K. Alex Müller

About K. Alex Müller

Who is it?: Physicist
Birth Day: April 20, 1927
Birth Place: Basel, Swiss
Alma mater: ETH Zürich
Known for: High-temperature superconductivity
Spouse(s): Ingeborg Marie Louise Winkler (m. 1956; 2 children)
Awards: Marcel Benoist Prize (1986) Nobel Prize in Physics (1987) Wilhelm Exner Medal (1987).
Fields: Physics
Institutions: IBM Zürich Research Laboratory University of Zurich Battelle Memorial Institute

K. Alex Müller

K. Alex Müller was born on April 20, 1927 in Basel, Swiss, is Physicist. Karl Alexander Müller is a Swiss solid-state physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987 for his work on superconductivity. Interested in electronics from a very young age, he involved himself in building radios as a student and honed his skills. A liberal and intellectually demanding school life coupled with encouragement from his family developed his aptitude effectively. Had it not been for a professor who recognized his potential in physics, the world of science would have been quite different today. The early 1980s was a time of intense research and learning for him and he collaborated with many notable physicists and scientists. His discovery of materials that work as superconductors at high temperatures opened up new doors to large-scale applications of superconductors that were once deemed impossible. Over the course of his long career he has worked for several organizations including the Battelle Memorial Institute in Geneva, the University of Zürich, and IBM. His work on superconductors at the IBM lab prompted the company to honor him with a fellowship.
K. Alex Müller is a member of Scientists

Does K. Alex Müller Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, K. Alex Müller is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).

🎂 K. Alex Müller - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday

Currently, K. Alex Müller is 97 years, 6 months and 13 days old. K. Alex Müller will celebrate 98rd birthday on a Sunday 20th of April 2025. Below we countdown to K. Alex Müller upcoming birthday.

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Popular As K. Alex Müller
Occupation Scientists
Age 97 years old
Zodiac Sign Taurus
Born April 20, 1927 (Basel, Swiss)
Birthday April 20
Town/City Basel, Swiss
Nationality Swiss

🌙 Zodiac

K. Alex Müller’s zodiac sign is Taurus. According to astrologers, Taurus is practical and well-grounded, the sign harvests the fruits of labor. They feel the need to always be surrounded by love and beauty, turned to the material world, hedonism, and physical pleasures. People born with their Sun in Taurus are sensual and tactile, considering touch and taste the most important of all senses. Stable and conservative, this is one of the most reliable signs of the zodiac, ready to endure and stick to their choices until they reach the point of personal satisfaction.

🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs

K. Alex Müller was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rabbit enjoy being surrounded by family and friends. They’re popular, compassionate, sincere, and they like to avoid conflict and are sometimes seen as pushovers. Rabbits enjoy home and entertaining at home. Compatible with Goat or Pig.

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Biography/Timeline

1927

Müller was born in Basel, Switzerland, on 20 April 1927, to Irma (née Feigenbaum) and Paul Müller. His family immediately moved to Salzburg, Austria, where his father was studying music. Alex and his mother then moved to Dornach, near Basel, to the home of his grandparents. Then they moved to Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where he learned to speak Italian fluently. His mother died when he was 11.

1956

In the spring of 1956 Müller married Ingeborg Marie Louise Winkler. They had a son, Eric, in the summer of 1957, and a daughter, Sylvia, in 1960. [1]

1957

Müller then enrolled in the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. He took courses by Wolfgang Pauli, who made a deep impression on him. After receiving his Diplom, he worked for one year, then returned to ETH for a PhD, submitting his thesis at the end of 1957.

1963

Müller joined the Battelle Memorial Institute in Geneva, soon becoming the manager of a magnetic resonance group. During this time he became a lecturer at the University of Zürich. In 1963 he accepted an offer as a research staff member at the IBM Zürich Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon, where he remained until his retirement. In parallel, he maintained his affiliation with University of Zurich where he was appointed professor in 1970. From 1972 to 1985 Müller was manager of the ZRL physics department. In 1982 he became an IBM Fellow. He received an honorary doctorate from Technical University of Munich and University of Geneva. In 1987 (before winning the Nobel Prize) he got an honorary degree (laurea honoris causa) in Physics from the University of Pavia.

1980

In the early 1980s, Müller began searching for substances that would become superconductive at higher temperatures. The highest critical temperature (Tc) attainable at that time was about 23 K. In 1983 Müller recruited Georg Bednorz to IBM, to help systematically test various oxides. A few recent studies had indicated these materials might superconduct. In 1986 the two succeeded in achieving Superconductivity in lanthanum barium copper oxide (LBCO) at a temperature of 35 K. Over the previous 75 years the critical temperature had risen from 11 K in 1911 to 23 K in 1973 where it had remained for 13 years. Thus 35 K was incredibly high by the prevailing standards of Superconductivity research. This discovery stimulated a great deal of additional research in high-temperature Superconductivity, leading to the discovery of compounds such as BSCCO (Tc = 107 K) and YBCO (T'c = 92 K).

1986

They reported their discovery in the June 1986 issue of Zeitschrift für Physik B. Before the end of the year, Shoji Tanaka at the University of Tokyo and then Paul Chu at the University of Houston had each independently confirmed their result. A couple of months later Chu achieved Superconductivity at 93 K in YBCO, triggering a stampede of scientific interest exemplified by the 1987 "Woodstock of physics", at which Müller was a featured presenter.

1987

In 1987 Müller and Bednorz were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics—the shortest time between the discovery and the prize award for any scientific Nobel.

2019

After his mother’s death, Müller was sent to school at the Evangelical College in Schiers, in the eastern part of Switzerland. Here he studied from 1938 to 1945, obtaining his baccalaureate (Matura).

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