Paul Frederick Zweifel
Paul Frederick Zweifel | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 21, 1929 New York City |
| Died | February 12, 2017 (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | Duke University (Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Mathematical theory of nuclear reactors |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory University of Michigan Virginia Tech |
| Thesis | Capture-Positron Branching Ratios (1954) |
| Doctoral advisor | Eugene Greuling |
Paul Frederick Zweifel (June 21, 1929 – February 12, 2017) was a mathematical physicist and a prominent leader in the mathematical theory of nuclear reactors and the mathematical development of linear transport theory, a discipline that encompasses neutron transport in the core of a nuclear reactor as well as the propagation of photons in radiative transfer.
In transport theory, he pioneered the use of rigorous mathematics for analytically solving the linear transport equation. He developed existence and uniqueness theorems for the neutron transport equation and investigated the spectrum of the linear transport operator under general conditions.