The nuclear physicist Helmut Rauch proved that neutrons also have wave properties. Using a neutron interferometer he developed himself, he also experimentally demonstrated the symmetry of spinors at two full rotations and the superposition of spin.
Rauch studied technical physics at the Vienna University of Technology and habilitated at the age of 31. He then became a full university professor of experimental nuclear physics at the Vienna University of Technology and a board member of the Atomic Institute of Austrian Universities. He published more than 400 scientific papers in the field of neutron and solid state physics as well as quantum mechanics.
Rauch has received many awards, including the Cardinal Innitzer Prize, the Walter Hälg Prize, the Ludwig Wittgenstein Prize, and the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art. The nuclear physicist not only shaped modern physics, as president of the FWF he was committed to promoting basic research.