Jürgen Ehlers
German physicist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jürgen Ehlers (German: [ˈjʏʁɡŋ̩ ˈeːlɐs]; 29 December 1929 – 20 May 2008) was a German physicist who contributed to the understanding of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. From graduate and postgraduate work in Pascual Jordan's relativity research group at Hamburg University, he held various posts as a lecturer and, later, as a professor before joining the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich as a director. In 1995, he became the founding director of the newly created Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany.
Jürgen Ehlers | |
---|---|
Born | (1929-12-29)29 December 1929 Hamburg, Germany |
Died | 20 May 2008(2008-05-20) (aged 78) Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany |
Nationality | German |
Alma mater | University of Hamburg |
Known for | General relativity Mathematical physics |
Awards | Max Planck Medal (2002) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics |
Institutions | University of Hamburg Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics |
Doctoral advisor | Pascual Jordan |
Ehlers' research focused on the foundations of general relativity as well as on the theory's applications to astrophysics. He formulated a suitable classification of exact solutions to Einstein's field equations and proved the Ehlers–Geren–Sachs theorem that justifies the application of simple, general-relativistic model universes to modern cosmology. He created a spacetime-oriented description of gravitational lensing and clarified the relationship between models formulated within the framework of general relativity and those of Newtonian gravity. In addition, Ehlers had a keen interest in both the history and philosophy of physics and was an ardent populariser of science.