Arno Penzias (Penzias), Arno A.

genus. April 26, 1933
. American astrophysicists Arno Allan Penzias was born in Munich (Germany) and was one of two sons of Charles Penzias, a Polish citizen, was engaged in leather work, and his wife, Inge (nee Ayzenrayh) Penzias.
. Jewish family P
. managed to leave Germany before the Second World War. Spring 1939. Arnault and his younger brother was sent to England, soon left his father there, and after a few months, at the beginning of the war, and his mother. Joining forces, the family left England in December 1939. and in early 1940. arrived in New York. Father P. some time working at a construction site in the Bronx, and then got a job in the carpentry workshop Metropolitan Museum of Art. To supplement family income, mother, having taken the name of Justin, got a job in a sewing studio.
In 1947, Mr.. P. enrolled at Brooklyn technical school, where, despite the interest in electronics, focused on the study of chemistry. Four years later, he continued his studies at a free City College in New York. In the first year P. dedicated himself to physics, t. to. teacher convinced him that this specialty would provide an opportunity to earn a living. In 1954, Mr.. P. graduated from college among the best graduates. After college training of reserve officers, P. served two years in the Army Signal Corps at Fort Devense (Massachusetts). At the end of 1956. he entered graduate school at Columbia University, where he taught IA. Rabi, Polycarp Kash, Lee Tszundao and Charles X. Townes. The two years before that Townes made the first maser - a device that emits and amplifies high-frequency radio waves. Under the leadership of Townes P. collected the second maser, . used as an amplifier in the microwave receiver, . that became part of his doctoral dissertation, . protected at Columbia University calculated at a wavelength of 21 cm, . which hydrogen emits radio waves, . maser, . thoughtful P., . was to help determine the content of hydrogen in a number of galaxies,
. P. maser hooked to an antenna marine research laboratory in Maryland Point (Maryland), but the resulting spectrum does not contain hydrogen lines. Later P. stated that 'equipment was more accurate than the observations'.
Not satisfied with the result, P. appealed to the director of the laboratory radioissledovany included in the telephone company 'Bell', in Crawford Hill (New Jersey), Rudolf Kompfneru for permission to repeat the experiment. He intended to use 20-foot antenna with a reflector as a horn installed in Holmdele (New Jersey), for receiving signals from satellites unmanaged 'Echo', which is expected to launch in 1960. Instead Kompfner proposed P. permanent job, at the latter gave his consent in 1961, a year later he received a Columbia University Ph.D.
First work P. in laboraoriyah companies 'Bell' was associated with the search for ways to increase the accuracy of the antenna, located in Andover (Maine), which is used to receive signals from the satellite communications 'Telstar'. For several reasons, in t.ch. due to gravity and weather conditions that could bend steel antenna. P. quickly solved the problem by placing the antenna inside the second receiver, aimed at the well-known source of radiation, such as the remnants of a supernova (an expanding shell of gas formed by the explosion of a star).
. Having an opportunity to continue to work on satellite communications, horn antenna, P
. prefer them to fundamental research in radio astronomy, in which he hoped to reveal the hydroxyl molecule (containing one atom of hydrogen and one oxygen) in interstellar space. However, although P. achieved in this project of positive results, ahead of his research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the first to discover this cosmic molecule.
In 1963, working with Robert in. Wilson, P. began to adapt horn antenna for use in radio astronomy. Fine-tuning and extra high sensitivity of the amplifier allowed scientists to measure the intensity of several extraterrestrial radiostochnikov. Moreover, they were able to filter out radio interference, which are aimed to local sources - the Earth's surface, atmosphere and most antenna. This allowed to measure the intensity of the background radiation of any part of the sky near the source, representing an interest.
In 1964, Mr.. researchers used their system for measuring radio Cassiopeia A, the object is a remnant of a supernova and is the most powerful radio source in the constellation Cassiopeia. However, the results of measurements of the background puzzled researchers, t. to the interference was so strong that they can not be attributed to known sources. Anomalies persisted and repeated measurements. P. and Wilson inspected the entire system to find the source of interference, shutting riveted connections and clearing the antenna from bird droppings, but it does not have a material impact on the measurement results.
. Radio waves, like all electromagnetic radiation, usually characterized by a wavelength or frequency
. But one of the characteristics can serve as a temperature, TK. all objects emit such wavelengths, which are determined by their temperature, the higher the temperature, the shorter the wavelength. Since the radiation subject to some extent depends on the color and surface structure, scientists take as the standard for so-called blackbody. Blackbody emits a spectrum of waves of different lengths, but for each value of temperature there is a definite wavelength at which the radiation intensity is maximal. Ray and cold items, but their characteristic wavelength is so large that the human eye does not perceive this radiation. The eye sees cold objects by reflected light in the darkness, where light sources are not available, cold objects invisible. Background radiation, or radio interference, noticed n. and Wilson, contain so much longer wavelengths, that it was well below the threshold, which can be seen. It corresponds to the wavelength emitted by a blackbody at a temperature of 3,5 б° Kelvin, which barely exceeds the absolute zero - the temperature at which all thermal motion ceases.
While P. and Wilson studied the unforeseen background radio emission, the theoretical group at Princeton University under the leadership of Robert Dicke developed a cosmological model of the expanding and shrinking universe. If the universe originated, as suggested by George Gamow, resulting in the so-called 'big bang', then the radiation from it, according to Dicke, can be observed through the 18 billion. years cooling. Colleague Dicke P. Peebles praised contemporary background radiation at 10 б° K (later this figure was reduced to 3,5 б° C), about which he said at a lecture at Johns Hopkins University.
. Among the scientists who were listening to a lecture Peebles, was and RadioAstron Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bernard Burke
. During a telephone conversation with Burke in 1965. P. referred to the unexplained noise, which had seen him and Wilson Learning from Burke about the work Peebles, P. connected not only with him, but with Dicke and his colleagues at Princeton, who built an antenna to measure the cosmic background radiation predicted by them.
. As a result of this meeting were published (simultaneously) two articles, one group of Princeton - to cosmological theory, the other P
. and Wilson - on measurements of background radiation. Observations continued for several years, and the radiation corresponded to the distribution of wavelengths for temperature predicted cosmological 'big bang'. (Gamow and his collaborators have made similar predictions in 1948, but the leading astronomers of the time did not allow the possibility of its experimental verification of modern instruments.)
Then P. and Wilson launched a new study of carbon laser (amplifier, produces an intense monochromatic beam of light), through which they hoped could pass communication signals through the earth's atmosphere. The study ended in failure. In the late 60-ies. They returned to radio astronomy. In collaboration with atomic physicists of the company 'Bell' Keith Jefferts they built a receiver capable of detecting radiation with a wavelength of a millimeter. In 1970. They added their receiver to the newly constructed national radio astronomy laboratory at Kitt Peak (Arizona) 36-foot radiotelescope. Target him in the Orion Nebula, the scientists saw the display spectral line (wavelength characteristic emission) of carbon monoxide. As a result, subsequent studies have identified six more interstellar molecules. P. continues to work in astrophysics, primarily the problem of the origin of chemical elements.
In 1978. P. and Wilson shared half the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation '. The other half of the prize was awarded to Peter Kapitza. Introducing the winners, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Lamkov Hultц?n tagged 'extraordinary perseverance and filigree craftsmanship, which resulted in (P. and Wilson) to the discovery, made possible to introduce the experimental methods and direct observation of such a science as cosmology '.
. Lab companies 'Bell', . Recognizing the outstanding organizational abilities AP, . entrusted him with a number of managerial positions: head of department of Radio Physical Research in Crawford Hill (1972), . Laboratory Director radioissledovany (1976), . vice president of research work (1981),
. Since 1972, Mr.. P. is also a Member of the department of astrophysical research at Princeton University.
P. received U.S. citizenship in 1946. and adopted the name Allan, under which it has been known since his arrival in America. Currently, it is his middle name. In 1954, Mr.. P. married Pearl Ann Berres, who worked as legal adviser. The newlyweds settled in Highland Park (New Jersey), and they had a son and two daughters.
Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. American Astronomical Society, P. was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Trenton College and astronomical advisory committee of the National Science Foundation. Among the awards he had received - Henry Draper Medal of the American National Academy of Sciences (1977), Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of London (1977). He was awarded an honorary degree from the Paris Observatory.