This book describes the groundbreaking work of Chaim Leib Pekeris and his collaborators. Between 1955 and 1963 they used the first electronic computer built in Israel, the Weizmann Automatic Computer (WEIZAC), to develop powerful numerical methods that helped achieve new and accurate solutions of the Boltzmann equation, calculate energy levels of the helium atom, produce detailed geophysical and seismological models derived from the study of the free oscillations of the earth, and refine models used to predict meteorological phenomena and global oceanic tides. This book provides a unique account of the pioneering work of Chaim L. Pekeris in applied mathematics and explains in detail the background to the rise of the Weizmann Institute as a world-class center of scientific excellence. This hitherto untold story is of great interest to historians of twentieth-century science with special emphasis on the application of computer-assisted numerical methods in various branches of mathematical physics.
Author(s): Leo Corry, Raya Leviathan
Series: SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 129
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Abbreviations and Acronyms
1 Introduction: WEIZAC, Pekeris, and Applied Mathematics
References
2 Numerical Analysis in the Age of Electronic Computing
2.1 Methods
2.2 Institutions
2.3 Human Challenges
2.4 Numerical Analysis with WEIZAC
References
3 Integral Equations
3.1 From Fredholm to Hilbert and Beyond
3.2 Boltzmann-Hilbert Equation with WEIZAC
3.3 Further Work on Integral Equations
References
4 Oscillations of the Earth
4.1 From Classical Physics to Caltech’s Seismographs
4.2 Pekeris and Geophysical Research in Israel
4.3 Alterman, Jarosch, and Pekeris on Earth Oscillations
4.3.1 AJP’s Formulation of the Oscillations Problem
4.3.2 Oscillations and Runge–Kutta with WEIZAC
4.4 Aftermath
4.5 Ocean Tides
References
5 Ground State of Helium
5.1 From Göttingen to MIT
5.2 Pekeris and the Helium Atom
5.2.1 Helium Equations with WEIZAC
5.3 Aftermath
References
6 Additional Research with WEIZAC
6.1 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
6.2 Magnetism and Ferromagnetic Materials
6.3 Atomic Spectroscopy
References
7 Mathematics at WIS After WEIZAC, Applied, and Pure
References
8 Concluding Remarks
Index
