Sigurd Hofmann (15 February 1944 – 17 June 2022)[1] was a German physicist known for his work on superheavy elements.
Biography
Hofmann discovered his love for physics at the Max Planck High School in Groß-Umstadt, Germany, where he graduated in 1963. He studied physics at the Technical University in Darmstadt (Diploma, 1969, and thesis at the Institute of Nuclear Physics with Egbert Kankeleit and Karl Wien, 1974). From 1974 to 1989 he was responsible for the detection and identification of nuclei produced in heavy ion reactions at the velocity separator SHIP (Separator for Heavy Ion reaction Products) at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research. He was working in the Department Nuclear Chemistry II headed by Peter Armbruster. From 1989 he was leading, after Gottfried Münzenberg, the experiments for the synthesis of new elements. From 1998 he was Honorary Professor at the Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt.
He was the leading scientist with the discovery experiments of the chemical elements darmstadtium (Ds, atomic number 110),[2] roentgenium (Rg, 111)[3] and copernicium (Cn, 112).[4] He made substantial contributions to the discovery experiments of the elements bohrium (Bh, 107),[5] hassium (Hs, 108)[6] and meitnerium (Mt, 109).[7] He participated in the discovery of the element flerovium (Fl, 114)[8] at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR) in Dubna, Russia, and his research group confirmed data measured on the synthesis of the elements flerovium and livermorium (Lv, 116)[9] at FLNR. He identified many new isotopes located at the proton drip-line, among those the isotope 151Lu, the first case of radioactive emission of protons from the ground-state of a nucleus.[10] His speciality was nuclear spectroscopy and heavy ion reactions.
Awards
1984 "Physics Award" of the German Physical Society (together with Gottfried Münzenberg, Willibrord Reisdorf and Karl-Heinz Schmidt)
1996 Otto Hahn Prize of the City of Frankfurt am Main (together with Gottfried Münzenberg)
1996 "Doctor honoris causa" of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Comenius University of Bratislava, Slovakia
1997 "G.N. Flerov Prize" of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia
1998 "Honorary Professor" of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1998 "SUN-AMCO Medal" of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
2001 "Doctor honoris causa" of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia
2002 "First Prize" of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia
2004 "Distinguished Professor" of the Josef Buchmann Foundation and the Department of Physics of the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2006 "Roentgen Medal" of the City of Remscheid-Lennep, Germany, place of birth of Conrad Roentgen
2009 "Helmholtz Professor" of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HGF)
2011 "Nicolaus Copernicus Medal" of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland
2011 "Medal of the City of Torun" and Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland
Memberships
German Physical Society
Academia Europaea
Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
Foreign member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences
Literature
Sigurd Hofmann: On Beyond Uranium – Journey to the end of the Periodic Table. In: Science Spectra Book Series, Volume 2, V. Moses, Series Editor, ISBN 0-415-28495-3 (hardback), ISBN 0-415-28496-1 (paperback), Taylor and Francis, London and New York, 2002, 216 Seiten, online
Sigurd Hofmann: Synthesis of superheavy elements by cold fusion. Radiochimica Acta Band 99, 2011, S. 405–428, online
Sigurd Hofmann and Gottfried Münzenberg: The discovery of the heaviest elements. In: Reviews of Modern Physics, Band 72, 200, S. 733-767, online
Sigurd Hofmann: Proton radioactivity. In: Nuclear decay modes, D.N. Poenaru, Editor, ISBN 0-7503-0338-7, IOP Publishing Ltd, 1996, S. 143-203
References
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S. Hofmann et al.: Production and decay of 269110. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Hadrons and Nuclei. volume 350, 1995, p. 277–280
S. Hofmann et al.: The new element 111. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Hadrons and Nuclei. Volume 350, 1995, pp. 281–282
S. Hofmann et al.: The new element 112. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Hadrons and Nuclei. Volume 354, 1996, pp. 229–230
G. Münzenberg et al.: Identification of element 107 by α correlation chains. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Atoms and Nuclei. Volume 300, 1981, p. 107-108
G. Münzenberg et al.: The identification of element 108. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Atoms and Nuclei. Volume 317, 1984, pp. 235-236
G. Münzenberg et al.: Observation of one correlated α-decay in the reaction 58Fe on 209Bi → 267109. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Atoms and Nuclei. Volume 309, 1982, pp. 89-90
Yu.Ts. Oganessian et al.: Synthesis of nuclei of the superheavy element 114 in reactions induced by 48Ca. In: Nature Volume 400, 1999, pp. 242–245
S. Hofmann et al.: The reaction 48Ca + 248Cm → 296116* studied at the GSI-SHIP In: The European Physical Journal A: Hadrons and Nuclei Volume 48, 2012, Article 62, p. 1-23
S. Hofmann et al.: Proton radioactivity of 151Lu. In: Zeitschrift für Physik A: Atoms and Nuclei. Volume 305, 1982, pp. 111–123
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