# Jack Sandweiss
**Jack H. Sandweiss** (1930 – November 20, 2020) was an American experimental physicist who worked in elementary particle and nuclear physics at Yale University from 1957 until his retirement, and who edited the journal *Physical Review Letters* for 25 years.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) He held the Donner Professorship, was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and served as Chair of the Yale Physics Department and as head of Davenport College.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1930; November 20, 2020, at age 90[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) |
| Field | Experimental elementary particle and nuclear physics[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) |
| Education | B.S. 1952 and Ph.D. 1957, University of California, Berkeley[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf) |
| Yale career | Faculty member from 1957; Donner Professor Emeritus[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) • [2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf) |
| Editor of *Physical Review Letters* | November 1987 to July 1, 2013, 25 years[3](https://journals.aps.org/prl/50years/timeline) • [4](https://journals.aps.org/prl/edannounce/PhysRevLett.111.100001) |
| Signature work | Charm production in 350 GeV/c proton–neon collisions, *Physical Review Letters* **44**, 1104 (1980)[5](https://inspirehep.net/literature/180391) |
| Honors | Member, National Academy of Sciences[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) |
## Education and early career
Sandweiss took both degrees at the [University of California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california), Berkeley, completing a B.S. in 1952 and a Ph.D. in 1957, the year he joined the Yale faculty.[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf) He remained on that faculty for the rest of his career, retiring as Donner Professor Emeritus of Physics.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020)
## Research at Yale
Soon after the antiproton was discovered at Berkeley, his Alma Mater, he pioneered the construction of antiproton beams at [Brookhaven National Laboratory](https://www.edgepedia.org/brookhaven-national-laboratory) to measure the properties of that then esoteric new particle.[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf) He followed this by equally pioneering beams of the even more esoteric sigma hyperons at Fermilab.[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf) In January 1970 he authored a Yale report on design considerations for a high-intensity, high-energy negative hyperon beam for the 200-GeV NAL (later Fermilab) accelerator.[8](https://inspirehep.net/files/ed435a703b0bae7544a7556c0fa1365b)
A second line of work tested the fundamental symmetries of space and time. At [Argonne National Laboratory](https://www.edgepedia.org/argonne-national-laboratory) he studied time-reversal invariance in kaon decays, and at Brookhaven he searched for parity violations in heavy-ion collisions.[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf)
His group's instrument was the Yale high-resolution streamer chamber (HIRSC). In 350 GeV/c proton–neon interactions, short-lived particles produced in association with muons were observed and found consistent with charmed particles, with average lifetimes between 10⁻¹³ and 2 × 10⁻¹² s and an estimated production cross section of 20 to 50 microbarns per nucleon.[6](https://inspirehep.net/files/25903192c43594eebb3ea55bd7627f25) This observation appeared in *Physical Review Letters* **44**, 1104 (1980), and he reviewed the technique in *Physics Reports* **83**, 39–60 (1982).[5](https://inspirehep.net/literature/180391) He later served as scientific spokesman for a Fermilab proposal to use an improved version of HIRSC and its muon detector with the addition of a downstream toroidal magnet for muon momentum measurements, in order to study the hadronic production and subsequent decay of particles carrying the B quantum number.[6](https://inspirehep.net/files/25903192c43594eebb3ea55bd7627f25)
He also searched for [strangelets](https://www.edgepedia.org/strangelet), hypothetical atoms with unusual quark content, in moon dust, and in outer space.[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf)
## Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
Sandweiss led Yale's participation in the [Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer](https://www.edgepedia.org/alpha-magnetic-spectrometer) (AMS), a particle detector that began operation on the [International Space Station](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-space-station) in May 2011 and measures charged cosmic rays with high precision over a wide rigidity range (rigidity is momentum per unit charge).[9](https://hep.yale.edu/ams-yale)
## Cyclotron-resonance critique
In *Bioelectromagnetics* in 1990, Sandweiss showed that the cyclotron-resonance model, proposed to explain a purported enhancement of ion transport through cell membranes exposed to weak low-frequency-modulated RF fields, is inconsistent with basic physics: under the model's conditions the ions' radii of gyration in the [Earth's magnetic field](https://www.edgepedia.org/earths-magnetic-field) would be about 50 m, vastly larger than cells, and the collision-damping time would be under 10⁻¹⁰ s, far shorter than the roughly 10⁻² s needed for low-frequency resonance.[10](https://doi.org/10.1002/bem.2250110210)
## Editor of Physical Review Letters
In November 1987 Sandweiss became Editor of *Physical Review Letters*.[3](https://journals.aps.org/prl/50years/timeline) He led the journal for the last 25 years of its first 55 years, stepping down as lead editor effective July 1, 2013.[4](https://journals.aps.org/prl/edannounce/PhysRevLett.111.100001)
The succession editorial credited him with building a culture that enabled the journal to attract fine papers year after year. His successor, [Pierre Meystre](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierre-meystre) of the [University of Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-arizona), chosen by a search committee chaired by [Ulrich Heinz](https://www.edgepedia.org/ulrich-heinz), stated that he would carry forward Sandweiss's primary efforts, most importantly enforcement of acceptance criteria even more rigorously.[4](https://journals.aps.org/prl/edannounce/PhysRevLett.111.100001)
## Heavy-ion physics and RHIC
According to a 2025 history of the [Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider](https://www.edgepedia.org/relativistic-heavy-ion-collider) (RHIC), Sandweiss had prepared contingency plans under which the Colliding Beam Accelerator (CBA) at Brookhaven would be repurposed, and that history credits this arrangement with paving the way for RHIC.[7](https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/2504.08720) The 1983 Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science gave RHIC its endorsement, construction was approved in 1991, and operations started in 2000.[7](https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/2504.08720)
## Honors and service
Sandweiss was a member of the National Academy of Sciences.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) At Yale he served as Chair of the Physics Department and as head of Davenport College, one of the university's residential colleges.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) He also held memberships and chairmanships of numerous national and international advisory committees.[2](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf) He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1987.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) • [9](https://hep.yale.edu/ams-yale) • [11](https://research.com/u/j-sandweiss) Yale's Physics Department holds a Jack Sandweiss Memorial Lecture in his memory.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) • [9](https://hep.yale.edu/ams-yale) • [12](https://physics.yale.edu/events/prize-lectures/sandweiss-memorial-lecture)
## Death and legacy
Sandweiss died on November 20, 2020, at the age of 90.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) Yale's obituary paired the two halves of his career, describing him as an internationally recognized leader in experimental elementary particle and nuclear physics and as the editor of *Physical Review Letters* for 25 years.[1](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020) The journal's own succession editorial made the same pairing, crediting his 25 years with the culture and the acceptance standards his successor undertook to enforce even more rigorously.[4](https://journals.aps.org/prl/edannounce/PhysRevLett.111.100001)
## References
1. [Jack Sandweiss (1930-2020), Yale Department of Physics](https://physics.yale.edu/news/jack-sandweiss-1930-2020)
2. [Yale Physics 2015, retirement citation for Jack Sandweiss](https://physics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/YalePhysics2015.pdf)
3. [PRL 50th Anniversary Timeline](https://journals.aps.org/prl/50years/timeline)
4. [Editorial: Pierre Meystre Succeeds Jack Sandweiss as Lead Editor of PRL](https://journals.aps.org/prl/edannounce/PhysRevLett.111.100001)
5. [INSPIRE record: High Resolution Streamer Chambers for Heavy Quark Spectroscopy](https://inspirehep.net/literature/180391)
6. [Fermilab proposal with J. Sandweiss as scientific spokesman](https://inspirehep.net/files/25903192c43594eebb3ea55bd7627f25)
7. [RHIC: A Physics Facility for the New Millennium (arXiv:2504.08720)](https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/2504.08720)
8. [Some Considerations on a High Intensity, High Energy, Negative Hyperon Beam at NAL (1970)](https://inspirehep.net/files/ed435a703b0bae7544a7556c0fa1365b)
9. [AMS at Yale | Yale High Energy Physics](https://hep.yale.edu/ams-yale)
10. [On the cyclotron resonance model of ion transport (Bioelectromagnetics, 1990)](https://doi.org/10.1002/bem.2250110210)
11. [J. Sandweiss: Physics Researcher – Research.com](https://research.com/u/j-sandweiss)
12. [Jack Sandweiss Memorial Lecture | Yale Department of Physics](https://physics.yale.edu/events/prize-lectures/sandweiss-memorial-lecture)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physical and mathematical scientists › Physicists and astronomers › Experimental particle physicists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 21, 2026 · Last review: Sep 21, 2026*
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