Hans Jacobus Wospakrik was a physics prodigy from Papua who dabbled in theoretical physics. His contribution to the science field included using mathematical methods in understanding various physic theories and phenomena, especially in Einstein’s relativity model and elementary particles. His studies have been published in international journals, such as the Journal of Mathematical Physics and Physical Review D. Here is his profile.
Profile
Hans was born in Serui, Papua, on September 10, 1951. He specialized in theoretical physics and shared his knowledge by being a lecturer at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). His fellow lecturers and students knew him as a simple and modest person. His students often saw Hans walking home at night, located about six kilometers from his alma mater, the Ganesha ITB campus.
Educational background
Hans Wospakrik was a student at Manokwari Public High School when he became interested in the theory of relativity. It all started when his physics teacher introduced the concept of a curved line as the shortest link between two points. Hans, who had studied geometry, had always been taught that the shortest connection between two points is in the form of a straight line. The new concept intrigued him, and he kept on searching for the answer to the mystery.
After graduated high school, he’s accepted as a student of Petroleum Engineering at ITB in 1970, a status that symbolized prosperity during that era. However, his unyielding determination to study more about the theory of relativity was so strong that he requested to change into a Physics major. His request was finally granted on the recommendation of a theoretical physicist at the Physics Department at ITB.
In 1971, Hans became a student of Mining Engineering, which he’s not interested in, so he changed his major into Physics the following year and graduated in 1976 with cum laude predicate. His first research on Physics Major was conducted in 1973 about Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which was published in Proceedings ITB.
He continued exploring physics and went to the Netherlands to pursue master studies in theoretical physics. Later in 2002, Hans took a doctoral program at Durham University, England.
In early 1980, Hans was mentored by a Netherland Physics professor, Kristemakers, who helped Hans get a scholarship and permit to conduct research at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Utrecht. Hans made it. He conducted research with the 2009 Nobel Prize-winning Physicist—Martinus JG Veltman—in Utrecht (the Netherlands) and Anna Arbor (Michigan, the United States).
Hans as a lecturer
When he was a lecturer for Physics Major at ITB, he and Prof. Dr Pantur Silaban translated textbooks for students majoring in Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Engineering in Indonesia. For Hans’s students, he and Erwin Sicipto are great lecturers because of their patience and clarity in teaching. Their ability to simplify complex ideas made physics lessons easier to learn.
The translated books published by Airlangga are Laplace Transformation, Vector Analysis, and Basic Physics by Halliday and Resnick. Hans also wrote a book on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, 1982 after returning from the University of Michigan, United States.
Contribution in Physics Community
Hans Wospakrik had made significant contributions to the international physics community throughout his life by finding the mathematical methods for understanding physical phenomena in elementary particles and Einstein’s General Relativity.
His research results are published in leading international journals, such as Physical Review D, Journal of Mathematical Physics, Modern Physics Letters A, and International Journal of Modern Physics A. Even though the international world recognizes his research, neither the government nor the Ministry of National Education gave the same appreciation.
From Atomos to Quark
From Atomos to Quarks is a book by Hans that tells about mankind’s search throughout history for the smallest particles that compose matter in the universe—starting from Greece where philosophers at that time philosophized about the smallest constituent of every matter until the current finding of a smaller unit of matter, the quark.
Quarks (pronounced/’kwɔː(r)k/ /ˈkwɑrk/), as described in the standard model of particle physics, combine between quarks to form composite particles called Hadrons. The most stable Hadron particles are Protons & Neutrons, which are the components that make up the atomic nucleus. Quarks have never been studied or discovered directly in isolation. Quarks are only found within the Hadron, just like Barion and Meson.
Hans’s last day
Dr Hans Jacobus Wospakrik died of leukaemia on Tuesday, January 11, 2005, at the age of 53 at Dharmais Hospital, Jakarta, after being treated for three days. He left a wife, Regina Wospakrik-Sorentau, and two children, Willem, a student of the Mathematics Department of ITB and Marianette, a student of the Physics Department of ITB.
Despite his significant contribution to the Physics world, the government only awarded Hans witan h IV-A grade as a head lector. A tiny reward for someone who had made Indonesia, especially Papua, proud in the eyes of the world. May his name will always be remembered as one of the greatest Indonesian physicists.
