{{short description|German physicist}} {{infobox scientist | name = Eleonore Trefftz | image = Trefftz,Eleonore 1997 Göttingen.jpeg | birth_date = {{birth date|1920|08|15|df=y}} | birth_place = Aachen, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|10|22|1920|08|15|df=y}} | death_place = Munich, Germany | workplaces = Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics | fields = Molecular and nuclear physics }} '''Eleonore Trefftz''' (15 August 1920 – 22 October 2017) was a German physicist known for her work on molecular and nuclear physics. She was appointed as a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in 1971.<ref name="MPP">{{cite web|last1=Stramann|first1=Martin|url=https://www.mpp.mpg.de/en/what-s-new/news/detail/trauer-um-eleonore-trefftz/|title=Mourning for Eleonore Trefftz|publisher=Max Planck Institute for Physics|date=30 October 2017|accessdate=3 September 2018|archive-date=4 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904084651/https://www.mpp.mpg.de/en/what-s-new/news/detail/trauer-um-eleonore-trefftz/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Biography == Trefftz was born in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, on 15 August 1920.<ref name="TUGraduates">{{cite web|url=http://tu-dresden.de/die_tu_dresden/gremien_und_beauftragte/beauftragte/gleichstellung/dateien/eleonore-trefftz.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202025702/http://tu-dresden.de/die_tu_dresden/gremien_und_beauftragte/beauftragte/gleichstellung/dateien/eleonore-trefftz.pdf|title=Famous TU Graduates: Eleonore Trefftz|publisher=TU Dresden|archivedate=2 February 2016|accessdate=3 September 2018|language=German}}</ref> She was raised in Loschwitz, Dresden from 1923, after her father Erich Trefftz was appointed as a professor of applied mechanics at TU Dresden in 1922.<ref name="TUGraduates" /><ref name="father">{{cite web|url=https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&reset=true&referrerPosition=0&referrerResultId=%22106437488%22%26any&query=idn%3D11772629X|title=Trefftz, Erich|publisher=Catalog of the German National Library|language=German|accessdate=3 September 2018}}</ref> Between 1941 and 1945, Trefftz studied at TU Dresden and remained here until 1948, where she engaged in research and made<!--check--> assignments on theoretical physics, assisted by Friedrich Hund.<ref name="TUGraduates" /><ref name="TU2017">{{cite web|url=https://tu-dresden.de/tu-dresden/profil/exzellenz/news/tu-dresden-trauert-um-eleonore-trefftz?set_language=en|title=TU Dresden mourns the passing of Eleonore Trefftz|publisher=TU Dresden|date=25 October 2017|accessdate=3 September 2018}}</ref> In 1948, Trefftz became a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, where she researched the transition probabilities of spectral lines.<ref name="MPP" /><ref name="TU2017" />
In 1971, Trefftz became a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics;<ref name="MPP" /> she was the second woman to be appointed to the Max Planck Society, after Margot Becke-Goehring.<ref name="TU2017" /> While Trefftz primarily worked on molecular and nuclear physics,<ref name="MPP" /> she was also associated with quantum chemistry.<ref name="TU2017" /> Trefftz helped develop programming techniques to assist the Max Planck Institute in using computerised data processing.<ref name="MPP" /> She spent the remainder of her scientific career at the Max Planck Institute,<ref name="Schmadel" /> becoming an Emeritus Scientific Member of the Institute for Astrophysics in Garching bei München upon her retirement. She died in Munich on 22 October 2017.<ref name="MPP" />
TU Dresden has introduced the Eleonore Trefftz Programme for Visiting Women Professors to support female scientists by providing year-long research and teaching roles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tu-dresden.de/tu-dresden/profil/exzellenz/zukunftskonzept/gleichstellung/eleonore-trefftz-gastprofessorinnenprogramm|title=Eleonore Trefftz Programme for Visiting Women Professors|publisher=TU Dresden|accessdate=3 September 2018}}</ref> Minor planet 7266 Trefftz, discovered in 1973, was named in her honour.<ref name="Schmadel">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&q=Eleonore+Trefftz&pg=PA568|title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|first=Lutz D.|last=Schmadel|authorlink=Lutz D. Schmadel|date=10 June 2012|accessdate=3 September 2018|isbn=978-3-642-29718-2}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Trefftz, Eleonore}} Category:1920 births Category:2017 deaths Category:20th-century German physicists Category:Max Planck Society people Category:Max Planck Institute directors Category:20th-century German women physicists