Robert Curtis Retherford (1912–1981) was an American physicist. He was a graduate student of Willis Lamb at Columbia Radiation Laboratory. Retherford and Lamb performed the famous experiment (now known as the Lamb–Retherford experiment) revealing Lamb shift in the fine structure of hydrogen, a decisive experimental step toward a new understanding of quantum electrodynamics.[1][2]

Robert Curtis Retherford
Born1912 (1912)
Died1981 (aged 68–69)
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materColumbia University
Known forLamb shift
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsColumbia University
Doctoral advisorWillis Lamb

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lamb, Jr, W. E.; Retherford, R. C. (1947). "Fine Structure of the Hydrogen Atom by a Microwave Method". Physical Review. 72 (3): 241–243. Bibcode:1947PhRv...72..241R. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.72.241.
  2. ^ Schweber, Silvan (1994). "Chapter 5". QED and the Men Who Did it: Dyson, Feynman, Schwinger, and Tomonaga. Princeton University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0691033273.