This month, the Physics department is commemorating 25 years since the passing of Distinguished Professor Emeritus Nathan Rosen. Born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1909, Nathan “played a pivotal role in the transformation of the Technion from a technical college into a major scientific and technological institution”, as it was written in his obituary by Asher Peres, and was the first Head of the Physics at Technion in 1952.
In 1932 Nathan Rosen completed a doctorate at M.I.T under the supervision of Prof. John Slater and from 1934 to 1936 he was an assistant of Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 1935 he wrote with Einstein and Boris Podolsky the famous paper on what is known as the EPR paradox, or effect, that laid the foundations for quantum information and communication theory. In the same year he published with Einstein another groundbreaking paper regarding the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, on the basis of which the concept of a wormhole developed in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Rosen's critical and thorough research approach also made a significant contribution to the development of the theory of gravitational waves, those mysterious waves that were first measured in Sep. 2015, by raising profound questions regarding their physical nature.
Nathan Rosen made fundamental contributions to quantum theory and general relativity. He was one of the founders of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, of the Physical Society of Israel (of which he was president between 1955-57), and of the International Society for General Relativity and Gravitation (president between 1974-77). He is also a recipient of the Weizmann Prize (1968) and the Landau Prize (1975).
He died on December 18th, 1995 in Haifa and was an active researcher until his last days. Among his students are Distinguished Professor Emeritus Asher Peres (1934-2005) and Prof. Emeritus Joshua Zack. Prof. Peres said in his obituary for Rosen "Those who had the privilege of knowing Nathan personally will always remember his kindness, modesty, integrity, and his keen sense of humor".
Prof. Emeritus Alex Gordon, physics Prof. Emeritus at the University of Haifa and Oranim College and a graduate of our department, recently published an article about Nathan Rosen in “Yekum”.
You are invited to continue reading about him on the faculty website on his memorial page in the history of the physics department, and in this article from the New York Times.