Lamb shift and anomalous magnetic moment of the electron
Desplazamiento de Lamb y momento magnético anómalo del electrón
- Date
- 1947 · confidence high
- Place
- Columbia University, New York, United States
- Credited to
- Willis Lamb; Robert Retherford; Polykarp Kusch
- People
- 👤 Polykarp Kusch1911–1993👤 Robert Retherford1912–1981👤 Willis Eugene Lamb1913–2008
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Using microwaves, Lamb measures a tiny energy difference between two levels of hydrogen that the Dirac equation predicts to be equal; Kusch finds that the electron's magnetic moment is slightly greater than the theoretical value. Both effects are due to vacuum fluctuations.
Presented at Shelter Island; Bethe calculated the effect on the train home.
What it led to
- Renormalised quantum electrodynamics (1948)
- Precision physics and tests of the standard model
- Microwave spectroscopy
- Muon anomaly (g-2)
Built on
- Dirac equation and the prediction of antimatter1928
- Radar microwave technology
- Shelter Island Conference (June 1947)
Made possible
- Casimir effect1948
- Quantum electrodynamics (QED)1947-1949
- Hydrogen maser
- Frequency metrology