Mary Tsingou
Mary Tsingou | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary Tsingou 14 October 1928 |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin University of Michigan |
| Known for | Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou problem |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics Scientific computing |
| Institutions | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
Mary Tsingou (married name: Mary Tsingou-Menzel; born October 14, 1928)[1] is an American physicist and mathematician of Greek ancestry. She is known for being one of the first programmers on the MANIAC computer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and for work in conjunction with Enrico Fermi, John Pasta, and Stanislaw Ulam which became the inspiration for the fields of chaos theory and scientific computing.
Biography
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her parents moved to the US from Bulgaria and were Greek. She spent several years in Bulgaria before returning to the US to attend high school and college. Menzel attended the University of Wisconsin where she majored in mathematics and education.
She is known in the computational physics community for having helped in the coding of the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou problem at the Los Alamos National Laboratory while working as a programmer in the MANIAC group.[2][3] The result was an important stepping stone for chaos theory.
After Fermi's death, James L. Tuck and Tsingou-Menzel repeated the original FPU results and provided strong indication that the nonlinear FPU problem might be integrable.[4]
In 2008, a paper published in Physics Today called to rename the FPU problem to the FPUT problem to give her proper credit for her contribution. Subsequent papers referencing the FPUT problem reflect this change.[5][6]
Publications
- J. L. Tuck; M. T. Menzel (1972). "The superperiod of the nonlinear weighted string (FPU) problem". Advances in Mathematics. 9: 399–407. doi:10.1016/0001-8708(72)90024-2.
- Joseph J. Devaney, Albert G. Petschek, Mary Tsingou Menzel. On the Production of Heavy Uranium Isotopes in a Very High Density Fast Neutron Flux (accessed Dec. 2012).Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California, 1958; 17 pg.s .
See also
References
- ^ Mary Tsingou Menzel. IEEE Global History Network: Oral Histories. Accessed Nov 2012.
- ^ Fermi, E.; Pasta, J.; Ulam, S. (1955). "Studies of Nonlinear Problems" (PDF). (Accessed Nov 2012. ). Document LA-1940.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) Also appeared in Collected Works of Enrico Fermi, University of Chicago Press, Vol.II,978–988,1965. Note: In Fermi's case, this work is postmortem, published after his death in 1954. - ^ Fermi, E. et. al (1955). _______ . Front page: "Work done by: E. Fermi J. Pasta S. Ulam M. Tsingou"; and footnote: “We wish to thank Miss Mary Tsingou .... for running the computations on the Los Alamos MANIAC machine, ...”
- ^ J. L. Tuck; M. T. Menzel (1972). "The Superperiod of the Nonlinear Weighted String (FPU) Problem". Advances in Mathematics. 9: 399–407. doi:10.1016/0001-8708(72)90024-2.
- ^ Fermi–Pasta–Ulam nonlinear lattice oscillations. Scholarpedia, doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.5538. Accessed Nov 2012.
- ^ T Dauxois (January 2008). "Fermi, Pasta, Ulam, and a mysterious lady" (PDF). Physics Today. 61: 55. arXiv:0801.1590. doi:10.1063/1.2835154.
External links
- Pioneer Women in Chaos Theory. Frank Y. Wang.
- The Fermi–Pasta–Ulam “numerical experiment”: history and pedagogical perspectives. Dauxois, Peyrard and Ruffo.
- A not-so-mysterious woman, Los Alamos Monitor online.
- A wrong righted, Philosophy of Science Portal, A Venue for Discussions of Science, Philosophy and the Arts
- Mary Tsingou-Menzel Oral History
| Authority control databases: Academics |
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