Burton Richter, a Nobel Winner for Plumbing Matter, Dies at 87

Burton Richter, a Nobel Winner for Plumbing Matter, Dies at 87

The new quark became known as charm. The J/psi consists of two quarks: a charm quark paired with a charm antiquark, each circling the other like twirling square dancers.

Burton Richter was born on March 22, 1931, in Brooklyn, the oldest child of Abraham Richter, a textile worker, and Fanny (Pollack) Richter. After graduating from Far Rockaway High School in Queens, he enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 17. He obtained his undergraduate degree in physics there in 1952, and a doctorate four years later.

Dr. Richter then joined Stanford’s High-Energy Physics Lab as a research associate and became an assistant professor of physics in 1960. In 1963 he also took a position at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, one of the leading particle physics laboratories in the world. (The name was changed to SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in 2008.)

As laboratory director from 1984 to 1999, Dr. Richter oversaw the construction of the Stanford Linear Collider, a new type of machine that, instead of guiding positrons and electrons along a circular ring, fired them at each other along straight paths. Construction ran into many difficulties and delays, but ultimately the machine lived up to its promise.

Dr. Richter later realized that the next generation of accelerators would not be built at SLAC and so began shifting its focus to high-energy X-ray lasers and astrophysics — endeavors that would not require large swaths of pricey California real estate.

“I really think Burt was a visionary leader at SLAC,” said Persis Drell, the Stanford provost who served as SLAC director from 2007 to 2012. Dr. Drell said Dr. Richter had been careful not to tell her what he would have done if he were still director, but he was also blunt when asked for advice. “It was kind of refreshing, actually,” Dr. Drell said. “With Burt, it wasn’t subtle.”

Dr. Richter turned to energy issues in the latter part of his career, asserting his views with similar bluntness — as he did when he worked on a Department of Energy advisory committee on nuclear energy.

(Original source)