Education
He received a bachelor of science and a master of science degree in 1976, then a Doctor of Philosophy degree in electrical engineering in 1981, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Peter Hagelstein
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Hagelstein"s early work focused on extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray lasers, relativistic atomic structure and electron collision physics, autoionization and dielectronic recombination processes, plasma population kinetics, radiation transport and large scale physics simulation. While working in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory he pioneered the work that later produced the first X-ray laser, which would later become important for the United States Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly referred to as the "Star Wars" program In 1989 he started investigating cold fusion (also called low-energy nuclear reactions) with the hope of making a breakthrough similar to the X-ray laser.
In the period between 1989 and 2004, the field became discredited in the eyes of many scientists.
His recent efforts have included the invention of semiconductor technology that could allow efficient, affordable production of electricity from a variety of energy sources, as well as continuing investigations of low-energy nuclear reactions. Hagelstein is the co-author of a new textbook, Introductory Applied Quantum and Statistical Mechanics, and chaired the Tenth International Conference on Cold Fusion in 2003.
Achievements
Membership
He was a staff member of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1981 to 1985 before joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1986.
