Elizabeth Riddle Graves

Elizabeth R. Graves Los Alamos ID

Elizabeth Riddle Graves (25 January 1916 – 6 January 1972) was a pioneer in the physics of neutrons and the detection and measurement of fast neutrons. She was part of the Metallurgical Laboratory staff and group leader at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.

Life and Times

Graves was born on 25 January 1916 in Tennessee to James Marion Riddle (1843 - 1931) from South Carolina and Georgia Clymetra Boykin (1889 - 1971) from Arkansas. Around 1921, the Graves family moved to Chicago, Illinois.^[1] Elizabeth Riddle married Alvin Cushman Graves (1909 - 1965). According to the US Census of 1940, the Graves resided in Travis County, Texas where Alvin worked as a teacher at a state university. The entry for Elizabeth was blank.^[2] Graves died on 6 January 1972 and buried at at Guaje Pines Cemetery, Los Alamos, Los Alamos County, New Mexico.^[3]

Education and Career

Graves graduated in 1940 from the University of Chicago and earned a Ph.D. in Physics. She worked at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago. While at Chicago, Graves developed a keen interest in the physics of neutrons and the detection and measurement of fast neutrons. In 1943 her career took her to Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory where Graves was a group leader in the experimental physics division and researched neutron interactions with matter and material.^[4] In 1972, Graves died after a long illness.^[5][6]

Select Publications

Patents

• Low voltage 14 MeV neutron source.^[7]

Dissertation and Thesis

• Energy Released from Be 9 (d, α) Li 7 and the Production of Li 7. 1940.^[8]

Thesis

The α-particles from Be9(d,α)Li7 have been investigated with a variable air pressure absorption cell, ionization chamber and linear amplifier. It has been established that there are two groups of α-particles differing at 760 mm pressure and 15°C by 3.08±0.10 mm range reduced to zero bombarding voltage. The groups have been shown to be associated with the production of Li7 in the ground state and in an excited state. At 239 kv bombarding voltage, the excited state is formed 1.7 times as often as the ground state. The energy balance, Q, associated with the production of the ground state has been determined to be 7.093±0.022 Mev. The energy of the excited level has been determined to be 494±16 kev. The total yield curve for α-particles has been investigated from 235 kv to 390 kv bombarding voltage. The measured value for the energy of the excited level in Li7 is discussed in connection with values from other reactions in which Li7 is an end product and with γ-ray measurements of the level.

Papers

1930s - 1940s

• Allison, Samuel K., Graves, Elizabeth R., Skaggs, Lester S., & Smith Jr, Nicholas M. (1939). A Precise Measurement of the Mass Difference Be 9 4—Be 8 4; The Stability of Be 8 4. Physical Review. 55(1): 107.
• Allison, S. K., Graves, E. R., & Skaggs, L. S. (1940). Alpha-Particle Groups from the Disintegration of Beryllium by Deuterons. Physical Review. 57(2): 158.
• Graves, A. C., Graves, E. R., Coon, J. H., & Manley, J. H. (January 1946). Cross Section of D (D, P) H-3 Reaction. Physical Review. 70(1-2): 101.
• Manley, J. H., Coon, J. H., & Graves, E. R. (January 1946). Cross Section of D (D, N) He-3 Reaction. Physical Review. 70(1-2): 101.
• Graves, E. R., & Coon, J. H. (January 1946). Disintegrations of Neon and Argon by dd Neutrons. Physical Review. 70(1-2): 101.
• Manley, J. H., Agnew, H. M., Barschall, H. H., Bright, W. C., Coon, J. H., Graves, E. R., Jorgensen, T. & Waldman, B. (1946). Elastic Backscattering of d− d Neutrons. Physical Review. 70(9-10): 602.
• Barschall, Henry Herman, Battat, M. E., Bright, W. C., Graves, E. R., Jorgensen, T., & Manley, J. H. (1947). Measurement of Transport and Inelastic Scattering Cross Sections for Fast Neutrons. II. Experimental Results. Physical Review. 72(10): 881.
• Graves, E. R. (1949). Mayer. Physical Review. 76(1): 183.
• Graves, E. R., Rodrigues, A. A., Goldblatt, M., & Meyer, D. I. (1949). Preparation and use of tritium and deuterium targets. Review of Scientific Instruments. 20(8): 579-582.am

1950s - 1960s

• Coon, J. H., Graves, E. R., & Barschall, H. H. (1952). Total Cross Sections for 14-MeV Neutrons. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California.
• Graves, E. R., & Rosen, L. (January 1952). ENERGY SPECTRUM OF NEUTRONS FROM THE INTERACTION OF 14-MEV NEUTRONS WITH C, Al, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, Sn, Au, Pb, AND Bi. Physical Review. 87(1): 239.
• Coon, J. H., Graves, E. R., & Barschall, H. H. (1952). Total Cross Sections for 14-Mev Neutrons. Physical Review. 88(3): 562.
• Phillips, D. D., Davis, R. W., & Graves, E. R. (1952). Inelastic Collision Cross Sections for 14-Mev Neutrons. Physical Review. 88(3): 600.
• Forbes, S. G., Graves, E. R., & Little, R. N. (1953). Low Voltage 14‐Mev Neutron Source. Review of Scientific Instruments. 24(6): 424-427.
• Graves, E. R., & Rosen, Louis. (1953). Distribution in Energy of the Neutrons from the Interaction of 14-MeV Neutrons with some Elements. Physical Review. 89(2): 343.
• Graves, E. R., & Davis, Roland W. (1955). Cross sections for nonelastic interactions of 14-Mev neutrons with various elements. Physical Review. 97(5): 1205.
• Battat, M. E., & Graves, E. R. (1955). Gamma Rays from 14-Mev Neutron Bombardment of C 12. Physical Review. 97(5): 1266.
• McDole, C. J., Graves, E. R., & Davis, R. W. (1955). Calibration of a Mock Fission Neutron Source by Indium Resonance Mapping of the Standard Graphite Pile (No. LA-1982). Los Alamos Scientific Lab., New Mexico.
• Seagrave, J. D., Graves, E. R., Hipwood, S. J., & McDole, C. J. (1958). D (d, n) 3 He and T (d, n) 4 He Neutron Source Handbook. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Lams, 2162.
• Graves, E. R. (1963). Howard Eberline Neutron Survey Instrument PNC-1 Evaluation and Recommendation for Use. (No. LA-2860). Los Alamos Scientific Lab., New Mexico.
• Davis, R. W., & Graves, E. R. (1969). The Radiation Instrument Calibration Facility at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. (No. LA—4090). Los Alamos Scientific Lab., New Mexico.
• Davis, R., & Graves, E. (1969). The Radiation Instrument Calibration Facility at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. (Construction and calibration of radiation survey instruments).

References

1. United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSGM-XVS : accessed 15 August 2015), Elizabeth B Riddle in household of James M Riddle, Chicago (Districts 0751-1000), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0765, sheet 12A, family 145, line 4, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 449; FHL microfilm 2,340,184.
2. United States Census, 1940. Database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K43Y-N3D : accessed 15 August 2015), Elizabeth Graves in household of Alvin C Graves, Tract 5, Austin, Justice Precinct 3, Travis, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 227-26, sheet 16B, family 389, NARA digital publication T627 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), roll 4148.
3. Find A Grave Index. FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVK6-YN89 : accessed 15 August 2015). Elizabeth Riddle Graves. 1972. Burial, Los Alamos (Los Alamos), Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America, Guaje Pines Cemetery; citing record ID 39395345, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
4. Coyne, Colleen. (29 April 2013). Female Scientists, the Military, and Informing Policy. Bowling Green State University. Honors College. Honors Project. Bowling Green, KY.
5. Editor. (April 1972). Elizabeth R. Graves. Obituaries. Physics Today. 25(4): 67.
6. Coyne, Colleen. (29 April 2013). Female Scientists, the Military, and Informing Policy. Bowling Green State University. Honors College. Honors Project. Bowling Green, KY.
7. Graves, E. R., & Little, Jr, Robert N. (1959). U.S. Patent No. 2,906,903. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
8. Graves, Elizabeth Riddle. (15 May 1940). “Energy Released from Be 9 (d, a) Li 7 and the Production of Li 7.” Physical Review. 57(10): 855.