Hwan-Wu Peng

Peng Huanwu (Chinese: 彭桓武; October 6, 1915 – February 28, 2007) was a renowned theoretical physicist of China, a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and a leader of Chinese nuclear weaponry projects.

Peng was born in Changchun, Jilin Province, with ancestry from Macheng County, Hubei Province. After graduating from department of physics of Tsinghua University, Peng continued to pursue his postgraduate degree. After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, he went to teach at Yunnan University. In 1938, Peng was enrolled in foreign study program and went to study at University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and worked with prominent physicist Max Born. Peng obtained his degree in philosophy and science doctorate degree in 1940 and 1945, respectively.

Recommended by Born, Peng worked at Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in Ireland as a postdoctoral scholar from 1941-1943 and later as an assistant professor from 1945-1947. While at DIAS Peng worked with another one of Born's students Sheila Tinney to produce important work on crystal lattices. From August 1941 to July 1943, Peng collaborated with Walter Heitler and James Hamilton to study cosmic ray, and developed HHP theory. Together with Born, Peng was awarded the Makdougall Brisbane Prize by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1945. Cécile DeWitt-Morette was supervised by him working on the production of artificial mesons in 1946. He was elected as a member of Royal Irish Academy in 1948.