D. J. M. S. N. van der Meer

D. J. M. S. N. van der Meer, or Simon van der Meer, was a Dutch physicist renowned for developing a technique called stochastic cooling, which rapidly cools particle beams in accelerators. This innovation was essential for maintaining precise, high-density beams of particles like protons and antiprotons, enabling fundamental physics experiments. His work contributed significantly to the discovery of the W and Z bosons—particles that explain how the weak nuclear force operates—earning him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984. His contributions advanced our understanding of particle physics and the universe's fundamental forces.