Ludwig Hopf (1884 in Nürnberg, Germany – December 21, 1939 in Dublin, Ireland) was a German theoretical physicist who made contributions to mathematics, special relativity, hydrodynamics, and aerodynamics.
Hopf studied under Arnold Sommerfeld at the University of Munich, where he received his Ph.D. in 1909, on the topic of hydrodynamics. Shortly after this, at a physics conference in Salzburg, Sommerfeld introduced Hopf to Albert Einstein. Later that year, Einstein, needing an assistant at the University of Zurich, hired Hopf; it was an added bonus that Hopf was a talented pianist, since Einstein played the violin and liked to play duets. In 1910, he collaborated and published with Einstein two papers on classical statistical aspects of radiation. Hopf’s collaboration with Sommerfeld on integral representations of Bessel Functions resulted in the publication of a paper in 1911. Also in that year, Hopf accompanied Einstein to the Karl-Ferdinand University in Prague; however, he did not stay with Einstein long – due to “unsanitary conditions” in Prague. He accepted a position at the Aachen Technische Hochschule, where he eventually became a professor in hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. During World War I, he contributed to the design of military aircraft. It was during his tenure at Aachen that he made a contribution to the Handbuch der Physik and co-authored a “highly esteemed” book on aerodynamics. In 1934, due to his being “non-Aryan”, he lost his position at Aachen; he moved to Dublin, Ireland and became a professor of mathematics at Trinity College. One of his colleagues there was the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger.
In 1939, Hopf became seriously ill in December and died on December 21.
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