Half-Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy

Home > Other > Half-Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy > Page 45
Half-Life: The Divided Life of Bruno Pontecorvo, Physicist or Spy Page 45

by Close, Frank


  request for high-energy particle accelerator, 225

  Kuznetsov, Fyodor, 136

  LaBine, Gilbert, 83–84, 101

  Laboratory Number Three, 218

  Lambdas, 236–237

  Langevin, Hélène Joliot-Curie, 45, 289

  Langevin, Paul, 29–30

  Large Magellanic Cloud, 271

  Lawrence, Ernest, 26

  Lazard, André, 42

  Lederman, Leon, 264, 288

  Lee, T. D., 263–264

  Lees, David, 164, 186–187

  Leibowitz, René, 64

  Leptons, 272

  Liddell, Guy, xii-xiii, 163, 190, 192, 195, 207–208, 210, 308

  Lipkin, Harry, 83

  Longo, Luigi, 32

  Los Alamos, New Mexico, xvi, 87, 139

  Luria, Salvador, 55, 57–59, 64, 149

  MacLean, Donald, 201–202, 204, 210, 239

  Macmillan, Harold, xiii

  Mafai, Miriam, interviews with Bruno by, 123, 216, 240, 247, 248, 252, 278, 285, 290, 310

  Makins, Roger, 193–194

  Malraux, André, 31

  Manhattan Project, xiii, xv, 80, 87–88, 102, 202, 244

  Mann, Wilfrid Basil, 206

  Markov, Moisy, 260–261

  Maroni, Arrigo, 6

  Mars, W. S., 153

  Marten, Tim, 204

  May, Alan Nunn (see Nunn May, Alan)

  McCarthy, Joseph, xiv, 121, 148, 203, 244

  McDonald, Art, 274

  McMillan, Edwin, 67, 225

  Medvedev, I. I., 248

  Meitner, Lisa, 41

  Metamorphosis drawings (Escher), 269

  MI5

  cover-up of loss of FBI letters, 192–195, 192, 195 (photos)

  emergence of “lost” letters, 200

  failure to identify communists at Chalk River, 134

  interest in Bruno, 200–201, 204–209, 205 (photo)

  investigation of Bruno’s communist connections, 152–159, 156 (photo)

  investigation of Bruno’s disappearance, 165, 170–178, 177 (photo), 185–186, 189, 190, 192–194, 196

  letters from FBI concerning Bruno, 190–192

  placement of Barker at Roysse’s School, 162–164

  receipt of information from FBI about possible communists, 149–150

  strained relations with FBI, 108, 207–208

  surveillance of Bruno, 115

  surveillance of Fuchs by, 203

  surveillance of Nunn May, 138

  suspicions about Bruno’s visits to Amersham, 165

  MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service), 186, 201, 204

  Migdal, Arkady, 277

  Minkowski, Peter, 288

  Montreal, Canada, 90–91

  Motinov, Pavel, 135–136

  Muon-neutrinos, 259–260, 264, 294

  Muons, 111–112, 256, 258, 264, 266

  Mussolini, Benito, 4, 6, 29

  Nagasaki, Japan, bombing of, 116

  Nature, on detection of beta particles, 114

  Némirovsky, Irène, 56, 64

  Neptunium, 67, 132

  Neufeld, Jakov “Jake or Jack,” 71

  Neutrino astronomy, xvii, 271, 294, 300

  Neutrinos

  atmospheric, 260

  behavior of, 105–106

  Bruno’s contributions to knowledge of, 253–254

  capture of, 106–107

  defined, 13

  detection of, 249

  electron-neutrinos, 259–260, 264

  flavored, 257–265

  muon-neutrinos, 259–260, 264

  oscillating, 255, 268–270, 293–294

  production of, 263

  reactor-produced, 254–255

  role of in astrophysics and cosmology, 256–257

  solar, 266–268, 293

  stellar, 256–257

  Neutron-neutron log, 73

  Neutrons

  discovery of, 9

  importance of in nuclear research, 83

  in reactors, 94, 98–100

  slow-neutron phenomenon, 20–22

  patent on slow-neutron phenomenon, 22–23

  use of in locating oil, 72–75

  News Chronicle, on Bruno’s share of patent money, 199

  Newton, Isaac, 112–113

  Nobel Prize in Physics, award of

  to Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1935), 14, 27

  to Jack Steinberger (1988), 253, 264

  to Julian Schwinger (1965), 258

  to Leon Lederman (1988), 264

  to Melvin Schwartz (1988), 264

  to Ray Davis (2002), xvii, 109, 293

  Novel particles, 110

  NRX reactor, 102, 104, 142

  Nuclear phosphorescence, 43

  Nuclear physics, as tool of war, 67–69

  Nuclear physics, prehistory of, 8–11

  Nuclear power, development of, 93

  Nuclear proliferation, scientists’ concerns about, 244–245

  Nuclear reactors, xii, 67, 87–89, 98–100, 104, 106, 109, 142, 218–220, 230–231

  Nucleus, Bohr’s explanation of, 9, 24–25, 37

  Nunn May, Alan

  in Anglo-Canadian project, 88, 94–95

  arrest of, 103, 129

  fear of execution, 221

  mentioned, 140, 163, 219, 307, 309, 311

  MI5’s failure to identify as communist, 134, 135

  passage of uranium samples to Moscow, xiii, 101, 132, 136

  Philby’s alert of MI5’s interest in, 202

  post-prison life, 304

  reason for passing information to Soviets, 241

  sharing of data, 97

  as Soviet spy, 97, 99, 135, 136

  success in hiding spying activities, 314

  visits to Fermi in Chicago, 99, 100–101

  ZEEP, construction of, 102–103

  Oil and Gas Journal, on Bruno’s oil-bearing rock detector, 74

  Okun, Lev, 292

  Oneda, Sado, 259

  Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 129

  Oscillating neutrinos, 268–270, 293–294

  Pais, Abraham, 237

  Palm Beach Post, on Bruno’s disappearance, 188

  Particle accelerator, 226

  Pati, Jogesh, 259

  Patterson, Geoffrey, 204–206, 302, 311

  Pattuglia (journal), 64

  Pauli, Wolfgang, 13, 105

  Pavlov, Vitaly, 135

  Peierls, Genia, 314

  Peierls, Rudolf, xv-xvi, 66, 87, 244, 314

  Penney, William, xiii-xiv

  Perrin, Michael, 80, 158–159, 193

  Peshkov, V. P., 248–249

  Pétain, Philippe, 60–61

  Petrzhak, Konstantin, 68

  Philby, Kim, 137–139, 192, 201–206, 209–210, 240, 311

  Photons, 37, 110, 226, 258

  Physical Review

  on detection of beta particles, 114

  on enrichment of uranium, 51

  on neptunium and plutonium, 67

  on spontaneous fission, 68

  Pincher, Chapman, 193, 200, 240

  Pions, 110, 111, 226, 235, 255, 259

  Pisa, University of, 7

  Placzek, George, 82, 84, 88, 94

  Plutonium, xii, 67, 89, 94, 127, 131, 132

  Plutonium-239, 100

  Podolsky, Boris, 207

  Pokrovskaya, Irina, 227, 292

  Pomeranchuk, Isaak, 131, 219, 228–231

  Pontecorvo, Anna (sister), 4, 6, 166–168, 170, 172–175, 290–291, 311

  Pontecorvo, Antonio (son), 123, 168, 239, 283

  Pontecorvo, Bruno, early years

  childhood and adolescence, 5–6, 5 (photo)

  family history, 3–4

  radioactivity, observations of variations of degree of, 18–19

  slow neutron phenomenon, patent on, 22

  slow neutrons, experiments with, 23

  spectra of gases, published paper on, 17

  at University of Pisa, 7

  at University of Rome, 7–8

&nbs
p; Pontecorvo, Bruno, Paris years

  accommodations, 30–31

  application to visit Sweden, 47, 48 (photo), 49

  Bohr, introduction to at dinner party, 41

  communism and, xi, 29–32, 47, 49

  correlation of angular momentum with stability, experiments with, 42

  escape from Paris to Toulouse, 57–59

  Gil, birth of, 39–41

  Joliot-Curies, association with, 29, 35

  Kowarski and Halban, friendship with, 38–39

  leaving Europe, 61–63

  Marianne, early relationship with, 33–35, 34 (photo), 38, 39–40, 49

  Marianne, marriage to, 50

  nuclear energy levels, experiments with, 42

  nuclear isomerism, work with, 36–38, 42–43

  nuclear phosphorescence, discovery of, 43

  quantum mechanics and atomic nuclei, experiments with, 37

  Pontecorvo, Bruno, in United States

  as enemy alien, 85

  neutron-neutron log, development of, 73

  offer of employment in US, 54

  as oil prospector in Oklahoma, 72–75

  radiation detector, invention of, 72–73

  secret project, awareness of, 82–83

  Tulsa, Oklahoma, life in, 75, 76 (photo)

  visit with Fermis in New Jersey, 70

  Pontecorvo, Bruno, with Anglo-Canadian project

  appointment to, 83, 85

  birth of Antonio, 123

  at Chalk River, 98–104, 133 (photos)

  heavy water and fission, study of, 94

  impression of non-interest in communism, 115, 121

  interaction with mathematicians in, 92

  in Montreal, Canada, 90–96

  muon decay, test of, 111–112

  NRX reactor, work on, 104

  offers of employment, 117–118, 119

  personality, 121–123

  as possible Soviet spy, 129–131, 132, 134

  proportional counter, development of, 114

  security clearance for, 88–89, 90 (photo)

  Pontecorvo, Bruno, at Harwell

  in Abingdon, England, 160–162, 164–165

  allegations of communist affiliation, 149–150

  Arnold, interviews with, 151–152

  British citizenship of, 120

  denial of communist membership, 154

  duplicity, evidence of, 168–176

  Harwell, reasons for choice of, 120

  Helsinki, Finland, arrival in, 178–179

  at Joliot-Curie’s birthday celebration in Paris, 156

  MI5, investigation by, 152–159

  personality, 165, 183

  as security risk, xiv, 155, 156 (photo)

  on summer holiday, 166–168

  third party involvement in flight, clues to, 176–179

  University of Liverpool, planned transfer to, xiv, 152, 156, 156 (photo), 166

  Pontecorvo, Bruno, disappearance of airline manifest for flight to Stockholm, 176–177, 177 photo

  cover-up by MI5 and FBI, 190–195, 195 (photo)

  effect of on family members, 195–197

  failure to return to Abingdon, 182–185

  family’s perspective on, 188–189

  inquiries by MI5 and MI6, 185–186

  MI5 interest in, 200–201, 204–209, 205 (photo)

  news media, reaction of, 186–188

  parental anxiety about, 180–182

  right-wing extremism, fear of, 203

  Pontecorvo, Bruno, in the Soviet Union

  British citizenship, revocation of, 246, 247 (photo)

  CERN, visit to, 289–290

  classified logbooks of, 231–235, 232 (photo)

  Communist Party of Soviet Union, membership in, 241–242

  cross-examination by KGB, 209, 220–221

  death of, 293

  defection, political implications of, 300–301

  defection, reasons for, 243, 280–281

  denial of work on nuclear bombs, 286

  detection of H4 particles and, 233

  detection of pions and, 233

  disillusionment with USSR, 280, 290, 299

  in Dubna, USSR, 223–224, 237–238, 239, 252, and 277 (photos)

  final days, 291–293

  flavored neutrinos, theory of, 257–265

  flight to USSR, 213–214

  high energy physics, contributions to, 253–254

  as inspiration for other physicists, 295

  at International Conference on High Energy Physics in Kiev (1959), 251–252, 262

  inverse beta process, experiments with, 265–266

  isolation of, 215–216, 218

  legacy of, 293–295, 300

  loyalty to USSR, 240–241, 248, 279, 310

  measurement of energies of neutrons, 232

  memorial stone in Rome, 295 (photo)

  in Moscow, 214–218, 222–223

  as “Mr. Neutrino,” 254

  neutrinos, interest in, xvii, 230

  Nobel Prize, reasons for lack of, xvii, 254

  and Parkinson’s disease, 274, 274 (photo), 288, 289–290

  Pomeranchuk, conversations with, 230–231, 235

  press conference, 245–246

  reappearance of, 243

  reevaluation of life, 290

  in Rome for Amaldi’s birthday celebration, 285–287

  rumors about, 227–228

  secrecy about identity of, 238–239

  solar neutrino mystery, proposed solution to, 268–269

  Soviet Academy of Sciences, election to, 251

  Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, reaction to, 279

  spy, possible role as, xvii-xviii, 301–303, 307–314

  Stalin Prize, award of, 246

  Standard Model of particles and forces, conception of, 265–266

  testing for identity of muon-and electron-neutrinos, 262–263

  travel, restrictions on, xix, 118–119, 247, 278, 284, 288–289

  Tito Nils, birth of, 98

  travel, restrictions on, 118–119

  University of Glasgow, visit to, 114

  uranium, detection of, 101–102

  USSR, significance to, xi

  visits to Fermi in Chicago, 98–100

  weak force, experiments regarding, 113

  Pontecorvo, Gil (son)

  in Abingdon, England, 164

  birth of, 39–40

  in Dubna, USSR, 223–224

  escape from Paris to Toulouse, 54

  exit visa, grant of to attend conference in Italy, 247, 287

  flight to USSR, 178, 213

  friends’ reaction to disappearance of, 187–188

  on Giuliana’s involvement in Bruno’s disappearance, 189

  in Moscow, 215–217, 222

  name change, 239

  in Paris nursery, 40–41, 47

  as physicist and communist, 282

  at Roysse’s School, Abingdon, England, 161, 166–167, 184–185

  Stalin’s death, reaction to, 241

  on suddenness of defection, 209

  in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 75, 76 (photo)

  on vacation in 1950, 170, 172

  Pontecorvo, Gillo (brother)

  birth of, 4

  on Bruno’s political sympathies, 98, 115–116

  communism, introduction to by Bruno, 32, 42, 47

  Communist Party, resignation from, 248, 279, 280

  Communist Party of Italy, work for, 64

  escape from Paris, 55–58, 62

  reunion with Bruno in Italy, 286

  in Saint-Tropez, 64

  visit with Bruno at Circeo, 168, 171

  Pontecorvo, Giovanni (brother), 4, 6, 165, 166, 182, 197

  Pontecorvo, Giuliana (sister), 4, 32, 54, 62–63, 150, 168, 171, 172, 174, 189, 286

  Pontecorvo, Guido (brother), xv, 4, 6–8, 113, 115, 166, 168, 182, 189, 195–196, 243

  Pontecorvo, Henrietta (Gillo’s girlfriend, later wife), 55, 57–58, 62, 64, 168, 171

  Po
ntecorvo, Laura (sister), 4, 6, 32, 173, 181

  Pontecorvo, Ludovico “Ludo” (nephew), 47, 188, 270–271, 292

  Pontecorvo, Maria (mother), 5–6, 168, 170, 180–182, 196

  Pontecorvo, Marianne Nordblom (wife)

  allegation of communist sympathies of, 152, 155

  Antonio, birth of, 123

  defection, role of in, 312–313

  in Dubna, USSR, 224, 239 (photo), 240, 247, 275–277, 277 (photo)

  early relationship with Bruno, 33–35, 34 (photo), 38, 40

  FBI, interview with, 86

  Gil, birth of, 39–40

  health of, 41–42

  marriage to Bruno, 50

  mental health of, 123–124, 275–277

  miscarriage, 63

  in Moscow, 216, 222–223

  parents, inability to visit during or after defection, 175, 178

  personality, 122, 164, 172

  safe-conduct from Paris to Toulouse, 54, 55 (photo)

  Tito Nils, birth of, 98

  Tulsa, Oklahoma, life in, 75, 76 (photo)

  Pontecorvo, Massimo (father), 3–6, 196

  Pontecorvo, Paolo (brother), 4, 6, 63, 70, 83, 196–197

  Pontecorvo, Pellegrino (grandfather), 3–4

  Pontecorvo, Tito Nils (son), 98, 172, 239, 283–284

  Positrons, 110

  Pravda, on invasion of Czechoslovakia, 279

  Pregel, Boris, 84

  Price, D. P., 180–181, 185

  Proportional counter, 114

  Proton, defined, 9

  Proton Synchrotron, 250–251

  Pryce, Maurice, 108, 300

  Quadium or H4, 11, 233

  Quantum electrodynamics (QED), 229

  Quantum mechanics, application of to atomic nuclei, 37–38

  Quarks, 237, 272

  Rabi, Isadore, 111

  Radimska, Anna, 174–175

  Radioactivity

  fission, 43–46, 50–51

  induced, investigations of, 13–14, 17–23

  isomerism, 36–38, 42–43

  measurement of, 114

  slow-neutron phenomenon, patent on, 22–23

  types of, 12

  uranium and, 43–46

  Radium, 83–84

  Radium-226, 102

  Radium Institute, 35, 38

  Rasetti, Franco, 8, 15, 18, 22 (photo)

  Reed, Ronnie, xviii, 172, 174, 186, 189, 299, 311

  Reines, Frederick, 107, 250, 254, 261

  La ricerca scientifica, Fermi’s contributions to, 17, 23

  Richards, Charles, 313

  Robertson, J., 153

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 75, 95

  Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, xiv, 203

  Rossi-Doria, Manlio, 6

  Rotblat, Joseph, award of Nobel Peace Prize to, 244–245

  Roysse’s School, 160–164, 184–185

  Rutherford, Ernest, 9, 12, 14, 26

  Sakharov, Andrei, 279

  Scherbatskoy, Serge Alexandrovich (aka Serge Alexander), 71, 101

  Schwartz, Laura, 276

  Schwartz, Melvin, 263, 295

  Schwinger, Julian, 188, 258, 288

  Seaborg, Glenn, 132

 

‹ Prev