Amelia Frank

Amelia Frank
A black-and-white picture of Amelia Frank from her undergraduate yearbook
Born(1906-03-04)March 4, 1906
Marion, Ohio, US
DiedAugust 16, 1937(1937-08-16) (aged 31)
Adrian, Michigan, US
Resting place
Toledo, Ohio
EducationGoucher College
University of Wisconsin–Madison
SpouseEugene Wigner
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics (Quantum Mechanics)
WorkplacesUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
ThesisTemperature Variation of the Magnetic Susceptibility, Gyromagnetic Ratio, and Heat Capacity in Sm+++ and Eu+++ (1935)
John H. Van Vleck

Amelia Zipora Frank (March 4, 1906 – August 16, 1937) was an American physicist known for her work in the quantum mechanics of magnetism. Working with physicist John Van Vleck, she studied the magnetic behavior of rare earth elements. She was married to Eugene Wigner, a Nobel laureate in Physics. Unable to secure an academic position, she left physics before dying at 31.

Education and career

Frank attended Goucher College for her undergraduate education, graduating in 1928. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa,: 107  played on the hockey and baseball teams,: 179 & 185  and was a member of the Physics Club. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison for her graduate studies. For the 1930–1931 school year, she was Harriet Remington Laird Fellow in Physics. Her PhD was supervised by John van Vleck and examined the quantum mechanics of magnetism. Frank received her PhD by 1935.

After graduating, Frank worked as a tutor at Wisconsin–Madison and continued her research in crystal field theory with van Vleck. In 1935, during the Great Depression and supporting her younger sister, she had to take jobs typing and cooking. She ultimately resigned from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in October 1936 after sparking up a romantic relationship with her colleague, theoretical physicist Eugene Wigner.

Research

Frank studied quantum mechanics, specifically in magnetism. She focused on rare earth elements, whose strong magnetic properties could not be explained by then-existing theories. Frank extended previous theories using group theory, recently introduced to physics by Eugene Wigner, and explored the breakdown from cubic to rhombic symmetry. She has been referred to as a pioneer of crystal field theory.

Her thesis, Temperature Variation of the Magnetic Susceptibility, Gyromagnetic Ratio, and Heat Capacity in Sm+++ and Eu+++, showed that quantum corrections were necessary to explain the experimental behavior of samarium. More than forty years later, van Vleck would cite her thesis in his Nobel lecture on quantum mechanics in magnetism, as well as including a plot from her thesis.

Personal life

Frank was born in 1906 in Marion, Ohio, to Anna and Louis Frank, a Lithuanian couple who owned a junkyard. While a student, she was flatmates with Mary Bunting. She was Jewish, though not very observant.

Frank left her position at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to pursue a relationship with Eugene Wigner. The pair married on December 23, 1936. Frank fell ill from an unknown cause only a few weeks after the wedding. Wigner stated it was heart disease, though other sources, including her death certificate, state it was cancer. After several months in a hospital, she returned to her parents' house in Michigan, where she died in August 1937.

Legacy

During the 20th century, Frank was primarily remembered for her relationship with Wigner, especially her premature death, which was a primary cause for his move from Wisconsin–Madison to Princeton. In the 21st century, articles in The Conversation and Journal of Alloys and Compounds have discussed more of her own contributions to crystal field theory and described her as "under-recognised" and an "unsung heroine."

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Howard, Hessin. "Certificate of Death". Michiganology. Michigan Department of Health: Disease Control, Records and Statistics Division. Archived from the original on January 6, 2026. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Jacobson, Peter; Wise, Beck (December 21, 2025). Lucy, Michael (ed.). "Who was Amelia Frank? The life of a forgotten physicist". The Conversation. doi:10.64628/AA.dpwwgydtq. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Donnybrook Fair 1928. Goucher College. JSTOR community.33168700?refreqid=fastly-default%3Aa7f97e41699a28bf0daddf37096a52ec&initiator=recommender&seq=102. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  4. ↑ "New Physics Majors Initiated". Goucher College Weekly. Vol. 11, no. 13. February 17, 1927. p. 3. JSTOR community.33174703?seq=3. Retrieved December 24, 2025 – via JSTOR.
  5. ↑ Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin General Announcement of Courses 1930-1931. University of Wisconsin-Madison. p. l. Archived from the original on January 6, 2026. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  6. ↑ Frank, Amelia (1934). The effect of crystalline fields on the magnetic susceptibilities of Sm and Eu⁺, and the heat capacity of Sm⁺⁺⁺ (PhD thesis). University of Wisconsin–Madison. OCLC 835656615.
  7. ↑ Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin General Announcement of Courses 1935-1936. University of Wisconsin-Madison. p. xxxvii. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 Wybourne, Brian G. (October 20, 2004). "The fascination of the rare earths—then, now and in the future". Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 380 (1–2): 96–100. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2004.03.034. Archived from the original on April 16, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  9. ↑ John, van Vleck. "Quantum Mechanics The Key to Understanding Magnetism" (PDF). nobelprize.org. The Nobel Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 10, 2026. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Szanton, Andrew (1992). The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton. New York: Plenum Press. pp. 177–179. ISBN 978-0-306-44326-8.
  11. 1 2 Wigner, Eugene (1992). The Collected Works of Eugene Wigner. New York: Springer-Verlag. p. 9. ISBN 978-3-642-08154-5. Retrieved December 25, 2025.