Victor Frederick Weisskopf (born 19.09.1908) — American theoretical physicist, a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1952). Born in Vienna. He graduated from the University of Göttingen (1931). In 1932–34 he worked at the University of Copenhagen and in 1934–37 at the Zurich Polytechnic. In 1937 he moved to the USA. In 1937–43 he worked at the University of Rochester and in 1943–46 at the Los Alamos laboratory; in 1946–60 and from 1965 he was professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in 1961–65 Director-General of the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN).
His research was in nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics. In 1934, together with W. Pauli, he showed that a consistent theory of the scalar field can be constructed. He constructed (1936) a theory of the vacuum polarisation effect and calculated it. He studied the effect of the finite size of nuclei on hyperfine structure (the Bohr–Weisskopf effect). Along with H. Bethe and L. D. Landau he originated the statistical theory of the nucleus (1937). He predicted (1938) the Coulomb excitation of nuclei. Together with H. Feshbach he developed the schematic theory of nuclear reactions. He studied the Lamb shift and, independently of others, explained it in 1947. Together with E. Conwell he examined (1950) the scattering of carriers by charged impurities and defects (the Conwell–Weisskopf formula). In 1954, with H. Feshbach and C. Porter, he developed the optical model of the nucleus. He showed that the divergences in quantum electrodynamics are logarithmic and made a substantial contribution to the problem of mass and charge renormalisation in electrodynamics. More recently his research has concerned the theory of the quark structure of elementary particles.
A member of a number of academies of sciences and scientific societies, in particular of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1976). The M. Planck (1956) and E. Rutherford medals, the National Medal of Science (1980) and others.