- US-born British
physicist who specialized in quantum mechanics but also worked on
plasmas, metals, and liquid helium. In 1959 he and his student Yakir
Aharanov discovered the Aharanov-Bohm effect, showing that the motions
of charged particles can be affected by magnetic fields even if they
never enter the regions to which those fields are confined.
Bohm left the USA 1951 after an accusation of un-American activities
during the McCarthy era made it impossible for him to find university
employment. He settled permanently in London 1961. Later in life Bohm
developed an interest in philosophy and wrote several books on physics,
philosophy, and the nature of consciousness.
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