PAUL,HELMUT, A HAPPY PHYSICIST

Each time I meet Helmut (I address him in an American way, perhaps awf ully improperly in Austria), I get a strong impression of a happy man. Why is it so? Well gifted as a physicist and also as a manager, he ha s had a well-deserved eminently successful career, which warrants his happiness. However, not every physicist of a comparable stature appear s to be as happy as Helmut. As a tribute on the occasion of his retire ment, I offer in what follows an analysis of his life, accomplishments , and happiness. The present article is also a dedication to him as th e chairman of the 16th International Conference on Atomic Collisions i n Solids, which was highly successful, as seen in the Proceedings appe aring in the following pages.