Dirac << dih RAK >>, Paul Adrien Maurice (1902-1984), a British theoretical physicist, became noted for his mathematical equation describing the behavior of the electron. Dirac also demonstrated the fundamental unity of two forms of quantum mechanics, wave mechanics and matrix mechanics (see Quantum mechanics). In addition, he was the first to successfully apply relativity to quantum mechanics (see Relativity). Dirac shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in physics with the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger for his equation and his other contributions to quantum mechanics.
Dirac introduced his equation, now called the Dirac equation, in 1928. It accounts theoretically for the spin of an electron and for other aspects of the particle’s behavior. Based on this equation, in 1931 Dirac predicted that the negatively charged electron should have an antiparticle—a positively charged electron (see Antimatter). The American physicist Carl D. Anderson detected this positively charged electron—the positron—in 1932.
Dirac was born in Bristol, England, on Aug. 8, 1902. He attended Bristol and Cambridge universities. From 1932 to 1969, he held the Lucasian Professorship of Mathematics at Cambridge, a chair once held by the great English scientist Sir Isaac Newton. In 1971, Dirac became a professor of physics at Florida State University. His book The Principles of Quantum Mechanics (1930) is a classic in its field. Dirac died on Oct. 20, 1984, in Tallahassee, Florida.
See also Anderson, Carl D.; Schrödinger, Erwin.
