Jan A. K. van der Meer

Jan A. K. van der Meer is a Dutch physicist renowned for his work in particle physics. He played a key role in developing techniques to accelerate and collide particles at high energies, helping scientists explore the fundamental building blocks of matter. His contributions advanced our understanding of subatomic particles and the forces that govern them. Van der Meer's innovations, particularly in beam steering and collision technology, were vital for experiments at large research facilities like CERN. In 1984, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing a method called stochastic cooling, which significantly improved particle beam quality in accelerators.