War I November 11, 1918 - Invasion November 2, 1939 Area - 1939 388,600 km2 150,039 sq mi Population - 1939 est. ... Polish School of Mathematics is the appellation given to the remarkably productive and creative mathematics community that has flourished in Poland since the two decades between the World Wars. ...

Ulam went to the US in 1938 as a Harvard Junior Fellow. When his fellowship was not renewed, he served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and supported his brother, Adam, who had fled from Poland on the eve of the Second World War. While there, in the midst of the war, his friend John von Neumann invited him to a secret project in New Mexico. Ulam researched the invitation by checking out a book on New Mexico from the university library. There he found a list, on the library check-out card, of all those who had successively disappeared from the campus at the UW. Ulam then joined the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... The Harvard Society of Fellows is a collection of luminaries selected by Harvard University to be held close to its bosom, given special honors, thrown elegant dinners, and upon whom various privileges are bestowed. ... The University of Wisconsinâ€“Madison (also known as UWâ€“Madison, Madison, University of Wisconsin, or UW) is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin. ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33... John von Neumann (Margittai Neumann JÃ¡nos Lajos) (born December 28, 1903 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary; died February 8, 1957 in Washington D.C., United States) was a Hungarian-born mathematician and polymath who made contributions to quantum physics, functional analysis, set theory, topology, economics, computer science, numerical analysis, hydrodynamics... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area Ranked 5th - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 kmÂ²) - Width 342 miles (550 km) - Length 370 miles (595 km) - % water 0. ... The Manhattan Project resulted in the development of the first nuclear weapons, and the first-ever nuclear detonation, at the Trinity test of July 16, 1945. ... Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ...

While there, he suggested the Monte Carlo method for evaluating complicated mathematical integrals that arise in the theory of nuclear chain reactions (not knowing that Fermi and others had used a similar method earlier). This suggestion led to the more systematic development of Monte Carlo by Von Neumann, Metropolis, and others. Image File history File links Stanislaw_Ulam_ID_badge. ... Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ... Monte Carlo methods are a widely used class of computational algorithms for simulating the behavior of various physical and mathematical systems, and for other computations. ... In calculus, the integral of a function is an extension of the concept of a sum. ... A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions. ... Enrico Fermi (September 29, 1901 â€“ November 28, 1954) was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for the development of quantum theory. ... Nicholas Constantine Metropolis (June 11, 1915 â€“ October 17, 1999) was a Greek-American mathematician, physicist, and computer scientist. ...

Ulam — in collaboration with C.J. Everett, who did the detailed calculations — showed Edward Teller's early model of the hydrogen bomb to be inadequate. Ulam then went on to suggest a better method. He was the first to realize that one could place all the H-bomb's components inside one casing, put a fission bomb at one end and thermonuclear material at the other, and use mechanical shock from the fission bomb to compress and detonate fusion fuel. This idea was probably an outcome of Ulam's initial ideas for 'staging' a conventional fission device, in which the neutron flux from one fission bomb would compress the fuel in another one, thus increasing its efficiency. Edward Teller (original Hungarian name Teller Ede) (January 15, 1908 â€“ September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-born American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as the father of the hydrogen bomb. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... The deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction is considered the most promising for producing fusion power. ... Fuel is any material that is capable of releasing energy when its chemical or physical structure is changed or converted. ...

Teller at first resisted this idea, then saw its merit and suggested the use of a plutonium "spark plug", located at the center of the fusion fuel, to initiate and enhance the fusion reaction. Teller also modified Ulam's idea of compression by realizing that radiation from the fission bomb would compress the thermonuclear fuel much more efficiently than mechanical shock. This design, generally referred to as staged radiation implosion, has been the standard method of creating H-bombs ever since. Although this approach was worked out independently by Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov, it is often referred to as the "Teller–Ulam design". Ulam and Teller jointly applied for a patent on the hydrogen bomb. Andrei Sakharov, 1943 Dr. Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (Russian: , May 21, 1921 â€“ December 14, 1989), was an eminent Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. ... The basics of the Tellerâ€“Ulam configuration: a fission bomb uses radiation to compress and heat a separate section of fusion fuel. ...

Ulam also invented nuclear pulse propulsion and, at the end of his life, declared it the invention of which he was proudest. An artists conception of a spacecraft powered by nuclear pulse propulsion Nuclear pulse propulsion (or External Pulsed Plasma Propulsion, as it is termed in one recent NASA document) is a proposed method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. ...

He was an early proponent of using computers to perform "mathematical experiments." His most notable contribution here may have been his part in the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam experiments, an early numerical study of a dynamic system. In physics, the Fermiâ€“Pastaâ€“Ulam problem or FPU problem was the apparent paradox in chaos theory that many complicated enough physical systems exhibited almost exactly periodic behavior instead of ergodic behavior. ... In engineering and mathematics, a dynamical system is a deterministic process in which a functions value changes over time according to a rule that is defined in terms of the functions current value. ...

In pure mathematics, he worked in set theory (including measurable cardinals and abstract measures), topology, ergodic theory, and other fields. After World War II he largely turned from rigorous pure mathematics to speculative and imaginative work, posing problems and making conjectures (which had always been specialties of his) that often concerned the application of mathematics to physics and biology. His friend Gian-Carlo Rota ascribed this change to an attack of encephalitis in 1946 that Rota claimed changed Ulam's personality (though detail had never been Ulam's strong point). This suggestion is believed by many but rejected by Ulam's widow, Françoise, among others. Set theory is the mathematical theory of sets, which represent collections of abstract objects. ... Bold textcopper mellon pressure washer. ... In mathematics, a measure is a function that assigns a number, e. ... A MÃ¶bius strip, a surface with only one side and one edge; such shapes are an object of study in topology. ... In mathematics, a measure-preserving transformation T on a probability space is said to be ergodic if the only measurable sets invariant under T have measure 0 or 1. ... Physics (from the Greek, (phÃºsis), nature and (phusikÃ©), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and understanding of the fundamental laws which govern matter, energy, space, and time. ... Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek Î’Ã¬Î¿ meaning life and Î›oÎ³Î¿Ï‚ meaning the study of) is the study of life. ... Gian-Carlo Rota (April 27, 1932 – April 18, 1999, known as Juan Carlos Rota to Spanish speakers) was an Italian-born American mathematician and philosopher. ... Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain, commonly caused by a viral infection. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

In May 1958, while referring to a conversation with von Neumann, Ulam said what would later became a foundation of the technological singularity theory: "One conversation centered on the ever accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them, could not continue." When plotted on a logarithmic graph, 15 separate lists of paradigm shifts for key events in human history show an exponential trend. ...

Ulam took a position at the University of Colorado in 1965. As he remained a consultant at Los Alamos, he divided his time between Boulder, Colorado, USA and Santa Fe, New Mexico, from which he commuted to Los Alamos. Later he and his wife spent winters in Gainesville, Florida, where he had a position with the University of Florida. He died in Santa Fe on May 13, 1984. The University of Colorado (CU) System consists of five campuses: University of Colorado at Boulder University of Colorado at Colorado Springs University of Colorado at Denver University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Fitzsimons campus of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, scheduled to open in 2007 in Aurora, Colorado... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... The City of Boulder (, Mountain Time Zone) is a home rule municipality located in Boulder County, Colorado, United States. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... Nickname: The City Different Location in the State of New Mexico Coordinates: Country United States State New Mexico County Santa Fe Founded 1607 Mayor David Coss Area - City 96. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area Ranked 5th - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 kmÂ²) - Width 342 miles (550 km) - Length 370 miles (595 km) - % water 0. ... Downtown Clock Tower, housing the restored clock bell from the 1885 courthouse Gainesville is the largest city and county seat of Alachua County, Florida. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university located in Gainesville, Florida. ...

Bethe on Ulam

Edward Teller (original Hungarian name Teller Ede) (January 15, 1908 â€“ September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-born American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as the father of the hydrogen bomb. ... Hans Albrecht Bethe (pronounced bay-tuh; July 2, 1906 â€“ March 6, 2005), was a German-American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. ...

Encyclopedia > Stanislaw Ulam

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Bethe on Ulam

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