Felix Bloch | Nobel Prize, Quantum Mechanics, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

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class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Felix-Bloch/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Felix-Bloch">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-quizzes"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Quizzes </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/faces-of-science"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/144788-131-ADACA20E/Michael-Faraday-John-Frederic-Daniell.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell." width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/faces-of-science" >Faces of Science</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/physics-and-natural-law"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/01/115001-131-7278E518/Enrico-Fermi-Italian-problem-physics-1950.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-10-19T00:00:00CDT" >Oct 19, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Felix-Bloch/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Born: </dt> <dd>Oct. 23, 1905, <a href="/place/Zurich">Zürich</a>, Switz.</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Died: </dt> <dd>Sept. 10, 1983, <a href="/place/Zurich">Zürich</a> (aged 77)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Awards And Honors: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Nobel-Prize">Nobel Prize (1952)</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Subjects Of Study: </dt> <dd><a href="/science/magnetic-moment">magnetic moment</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/neutron">neutron</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/neutron-beam">neutron beam</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/nuclear-magnetic-resonance">nuclear magnetic resonance</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/quantum">quantum</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/solid-state-of-matter">solid</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Felix-Bloch"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref21724"></span>Felix Bloch</strong> (born Oct. 23, 1905, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Zurich" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Zürich</a>, Switz.—died Sept. 10, 1983, Zürich) was a Swiss-born American physicist who shared (with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/E-M-Purcell" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">E.M. Purcell</a>) the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nobel-Prize" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Nobel Prize</a> for Physics in 1952 for developing the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-magnetic-resonance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nuclear magnetic resonance</a> method of measuring the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/magnetic-field" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">magnetic field</a> of atomic nuclei.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Bloch’s doctoral dissertation (University of Leipzig, 1928) <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="promulgated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/promulgated" data-type="MW">promulgated</a> a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">quantum</a> theory of solids that provided the basis for understanding electrical conduction. Bloch taught at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/University-of-Leipzig" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">University of Leipzig</a> until 1933; when <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Adolf Hitler</a> came to power he emigrated to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> and was naturalized in 1939. After joining the faculty of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Stanford-University" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Stanford University</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Palo-Alto" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Palo Alto</a>, Calif., in 1934, he proposed a method for splitting a beam of neutrons into two components that corresponded to the two possible orientations of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/neutron" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">neutron</a> in a magnetic field. In 1939, using this method, he and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luis-Alvarez" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Luis Alvarez</a> (winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968) measured the <span id="ref21725"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/magnetic-moment" class="md-crosslink ">magnetic moment</a> of the neutron (a property of its magnetic field). Bloch worked on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-energy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">atomic energy</a> at Los Alamos, N.M., and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/radar" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">radar</a> countermeasures at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harvard-University" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Harvard University</a> during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">World War II</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Bloch returned to Stanford in 1945 to develop, with physicists W.W. Hansen and M.E. Packard, the principle of <span id="ref21726"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-magnetic-resonance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nuclear magnetic resonance</a>, which helped establish the relationship between nuclear magnetic fields and the crystalline and magnetic properties of various materials. It later became useful in determining the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="composition" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/composition" data-type="MW">composition</a> and structure of molecules. Nuclear <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/magnetic-resonance" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">magnetic resonance</a> techniques have become increasingly important in diagnostic medicine.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/faces-of-science" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/88/144788-131-ADACA20E/Michael-Faraday-John-Frederic-Daniell.jpg" alt="Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Faces of Science</div> </div> </a><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Bloch was the first director general of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/CERN" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">European Organization for Nuclear Research</a> (1954–55; CERN).</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/contributor/encyclopaedia-britannica/12989892">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":69500,"pageLength":247,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_SMALL","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Felix Bloch | Nobel Prize, Quantum Mechanics, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance | Britannica