Johan Peter Holtsmark

Johan Peter Holtsmark
Born	(1894-02-13)13 February 1894 Asker, Norway
Died	10 December 1975(1975-12-10) (aged 81) Bærum, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Norwegian Institute of Technology University of Oslo
Alma mater	University of Kristiania
Known for	Holtsmark field distribution

Johan Peter Holtsmark (February 13, 1894 – December 10, 1975) was a Norwegian physicist, who studied spectral line broadening and electron scattering. In 1929, while at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, Holtsmark established acoustics research laboratories, focusing on architectural acoustics and sound insulation. Holtsmark was also a consultant for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) throughout the 1930s.^[1][2][3]

Together with the Swedish physicist Hilding Faxén published Holtsmark a work in 1927 about scattering of electrons in gases.^[4] Here they introduced a new, mathematical method based upon partial waves. This is now standard and described in almost every modern book on quantum mechanics.

Between 1934 and 1937 he led the construction of a Van de Graaff accelerator at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, which became the first particle accelerator to go into operation in Scandinavia.^[5]

He was awarded the Fridtjof Nansen Excellent Research Award in 1969, was a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters from 1925 and the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters from 1926.^[3]

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