Walter Kohn
Walter Kohn | |
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 Kohn in 2012 | |
| Born | March 9, 1923 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | April 19, 2016 (aged 93) |
| Education | University of Toronto (BA, MA) Harvard University (PhD) |
| Known for | Density functional theory Luttinger-Kohn model Hohenberg-Kohn theorems Kohn-Sham equations KKR method Kohn anomaly Kohn effect Kohn–Luttinger superconductivity |
| Spouse(s) | Lois (Adams) († 2010) Mara (Vishniac) Schiff († 2018) |
| Awards | Oliver E. Buckley Prize (1961) National Medal of Science (1988) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1998) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics, Chemistry |
| Workplaces | Carnegie Mellon University, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego |
| Julian Schwinger | |
| Signature | |
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Walter Kohn (German pronunciation: [ˈvaltɐ ˈkoːn]; March 9, 1923 – April 19, 2016) was an Austrian-American theoretical physicist and theoretical chemist. He was awarded, with John Pople, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1998. The award recognized their contributions to understanding the electronic properties of materials. In particular, Kohn played the leading role in the development of density functional theory, which made it possible to calculate quantum mechanical electronic structure by equations involving the electronic density (rather than the many-body wavefunction). This computational simplification led to more accurate calculations on complex systems as well as many new insights, and it has become an essential tool for materials science, condensed-phase physics, and the chemical physics of atoms and molecules.