Ulrich Becker

In Memoriam: December 17, 1938 - March 10, 2020
Longtime MIT physicist & mentor created instruments that advanced high-energy physics, including the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the J particle.
Research Areas
High Energy and Particle Theory

In Memoriam: December 17, 1938 – March 10, 2020

Research Interests

Professor Becker’s research interests include:

  • Experimental high energy physics
  • How matter is created from energy
  • “Periodic System” behind the masses of leptons and quarks
  • The role of force carriers / the related Vector mesons: photon, rho, omega, phi, J…….Z0
  • Is there Anti-Matter left from the big bang? What particles constitute Dark Matter?

Starting at DESY, Hamburg, Germany, Professor Becker’s research first focused on the complex nature of the photon. He showed that all Vector–mesons behave like heavy photons, i.e., display diffraction and convert back to (virtual) photons. In search for more of such spin =1 particles, he was involved in the discovery of the J particle, which started the field of “charmed” matter and later evidence for the Gluon.

Presently, Prof. Becker primarily works on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), searching for Anti- and Dark matter from space using a TRD to isolate positrons. He also develops new particle detectors for the next Linear Collider, using the MIT Cyclotron as a magnet.

Biographical Sketch

Professor Becker studied GeV photon interactions for his Ph.D., received in 1968 from the University of Hamburg, Germany. He joined MIT in 1969 as an Assistant Professor and designed a precision spectrometer for an experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory, discovering the J particle. Professor Becker was promoted to Associate Professor in 1973 and full Professor in 1978. In 2011, he became an Emeritus Professor. Ulrich Becker passed away on March 10, 2020 and is survived by his wife Gerda (Barthel), children Katharina, Peter, and Robert, and grandchildren Jarin and Hannah.

In the news
In the news

Professor Emeritus Ulrich Becker, who made major contributions to particle physics, dies at 81

Longtime MIT physicist and mentor created instruments that advanced high-energy physics, including the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the J particle.

Awards & Honors

  • 2006 // Fellow, American Physical Society
  • 2002 // NASA Recognition Letter for “Success in the First AMS Flight”

Key Publications

  • “AMS-01: First Flight, First Results, Future AMS-02”, U. Becker, High Light Plenary Talk XXVI ICRC, Salt Lake City (1999), 335.

  • “Understanding the Impact of Additives with Large Inelastic Cross Sections on Drift Chamber Performance”, E.Fortunato, U.Becker et al., NIM A335 (1999), 439.

  • “Determination of the Number of Light Neutrino Species from Single Photon Production at LEP”, Phys.Lett. B 431 (1998), 199.