Robert Döpel
Encyclopedia
Georg Robert Döpel was a German
experimental nuclear physicist. He was a participant in a group known as the “first Uranverein,” which was spawned by a meeting conducted by the Reichserziehungsministerium, in April 1939, to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear reaction
. He worked under Werner Heisenberg
at the University of Leipzig
, and he conducted experiments on spherical layers of uranium oxide
surrounded by heavy water
. He was a contributor to the German nuclear energy project (Uranverein). In 1945, he was sent to Russia
to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project. He returned to Germany in 1957, and he become professor of electrical engineering and director of the Institut für Angewandte Physik at the Hochschule für Elektrotechnik.
, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). He received his doctorate, in 1924, under the Physics Nobel Laureate
Wilhelm Wien
at LMU.
teaching assistant at the Georg-August University of Göttingen
. He also worked with the Physics Nobel Laureate Johannes Stark
on canal rays, at the private laboratory of Rudolf Freihern von Hirsch zu Planegg
, just west of Munich
.
In 1929, Döpel became a teaching assistant at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
, and in 1932 he became a Privatdozent
there.
In 1939, Döpel became an extraordinarius professor at the University of Leipzig, where he was a colleague of Werner Heisenberg
. At some point, Döpel succeeded Fritz Kirchner as professor of radiation physics.
On 22 April 1939, after hearing a paper by Wilhelm Hanle
on the use of uranium
fission
in a Uranmaschine (uranium machine, i.e., nuclear reactor), Georg Joos
, along with Hanle, notified Wilhelm Dames, at the Reichserziehungsministerium
(REM, Reich Ministry of Education), of potential military applications of nuclear energy. Just seven days later, a group, organized by Dames, met at the REM to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear chain reaction
. The group included the physicists Walther Bothe
, Döpel, Hans Geiger, Wolfgang Gentner
, Wilhelm Hanle
, Gerhard Hoffmann
, and Joos. After this, informal work began at the University of Göttingen, and the group of physicists was known informally as the first Uranverein (Uranium Club) and formally as Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kernphysik. The second Uranverein began after the Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Office) squeezed out the Reichsforschungsrat
(Reich Research Council) of the Reichserziehungsministerium
and started the formal German nuclear energy project
. The second Uranverein had its first meeting on 16 September 1939; the meeting was organized by Kurt Diebner
and held in Berlin.
In August 1940, Döpel, working in Leipzig, showed the utility of using heavy water
as a moderator in a nuclear reactor. He conducted experiments with a spherical geometry (hollow spheres) of uranium surrounded by heavy water. Trial L-I was done in August 1940, and L-II was conducted six months later. Results from trial L-IV, in the summer of 1942, indicated that the spherical geometry, with five metric tons of heavy water and 10 metric tons of metallic uranium, could sustain a fission reaction. The results were set forth in an article by Döpel, Döpel’s wife Klara
, and Werner Heisenberg. The article was published in the Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), a classified internal reporting vehicle of the Uranverein
. 1942 was the year in which supervision of the Uranverein was transferred from the Heereswaffenamt to the Reichsforschungsrat
.
Döpel’s wife Klara
was also an experimental physicist, and she worked on the nuclear reactor experiments with him in Leipzig.
In a letter written in December 1943, Döpel recounted that air raids had destroyed 75% of Leipzig, including his institute. Air raids during that year had also burned down Döpel’s apartment building and Heisenberg’s house in Leipzig. Sixteen months later, on April 6, 1945, just 32 days before the surrender of Germany
, Klara was killed in an air raid, while she was working in the physics building.
, the Soviet Union
sent special search teams into Germany to locate and deport German nuclear scientists or any others who could be of use to the Soviet atomic bomb project
. The Russian Alsos
teams were headed by NKVD
Colonel General A. P. Zavenyagin and staffed with numerous scientists, from their only nuclear laboratory, attired in NKVD officer’s uniforms. The main search team, headed by Colonel General Zavenyagin, arrived in Berlin on 3 May, the day after Russia announced the fall of Berlin to their military forces; it included Colonel General V. A. Makhnjov, and nuclear physicists Yulij Borisovich Khariton
, Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin
, and Lev Andreevich Artsimovich
. Döpel was sent to the Soviet Union to work on their atomic bomb effort. Döpel worked at the Nauchno-Issledovatel’skij Institut-9 (NII-9, Scientific Research Institute No. 9), in Moscow. There, he worked with Max Volmer
on the production of heavy water
.
). There, he conducted spectral analysis
of the mechanism of electric discharges in gases.
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
experimental nuclear physicist. He was a participant in a group known as the “first Uranverein,” which was spawned by a meeting conducted by the Reichserziehungsministerium, in April 1939, to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is semantically considered to be the process in which two nuclei, or else a nucleus of an atom and a subatomic particle from outside the atom, collide to produce products different from the initial particles...
. He worked under Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
, and he conducted experiments on spherical layers of uranium oxide
Uranium oxide
Uranium oxide is an oxide of the element uranium.The metal uranium forms several oxides:* Uranium dioxide or uranium oxide * Uranium trioxide or uranium oxide...
surrounded by heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
. He was a contributor to the German nuclear energy project (Uranverein). In 1945, he was sent to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to work on the Soviet atomic bomb project. He returned to Germany in 1957, and he become professor of electrical engineering and director of the Institut für Angewandte Physik at the Hochschule für Elektrotechnik.
Education
From 1919 to 1924, Döpel attended the University of Leipzig, the Friedrich Schiller University of JenaFriedrich Schiller University of Jena
Friedrich Schiller University of Jena , is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany....
, and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). He received his doctorate, in 1924, under the Physics Nobel Laureate
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
Wilhelm Wien
Wilhelm Wien
Wilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien was a German physicist who, in 1893, used theories about heat and electromagnetism to deduce Wien's displacement law, which calculates the emission of a blackbody at any temperature from the emission at any one reference temperature.He also formulated an...
at LMU.
In Germany
After receipt of his doctorate, Döpel became Robert W. Pohl’sRobert Pohl
Robert Wichard Pohl was a German physicist.In 1938 Robert Pohl and Rudolf Hilsch, from the University of Göttingen, built the first functioning solid-state amplifier using salt as the semiconductor ....
teaching assistant at the Georg-August University of Göttingen
Georg-August University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.Founded in 1734 by King George II of Great Britain and the Elector of Hanover, it opened for classes in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...
. He also worked with the Physics Nobel Laureate Johannes Stark
Johannes Stark
Johannes Stark was a German physicist, and Physics Nobel Prize laureate who was closely involved with the Deutsche Physik movement under the Nazi regime.-Early years:...
on canal rays, at the private laboratory of Rudolf Freihern von Hirsch zu Planegg
Planegg
Planegg is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Würm, 13 km west of Munich ....
, just west of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
In 1929, Döpel became a teaching assistant at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
, and in 1932 he became a Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
there.
In 1939, Döpel became an extraordinarius professor at the University of Leipzig, where he was a colleague of Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
. At some point, Döpel succeeded Fritz Kirchner as professor of radiation physics.
On 22 April 1939, after hearing a paper by Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle was a German experimental physicist. He is known for the Hanle effect. During World War II, he made contributions to the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club...
on the use of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
in a Uranmaschine (uranium machine, i.e., nuclear reactor), Georg Joos
Georg Joos
Georg Jakob Christof Joos was a German theoretical physicist. He wrote Lehrbuch der theoretischen Physik, first published in 1932 and one of the most influential theoretical physics textbooks of the 20th Century.-Education:Joos began his higher education in 1912 at the Technische Hochschule...
, along with Hanle, notified Wilhelm Dames, at the Reichserziehungsministerium
Reichserziehungsministerium
The Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung .-Background:...
(REM, Reich Ministry of Education), of potential military applications of nuclear energy. Just seven days later, a group, organized by Dames, met at the REM to discuss the potential of a sustained nuclear chain reaction
Nuclear chain reaction
A nuclear chain reaction occurs when one nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more nuclear reactions, thus leading to a self-propagating number of these reactions. The specific nuclear reaction may be the fission of heavy isotopes or the fusion of light isotopes...
. The group included the physicists Walther Bothe
Walther Bothe
Walther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German nuclear physicist, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1954 with Max Born....
, Döpel, Hans Geiger, Wolfgang Gentner
Wolfgang Gentner
Wolfgang Gentner was a German experimental nuclear physicist.Gentner received his doctorate in 1930 from the University of Frankfurt. From 1932 to 1935 he had a fellowship which allowed him to do postdoctoral research and study at Curie's Radium Institute at the University of Paris...
, Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle
Wilhelm Hanle was a German experimental physicist. He is known for the Hanle effect. During World War II, he made contributions to the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club...
, Gerhard Hoffmann
Gerhard Hoffmann
Gerhard Hoffmann was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he contributed to the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club.-Education:...
, and Joos. After this, informal work began at the University of Göttingen, and the group of physicists was known informally as the first Uranverein (Uranium Club) and formally as Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kernphysik. The second Uranverein began after the Heereswaffenamt (Army Ordnance Office) squeezed out the Reichsforschungsrat
Reichsforschungsrat
The Reichsforschungsrat was created in Germany in 1937 under the Education Ministry for the purpose of centralized planning of all basic and applied research, with the exception of aeronautical research...
(Reich Research Council) of the Reichserziehungsministerium
Reichserziehungsministerium
The Reichserziehungsministerium was officially known as the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung .-Background:...
and started the formal German nuclear energy project
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
. The second Uranverein had its first meeting on 16 September 1939; the meeting was organized by Kurt Diebner
Kurt Diebner
Kurt Diebner was a German nuclear physicist who is well known for directing and administrating the German nuclear energy project, a secretive program aiming to built weapon of mass destruction for the Nazi Germany during the course of World War II...
and held in Berlin.
In August 1940, Döpel, working in Leipzig, showed the utility of using heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
as a moderator in a nuclear reactor. He conducted experiments with a spherical geometry (hollow spheres) of uranium surrounded by heavy water. Trial L-I was done in August 1940, and L-II was conducted six months later. Results from trial L-IV, in the summer of 1942, indicated that the spherical geometry, with five metric tons of heavy water and 10 metric tons of metallic uranium, could sustain a fission reaction. The results were set forth in an article by Döpel, Döpel’s wife Klara
Klara Döpel
Klara Renate Döpel was a German nuclear physicist and feminist. She married the German nuclear physicist Robert Döpel. They worked together as a team at Leipzig University studying nuclear reactor configurations for the German nuclear energy project...
, and Werner Heisenberg. The article was published in the Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte was an internal publication of the German Uranverein, which was initiated under the Heereswaffenamt in 1939; in 1942, supervision of the Uranverein was turned over to the Reichsforschungsrat under the Reichserziehungsministerium...
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), a classified internal reporting vehicle of the Uranverein
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
. 1942 was the year in which supervision of the Uranverein was transferred from the Heereswaffenamt to the Reichsforschungsrat
Reichsforschungsrat
The Reichsforschungsrat was created in Germany in 1937 under the Education Ministry for the purpose of centralized planning of all basic and applied research, with the exception of aeronautical research...
.
Döpel’s wife Klara
Klara Döpel
Klara Renate Döpel was a German nuclear physicist and feminist. She married the German nuclear physicist Robert Döpel. They worked together as a team at Leipzig University studying nuclear reactor configurations for the German nuclear energy project...
was also an experimental physicist, and she worked on the nuclear reactor experiments with him in Leipzig.
In a letter written in December 1943, Döpel recounted that air raids had destroyed 75% of Leipzig, including his institute. Air raids during that year had also burned down Döpel’s apartment building and Heisenberg’s house in Leipzig. Sixteen months later, on April 6, 1945, just 32 days before the surrender of Germany
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
, Klara was killed in an air raid, while she was working in the physics building.
In Russia
Near the close of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
sent special search teams into Germany to locate and deport German nuclear scientists or any others who could be of use to the Soviet atomic bomb project
Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
. The Russian Alsos
Russian Alsos
The Russian Alsos was an operation which took place in early 1945 in Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, and whose objectives were the exploitation of German atomic related facilities, intellectual materials, materiel resources, and scientific personnel for the benefit of the Soviet atomic bomb...
teams were headed by NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
Colonel General A. P. Zavenyagin and staffed with numerous scientists, from their only nuclear laboratory, attired in NKVD officer’s uniforms. The main search team, headed by Colonel General Zavenyagin, arrived in Berlin on 3 May, the day after Russia announced the fall of Berlin to their military forces; it included Colonel General V. A. Makhnjov, and nuclear physicists Yulij Borisovich Khariton
Yulii Borisovich Khariton
Yulii Borisovich Khariton was a Soviet physicist working in the field of nuclear power...
, Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin
Isaak Kikoin
Isaak Konstantinovich Kikoin was a Soviet physicist and academic. He was awarded the Stalin/Lenin Prize six times , named a Hero of Socialist Labor , and was a recipient of the Kurchatov Medal .Kikoin was with Igor Kurchatov as one of the founders of the Kurchatov...
, and Lev Andreevich Artsimovich
Lev Artsimovich
Lev Andreevich Artsimovich was a Soviet physicist, academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , member of the Presidium of the Soviet Academy of Sciences , and Hero of Socialist Labor .- Academic research :Artsimovich worked on the...
. Döpel was sent to the Soviet Union to work on their atomic bomb effort. Döpel worked at the Nauchno-Issledovatel’skij Institut-9 (NII-9, Scientific Research Institute No. 9), in Moscow. There, he worked with Max Volmer
Max Volmer
Max Volmer was a German physical chemist, who made important contributions in electrochemistry, in particular on electrode kinetics. He co-developed the Butler–Volmer equation. Volmer held the chair and directorship of the Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry Institute of the Technische...
on the production of heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
.
Back in Germany
Döpel returned to Germany in 1958. He became professor of electrical engineering and director of the Institut für Angewandte Physik (Institute for Applied Physics) at the Hochschule für Elektrotechnik (today the Technische Universität IlmenauTechnische Universität Ilmenau
The Ilmenau University of Technology is the technical university of Thuringia and located in Ilmenau Germany...
). There, he conducted spectral analysis
Spectrum analyzer
A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown signals...
of the mechanism of electric discharges in gases.
Internal Reports
The following reports were published in Kernphysikalische ForschungsberichteKernphysikalische Forschungsberichte
Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte was an internal publication of the German Uranverein, which was initiated under the Heereswaffenamt in 1939; in 1942, supervision of the Uranverein was turned over to the Reichsforschungsrat under the Reichserziehungsministerium...
(Research Reports in Nuclear Physics), an internal publication of the German Uranverein
German nuclear energy project
The German nuclear energy project, , was an attempted clandestine scientific effort led by Germany to develop and produce the atomic weapons during the events involving the World War II...
. The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos was an effort at the end of World War II by the Allies , branched off from the Manhattan Project, to investigate the German nuclear energy project, seize German nuclear resources, materials and personnel to further American research and to prevent their capture by the Soviets, and...
and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics promotes science, the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies...
.
- Robert Döpel, K. DöpelKlara DöpelKlara Renate Döpel was a German nuclear physicist and feminist. She married the German nuclear physicist Robert Döpel. They worked together as a team at Leipzig University studying nuclear reactor configurations for the German nuclear energy project...
, and Werner Heisenberg Bestimmung der Diffusionslänge thermischer Neutronen in Präparat 38 (5 December 1940). G-22.
- Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Bestimmung der Diffusionslänge thermischer Neutronen in schwerem Wasser (7 August 1940). G-23.
- Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Versuche mit Schichtenanordnungen von D2O und 38 (28 October 1941). G-75.
- Robert Döpel Bericht über Unfälle beim Umgang mit Uranmetall (9 July 1942). G-135.
- Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Der experimentelle Nachweis der effektiven Neutronenvermehrung in einem Kugel-Schichten-System aus D2O und Uran-Metall (July 1942). G-136.
- Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Die Neutronenvermehrung in einem D2O-38-Metallschichtensystem (March 1942). G-373.
Selected Literature
- Robert Döpel Elektromagnetische Analyse von Kanalstrahlen, Annalen der Physik Volume 381, Number 1, 1-28 (1925)
- Robert Döpel Über den selektiven Photoeffekt am Strontium, Zeitschrift für Physik Volume 33, Number 1, 237-245 (December, 1925). The author was identified as being at the I. physikalisches Institut der Universität, Göttingen. The article was received on 3 June 1925.
- Robert Döpel Kernprozesse bei der mittleren Korpuskularenergie von Sternzentren, Naturwissenschaften Volume 24, Number 15, 237- (April, 1936)
Books
- Robert Döpel Kanalstrahlröhren als Ionenquellen (Akademie-Verlag, 1958)
- Werner HeisenbergWerner HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
, Robert Döpel, Wilhelm Hanle, and Käthe Mitzenheim Werner Heisenberg in Leipzig 1927-1942 (Wiley-VCH, 1993)