James Rainwater (born 9.12.1917) is an American physicist and a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1968). He was born in Council. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology (1939). From 1939 he has worked at Columbia University (professor from 1952).
His research was in nuclear, neutron and meson physics and neutron spectroscopy. He measured neutron cross-sections, studied the velocity distribution of slow neutrons in paraffin, and improved the chopped-beam method. He studied the angular scattering of pions by nuclei and in 1953 discovered mu-mesic atoms. In 1950 he put forward the idea that excitations of rotational type exist in the nucleus and came to the conclusion that heavy nuclei are non-spherical, proposing to modify the single-particle nuclear model by taking into account the deformations produced by an outer nucleon (the spheroidal model of the nucleus of Rainwater) (Nobel Prize, 1975). With V. Fitch he determined the mass of the μ+-meson and in 1953 measured nuclear radii in the region of Z from 13 to 83, obtaining a nuclear radius of 2 *10-13 cm.
The E. Lawrence Medal.
His research was in nuclear, neutron and meson physics and neutron spectroscopy. He measured neutron cross-sections, studied the velocity distribution of slow neutrons in paraffin, and improved the chopped-beam method. He studied the angular scattering of pions by nuclei and in 1953 discovered mu-mesic atoms. In 1950 he put forward the idea that excitations of rotational type exist in the nucleus and came to the conclusion that heavy nuclei are non-spherical, proposing to modify the single-particle nuclear model by taking into account the deformations produced by an outer nucleon (the spheroidal model of the nucleus of Rainwater) (Nobel Prize, 1975). With V. Fitch he determined the mass of the μ+-meson and in 1953 measured nuclear radii in the region of Z from 13 to 83, obtaining a nuclear radius of 2 *10-13 cm.
The E. Lawrence Medal.