Zwicky Place

“The father of Dark Matter”

Located at the intersection of “Ivan Drasov” and “Bratya Miladinovi” streets, stands an exquisite antiquated residence, constructed in the secession architectural style. Constructed as the primary residence of the renowned astronomer Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974).

Fritz Zwicky dedicated a significant portion of his career to the California Institute of Technology, situated in the United States of America. During his tenure, he achieved notable advancements in the fields of theoretical and observational astronomy. In the year 1933, Zwicky made a significant contribution to the field by employing the virial theorem to propose the presence of imperceptible dark matter, which he referred to as “dunkle Materie” in his description.

Fritz Zwicky’s birthplace was Varna, Bulgaria, and he was born to a father of Swiss nationality, with citizenship in Mollis, Glarus, and a mother of Czech descent. The individual referred to as Fridolin (b. 1868) had a position of significance as an industrialist within the Bulgarian city. Additionally, he fulfilled the role of ambassador for Norway in Varna throughout the period of 1908 to 1933. Franziska Vrček, born in 1871, was an individual of Czech ethnicity inside the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and also happened to be the mother of Fritz. Fritz, the eldest of the three children of the Zwicky family, was accompanied by his younger brother Rudolf and sister Leonie. In 1927, Fritz experienced the loss of his mother in the city of Varna. Fridolin, the father of the individual in question, resided and engaged in professional activities in Bulgaria until the year 1945, subsequent to the conclusion of World War II, at which point he repatriated to Switzerland. Leonie, the sister of Fritz, entered into matrimony with a Bulgarian individual hailing from the city of Varna, subsequently residing in said urban centre for the entirety of her lifespan.

In 1904, Fritz, who was six years old at the time, was sent to reside with his paternal grandparents in the ancestral canton of Glarus, Switzerland, with the purpose of pursuing studies in the field of trade. The individual’s areas of focus transitioned towards mathematics and physics. He had a comprehensive academic training in the fields of mathematics and experimental physics at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, which is currently recognised as ETH Zurich, located in Zurich. He successfully completed his academic pursuits in 1922, obtaining a Doctor of Natural Sciences degree (equivalent to a PhD) with a thesis titled “On the Theory of Heteropolar Crystals.”

In 1925, Fritz Zwicky relocated to the United States with the purpose of collaborating with Robert Millikan at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This opportunity arose as a result of Zwicky being awarded an international fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation. His office was located in close proximity to that of Robert Oppenheimer.

Zwicky’s contributions to cosmology in the early 21st century have been significant, since he established a multitude of hypotheses that have greatly impacted our comprehension of the cosmos. The individual in question is credited with the introduction of the word “supernova” and had a significant role in the development and promotion of the notion of neutron stars. It took a span of five years for Oppenheimer to write his seminal work introducing the concept of “neutron stars”.

In 1942, Zwicky assumed the position of Professor of Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In addition to his tenure as a research director/consultant at Aerojet Engineering Corporation from 1943 to 1961, the individual in question also held positions as a staff member at Mount Wilson Observatory and Palomar Observatory during the most of his professional trajectory. The individual in question has made significant contributions to the field of jet propulsion, having built some of the early jet engines. Furthermore, their expertise is evidenced by their possession of over 50 patents, with a substantial number of them specifically related to jet propulsion. The Underwater Jet was invented by him.

Zwicky’s demise occurred in Pasadena, California on February 8, 1974, and his last resting place was in Mollis, Switzerland.

• https://bnr.bg/en/post/101098494/fritz-zwicky-the-father-of-dark-matter-and-supernovas-was-born-in-bulgaria

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Zwicky
• https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Zwicky/