Richter, Burton (rĭkˈtər) [key], 1931–, American physicist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1956. A professor at Stanford, Richter built a particle accelerator (Stanford Positron-Electron Asymmetric Ring) with the help of David Ritson and the support of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. With it he discovered a new subatomic particle called a psi-particle (now called a J/psi meson). The same discovery was made independently and nearly simultaneously by Samuel Ting using a different method. The two scientists were jointly awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.