DOCSLIB.ORG

ESI NEWS Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2007

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ESI NEWS Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2007 The Erwin Schrodinger¨ International Boltzmanngasse 9/2 Institute for Mathematical Physics A-1090 Vienna, Austria ESI NEWS Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2007 Walter Thirring and the elected Thirring as its president and took Contents the formal decision to set up a research in- Erwin Schrodinger¨ Walter Thirring and the Erwin Schrodinger¨ stitute under the legal framework of the so- Institute 1 Institute ciety. Following Walter by Jakob Yngvason 1 The Erwin Schrodinger¨ International In August of 1990 Alexander Vinogradov Institute for Mathematical Physics (ESI) Walter Thirring – A Short Biographical Sketch by Wolfgang L. Reiter 2 sent a letter to Peter Michor in Vienna with started its operation in January 1993 under the suggestion to set up a research insti- the presidency and scientific directorship of Walter Thirring’s Arrival in Vienna by Her- bert Pietschmann 5 tute devoted to mathematics and physics Walter Thirring with Peter Michor as ex- in Vienna. Setting up such an institution ecutive director, and was opened officially Walter Thirring and Austria’s accession to CERN by Wolfgang Kummer 6 was seen as a potentially valuable contri- on April 20, 1993, under the auspices of bution at this time of crisis for the Eastern Vice Chancellor and Minister for Science Walter Thirring’s Path into Mathematical Physics by Heide Narnhofer 6 European scientific community: based on and Research, Erhard Busek. the cultural and scientific tradition in Vi- Unmathematical and Mathematical Physics In 1998 Walter Thirring retired as Pres- by Bernhard Baumgartner 8 enna, especially in the field of mathemat- ident of the ESI and became its Honorary ical physics, a new institute based in Vi- Gravitational Matters by Helmuth Urbantke 9 President. This did not in any way dimin- enna could provide a focal point for both ish his immensely valuable contributions: Guidelines for Students of Theoretical Eastern and Western science and an inter- Physics by Walter Thirring 10 even now, at the age of 80, Walter Thirring national platform for research in the field continues to suggest new initiatives and di- Walter Thirring: Probing for Stability by of mathematical physics. Harald A. Posch 11 rections for the Institute and its scientific This initiative was warmly welcomed programme. Almost 50 Years of the Thirring Model by Harald Grosse 12 by Walter Thirring. In a letter to the Minis- ter of Science and Research, Erhard Busek, This special issue of A Crossword Puzzle Without Clues by Peter ESI NEWS devoted to C. Aichelburg 13 dated October 18, 1990, Thirring proposed to establish the ‘Erwin Schrodinger¨ Insti- Walter Thirring on the Doing Physics with Walter by Elliott Lieb 14 tute for Mathematical Physics’ in Vienna. occasion of his 80th My Contacts with Walter Thirring by Angas Thirring’s proposal immediately won the birthday is a small to- Hurst 15 support of eminent scientists all over the ken of our gratitude Birthday Greetings to Walter Thirring by world, and Busek responded favourably in for almost 17 years of Ernest M. Henley 16 December 1990. work, support and ad- ESI News 16 The society (‘Verein’) ‘Internationales vice for the Institute, and for many years of personal friendship and scientific stimula- Current and Future Activities of the ESI 17 Erwin Schrodinger¨ Institut fur¨ Mathema- tion. Thirringfest 18 tische Physik’ was officially founded in April 1992, and on May 27 the consti- Klaus Schmidt, Joachim Schwermer and tutional general assembly of this society Jakob Yngvason Following Walter retical physics at the University of Vienna. of the kinetic and Coulomb energies, com- Walter’s style, both in his profession and paring the result also with the analogous Jakob Yngvason his life in general is so unique that it would calculations for Bosons and also for gravi- be preposterous even to try to imitate it. But tating particles to bring out the differences. My first encounter with his papers, books and lectures continue to He then commented on the justly famous Walter was in 1976. This be a standard of reference for the assess- work of Dyson and Lenard from the year was not a personal meet- ment of any work in mathematical physics 1967 where stability of matter was proved ing though, I was simply and have been a constant stimulus for my for the first time but with an absurdly large 14 in the auditorium of the own work. constant of the order 10 in the lower Winter School in Schlad- Coming back to the Schladming lec- bound to the energy. As Walter remarked, ming where he lectured tures of 1976 I recall how I liked the way the large constant was solely due to the tour on Stability of Matter. Walter presented the case for Stability of de force method of proof that consisted of Little did I know then that 20 years later Matter. He did not jump right into the math- a long sequence of estimates, about 45 in I would be in Vienna as his successor. ematics but explained first the importance all, loosing a factor of 2 on average each Of course, it is not possible to succeed of the question and then started off with the time. If you do this 45 times, Walter ex- 14 Walter except in the trivial sense of a tem- ‘private room’ argument for the electrons plained, then you are close to 10 . After poral order in a list of professors of theo- and did the ‘back of an envelope’ estimate these explanations he proceeded with his 2 Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2007 ESI NEWS and Elliott Lieb’s new and beautiful proof this is one of the differences in style I men- on problems to which these methods can based on Thomas-Fermi theory that goes tioned before. be applied. In disciplines that rely heavily right to the heart of the matter and produces There is one aspect of Walter’s work- on expensive experimental equipment this a reasonable constant. This work is a true ing style that I sometimes wish I could im- strategy may even be perfectly justified for masterpiece of 20th century mathematical itate: his extreme discipline and organiza- a limited amount of time. But in physics the physics and its extensions and refinements tion. I understand that when he had admin- true aim of the game is to understand how continue to be active research topics. istrative duties at the University he man- nature ticks at its fundamental level and for Walter’s textbooks on Mathematical aged them very effectively and kept them in this task the methods have to be chosen to Physics are marvellous works and the time slots well separated from other things. fit the questions attacked. denseness of information and insights they In this way he had plenty of time for the provide is truly remarkable. One reason for things he likes most: doing physics, play- Walter has worked in Quantum Field this is Walter’s awesome skill in distill- ing the organ and composing music. Theory, Elementary Particle Physics, Sta- ing a complicated mathematical argument Characteristic for Walter’s scientific tistical Physics and General Relativity and into a few lines. Sometimes the result has work is the breath of topics he has been in- made seminal contributions to all these the character of ‘spiritus concentratus’ that terested in and worked on. In this respect fields. He is one of the pioneers of mod- must be diluted again to bring it back to he is for me the model case of a mathe- ern mathematical physics, to which I would drinking strength; this is in fact what I have matical physicist. One often distinguishes also count people like Rudolf Haag, Arthur done on several occasion when lecturing to between ‘method oriented’ and ‘problem Wightman, Hans Borchers, Ludwig Fad- students. Such elaborations have pedagog- oriented’ approaches in science and some- deev, Elliott Lieb, Joel Lebowitz and David ical merits but I sometimes wonder if I am times mathematical physics is regarded as Ruelle, among others, who in the 1960’s not depriving the students of the experience being as a discipline solely defined by its realized that there are deep questions in of being exposed directly to the hard stuff. methods. I regard this is a misunderstand- physics that require deep mathematics for Also, Walter’s method takes less time and I ing. In any field there are practitioners their proper understanding and were pre- have never in my courses managed to cover that have acquired some skills in a spe- pared to learn what it takes whenever nec- a comparable amount of material as Wal- cific method and spend most of their pro- essary. Carrying on with this tradition is the ter has apparently done in his courses. But fessional life in searching for and working legacy for Walter’s followers. Walter Thirring – A Short elitist and socially oriented Catholic ‘Neu- now Walter’s turn to close the gap in the landschule’. The adolescent boy was soon family’s chain of physicists. Harald did not Biographical Sketch confronted with a radical change of society return from the Russian battle field. Wolfgang L. Reiter ‘which can be arbitrarily deformed in the Walter had had in mind a quite differ- hands of a demagogue’.2 A few days after ent professional career: he wanted to dedi- the occupation of Austria by Nazi Germany cate his life to music, playing the piano and ‘I never wanted to in March 1938 his father Hans Thirring composing. But the brother’s letter from write an autobiogra- (1888-1976) was dismissed from his aca- the eastern front overruled Walter’s love for phy. How despicable demic post.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • CERN Inaugurates LHC Cyrogenics
    FACES AND PLACES SYMPOSIUM CERN inaugurates LHC cyrogenics Inauguration and ribbon-cutting ceremony of LHC cryogenics by CERN officials: from left, Giorgio Passardi, leader of cryogenics for experiments group; Philippe Lebrun, head of the accelerator Members of the CERN cryogenic groups in front of the Globe of technology department; Giorgio Brianti, founder of the LHC Science and Innovation, where the symposium took place. (Globe project; Lyn Evans, LHC project leader and Laurent Tavian, leader conception T Buchi, Charpente Concept and H Dessimoz, Group H.) of the cryogenics for accelerators group. The beginning of June saw the start of a coils operating at 1.9 K. Besides enhancing Tennessee. Although the commissioning new phase at the LHC project, with the the performance of the niobium-titanium work is far from finished, the cyrogenics inauguration of LHC cryogenics. This was superconductor, this temperature regime groups at CERN felt that after 10 years of marked with a symposium in the Globe makes use of the excellent heat-transfer construction it was now a good time to of Science and Innovation attended by properties of helium in its superfluid state. celebrate, organizing the Symposium for the 178 representatives of the research The design for the LHC cryogenics had to Inauguration of LHC Cryogenics that took institutes involved and industrial partners. incorporate both newly ordered and reused place on 31 May-1 June at CERN's Globe of It also coincided with the stable low- refrigeration plant from LEP operating Science and Innovation. After an inaugural temperature operation of the cryogenic plant at 4.5 K – together with a second stage address by CERN’s director-general, for sector 7–8, the first sector to be cooled operating at 1.9 K – in a system that could Robert Aymar, the programme included down (CERN Courier May 2007 p5).
    [Show full text]
  • Hans Thirring, on the Formal Analogy Between the Basic Electromagnetic Equations and Einstein’S Gravity Equations in first Approximation
    Gen Relativ Gravit (2012) 44:3217–3224 DOI 10.1007/s10714-012-1450-4 GOLDEN OLDIE EDITORIAL Editorial note to: Hans Thirring, On the formal analogy between the basic electromagnetic equations and Einstein’s gravity equations in first approximation Herbert Pfister Published online: 26 October 2012 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Keywords Gravitomagnetism · Frame dragging · Lense–Thirring effect · Experimental relativity · Golden Oldie 1 Technical comments on the Thirring paper The paper contains some inconsistencies and errors, and an undefined quantity, which, however, does not invalidate the final equations for gravitomagnetism. Since in a realistic rotating body (angular velocity ω) there arise centrifugal stresses of order ω2, it is inconsistent to incorporate the velocities v of the field-generating body up to second order but to treat this body as incoherent matter (dust). The same incon- sistency appeared in Thirring’s model of a rotating mass shell [1], which therefore did not correctly solve the Einstein equations (in the shell). For this case the inconsistency was observed and corrected by Lanczos [2]. In the present paper the inconsistency has no severe consequences because the second order terms in v anyhow are quite unimportant. An error in Thirring’s paper appears in the integration volume dV0 which has to be substituted by dV = dV0/(dx4/ds). The same error appeared in Thirring’s paper [1] on the rotating mass shell, was there observed by M. Laue and W. Pauli, and corrected by Thirring in [3]. But, as with the inconsistency with the incoherent The republication of the original paper can be found in this issue following the editorial note and online via doi:10.1007/s10714-012-1451-3.
    [Show full text]
  • AIP Grant to Archives Program 2021 Application Project: Erwin Schroedinger Papers (Indexing & Full Digitization)
    Bibliotheks- und Archivwesen der Universität Wien Österreichische Zentralbibliothek für Physik – Erwin Schrödinger Archiv AIP Grant to archives program 2021 Application Project: Erwin Schroedinger Papers (indexing & full digitization) Project proposal Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 2 Erwin Schroedinger ................................................................................................................................. 2 Schroedinger’s papers at the Zentralbibliothek and their significance for historical research ............... 2 Current situation ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Goals of the project, products to be created and standards to be applied ............................................ 3 Plan of work and cost sharing ................................................................................................................. 4 Addenda Collections to be processed – overview .................................................................................................. 5 Summarizing descriptions of collections to be processed ...................................................................... 5 Budget in USD .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Budget in EUR .........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • ESI NEWS Volume 2, Issue 2, Autumn 2007
    The Erwin Schrodinger¨ International Boltzmanngasse 9/2 Institute for Mathematical Physics A-1090 Vienna, Austria ESI NEWS Volume 2, Issue 2, Autumn 2007 Editorial lation. Klaus Schmidt JULIUS WESS was a key participant Contents in the workshop Interfaces between Math- Editorial 1 ematics and Physics in Vienna in May This summer saw the 1991 which laid the foundation for the Er- Wolfgang Kummer 1935 – 2007 1 deaths of two eminent win Schrodinger¨ Institute, both scientifi- Julius Wess 1934 – 2007 2 physicists who had cally and politically. He helped to impress had close links with on the Minister for Science at that time, Reminiscences of old Friendships 2 the ESI over many Erhard Busek, the desirability and, indeed, In memoriam Julius Wess 3 years and to whom necessity of creating a research institute the ESI remains grate- to provide a meeting place where scien- Entanglement in many-body quan- ful for their friendship tists from Eastern Europe could interact tum physics 4 over many years. with the international scientific community Kazhdan’s Property (T) 8 WOLFGANG KUMMER, Professor for at a period of great political and financial Theoretical Physics at the Vienna Univer- uncertainty in the post-communist world. Perturbative Quantum Field The- sity of Technology (VUT), was a mem- Julius Wess helped the ESI on a second oc- ory 9 ber of the ‘Vorstand’ (Governing Board) casion, when Walter Thirring fell seriously Interaction of Mathematics and of the Erwin Schrodinger¨ Institute from ill in early 1992 and Julius Wess chaired Physics 11 1993 until 2005 and was elected Honorary a second workshop on Interfaces between Member of the Institute when he resigned Mathematics and Physics in March 1992 ESI News 11 from the board in 2005.
    [Show full text]
  • Karl Menger Seymour Kass
    comm-menger.qxp 4/22/98 9:44 AM Page 558 Karl Menger Seymour Kass Karl Menger died on October 5, 1985, in Chicago. dents were Nobel Laureates Richard Kuhn and Except in his native Austria [5], no obituary no- Wolfgang Pauli. He entered the University of Vi- tice seems to have appeared. This note marks ten enna in 1920 to study physics, attending the lec- years since his passing. tures of physicist Hans Thirring. Hans Hahn Menger’s career spanned sixty years, during joined the mathematics faculty in March 1921, which he published 234 papers, 65 of them be- and Menger attended his seminar “News about fore the age of thirty. A partial bibliography ap- the Concept of Curves”. In the first lecture Hahn pears in [15]. His early work in geometry and formulated the problem of making precise the topology secured him an enduring place in math- idea of a curve, which no one had been able to ematics, but his reach extended to logic, set the- articulate, mentioning the unsuccessful attempts ory, differential geometry, calculus of variations, of Cantor, Jordan, and Peano. The topology used graph theory, complex functions, algebra of in the lecture was new to Menger, but he “was functions, economics, philosophy, and peda- completely enthralled and left the lecture room gogy. Characteristic of Menger’s work in geom- in a daze” [10, p. 41]. After a week of complete etry and topology is the reworking of funda- engrossment, he produced a definition of a curve mental concepts from intrinsic points of view and confided it to fellow student Otto Schreier, (curve, dimension, curvature, statistical metric who could find no flaw but alerted Menger to re- spaces, hazy sets).
    [Show full text]
  • Schrodinger Centenary
    At the Conference at London's Imperial College in April marking the centenary of the birth of Erwin Schrodinger — Schrodinger's daughter Ruth Braunizer with Austrian theorist Walter Thirring, who celebrated his 60th birthday this year (see page 29). Schrodinger centenary The centenary of the birth of poly­ math Erwin Schrodinger was marked by a suitably multidiscipli- nary conference in April at Lon­ don's Imperial College, reflecting the impact of the man's work on physics, chemistry, molecular biol­ ogy and the history and philosophy of science. Born in Vienna, Schrodinger had positions at Zurich, Berlin, Graz and Vienna but stayed longest in Dublin. E. T. S. Walton, from Dub­ lin, and the senior of the many Nobel laureates at the meeting (he shared the 1951 award with John Cockcroft) delightedly maintained that the grandfather of particle physics, J. J. Thomson, would have scorned modern theoretical ideas. Undeterred, Abdus Salam sum­ marized today's viewpoint while Steven Weinberg and Alexander Polyakov sketched the possibilities of unified 'string' theories. C. N. Yang drew attention to a 1922 Schrodinger paper (predating the famous ones by several years) containing an embryo form of the path dependent phase factors so useful in modern gauge theory. In a grand finale, Linus Pauling illustrated the impact of the cele­ brated equation on molecular biol­ ogy. Although Schrodinger's fame rests on his equation, he was more an ideas man, claimed Pauling, who like Max Perutz, was never­ theless sceptical of the role of At the Schrodinger centenary meeting, Alexander Polyakov (left) covered ideas in string theory while cosmology benefited from Stephen Hawking.
    [Show full text]
  • Kurt GöDel. Das Album—The Album
    Rurweg 3 synopses of G6del's 1931 incomplete- a few; he also quickly found for him- D-41844 Wegberg ness theorems, the Erkenntnis piece of self a society of like-minded and, judg- Germany 1931 due to G6del himself, and the text ing from the photographs, high-living, e-mail: [email protected] of a lecture delivered in Vienna in 1932 university friends, who, as was cus- by Karl Menger. And although the au- tomary then in Vienna, spent their days thors write in the introduction that the in a series of roving discussions in cafes, Kurt GOdel. Das book is meant as an "easily digestible some of which are pictured. Many of introduction" to G6del's life, work, and these friends were to go on to promi- the Viennese culture in which he lived nent positions in post-war academia: Album-The Album and flourished, it will undoubtedly be Herbert Feigl, for example, a student of Karl Sigmund, John Dawson, and of interest to readers on every level, Moritz Schlick and one of G6del's best Kurt Mfihlberger, with a Foreword by from newcomers to this area of the his- friends, was to become president of the Hans Magnus Enzensberger tory of mathematics to seasoned logi- American Philosophical Association-- cians and mathematicians. but he is seen here as a young man ca- WIESBADEN, VIEWEG, 2006, 225 PP., WITH 200 vorting at the beach with the Schlick PICTURES, (~29,90, ISBN 3-8348-0173-9 G6del's Life family. Other friends from this period "GOdel in a good mood and brilliant as who would later emigrate to the United REVIEWED BY JULIETrE KENNEDY usual ...
    [Show full text]
  • Karl Przibram: Radioactivity, Crystals, and Colors
    Phys. Perspect. 21 (2019) 163–193 Ó 2019 The Author(s) This article is an open access publication 1422-6944/19/030163-31 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-019-00242-z Physics in Perspective Karl Przibram: Radioactivity, Crystals, and Colors Wolfgang L. Reiter* Karl Przibram is one of the pioneers of early solid state physics in the field of the inter- dependence of coloration effects and luminescence in solids (crystals, minerals) induced by radiation. In 1921 Przibram discovered the effect of radio-photoluminescence, the light- stimulated phosphorescence in activated crystals induced by gamma rays. In 1926 Przibram was the first to use the term, Farbzentrum (color center, F-center), and in 1923 he advanced the view of atomic centers as carriers of coloration. Being a pupil of Ludwig Boltzmann and Franz S. Exner, he dedicated his early work to condensation and conductivity phenomena in gases and Brownian motion. Under the influence of Stefan Meyer, he began his lifelong interest in mineralogy, setting up his own research group at the Vienna Radium Institute, which pioneered investigations on thermoluminescence and gave a first description of glow curves. Being of Jewish descent, Przibram had to leave Austria after the Nazis took power; he found shelter in Belgium and returned to Austria in 1946 as professor for experimental physics at the University of Vienna. This paper is a first attempt to give an overview of the cultural and scientific background of Przibram’s life and science in context of the cultural and political developments from 1900 to 1950 in Austria. Key words: Biography; mineral physics; coloration effects and luminescence in solids; Ludwig Boltzmann; Franz S.
    [Show full text]
  • Freeman Dyson
    Freeman Dyson (center) with colleagues PREDRAG CVITANOVIĆ Freeman Dyson remembered by people who knew him: “an unusual visionary” Colleagues reflect on the life and work of the renowned physicist, who died last week. by Edward Witten, Dwight Neuenschwander, Harold Feiveson, Arthur Jaffe, and Elliott Lieb Mar 2, 2020 Freeman Dyson, who died on Feb 28 at the age of 96, was an intellectual giant and well-regarded as a physicist, mathematician and public intellectual—and also as a mentor, grandfather and friend. Technology Review asked a number of his colleagues to reflect on his life and work. These are some of the responses; more will be added in coming days. Edward Witten, Institute for Advanced Study WIKIMEDIA, OJAN Freeman Dyson made fundamental contributions to an incredibly wide variety of fields in physics and mathematics. Among physicists, Dyson is known most of all as one of the pioneers of quantum electrodynamics. In the 1920s, physicists had learned to describe ordinary matter via the strange and often counterintuitive theory known as quantum mechanics. Moreover, it was known that light comes in the form of individual particles, or “quanta,” known as photons. But attempts in those days to understand the quantum mechanics of light interacting with matter led to intractable difficulties. By the late 1940s, when research in fundamental physics resumed after World War II, advances in technology made it possible to do experiments testing the quantum- mechanical interactions of photons and electrons—creating a compelling need to develop a workable theory. Dyson, along with Hans Bethe, Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, and Shinichiro Tomanaga, was one of the pioneers who accomplished this.
    [Show full text]
  • Quantum Mathematical Physics Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg Gmbh
    Quantum Mathematical Physics Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH ONLINE LIBRARY Physics and Astronomy http://www.springer.de/phys/ Walter Thirring Quantum Mathematical Physics Atoms, Molecules and Large Systems Translated by Evans M. Harrell II Second Edition Corrected and Revised Second Printing with Bibliographic Additions With 63 Figures , Springer Walter Thirring Institute for Theoretical Physics University ofVienna Boltzmanngasse 5 1090 Vienna, Austria Title ofthe original German edition: Lehrbuch der Mathematischen Physik Band 3: Quantenmechanik von Atomen und Molekiilen Band 4: Quantenmechanik groBer Systeme © Springer-Verlag Wien 1979 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for. Die Deutsche Bibliothek- CIP-Einheitsaufnahme: Thirring, Walter: Quantum mathematical physics : atoms, molecules and large systems 1 Walter Thirring. Transl. by Evans M. Harrell.- 2.ed.- (Physics and astronomy online library) ISBN 978-3-642-07711-1 ISBN 978-3-662-05008-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-05008-8 Second Edition 2002 Corrected and Revised Second Printing, with Bibliographic Additions, 2003 ISBN 978-3-642-07711-1 This work is subject to copyright. AII rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concemed, specifically the rights oftranslation, reprinting, reu se of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is perrnitted only under the provisions ofthe German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and perrnission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. http://www.springer.de © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002 Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 2002 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 2nd edition 2002 Volume 3 (now Part !) © Springer-Verlag New York, !ne.
    [Show full text]
  • Erwin Schrödinger – 50 Years After
    Erwin Schrödinger, Berlin 1927 (Courtesy of the Österreichische Zentralbibliothek für Physik) Erwin Schrödinger – 50 Years After Wolfgang L. Reiter Jakob Yngvason Editors Editors: Wolfgang L. Reiter Jakob Yngvason Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies Faculty of Physics University of Vienna University of Vienna Spitalgasse 2 Boltzmanngasse 5 1090 Wien 1090 Vienna Austria Austria E-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 01-02, 81-02, 81-03, 81P05, 81P15 ISBN 978-3-03719-121-7 The Swiss National Library lists this publication in The Swiss Book, the Swiss national bibliography, and the detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://www.helveticat.ch. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. For any kind of use permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. © 2013 European Mathematical Society Contact address: European Mathematical Society Publishing House Seminar for Applied Mathematics ETH-Zentrum SEW A27 CH-8092 Zürich Switzerland Phone: +41 (0)44 632 34 36 Email: [email protected] Homepage: www.ems-ph.org Typeset using the authors’ TEX files: I. Zimmermann, Freiburg Cover picture: Erwin Schrödinger and Matter Waves at Rapperswil, ca. 1926 (Courtesy of the Österreichische Zentralbibliothek für Physik) Printing and binding: Beltz Bad Langensalza GmbH, Bad Langensalza, Germany ∞ Printed on acid free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Foreword To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Erwin Schrödinger’s death inVienna the Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics (ESI) invited eminent scholars to meet in the city where Schrödinger was born and were he spent a good part of his life as a student and young scientist.
    [Show full text]
  • Particles, Fields, Quanta from Quantum Mechanics to the Standard Model of Particle Physics Series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics
    springer.com Gerhard Ecker Particles, Fields, Quanta From Quantum Mechanics to the Standard Model of Particle Physics Series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics Presents the exciting development from the beginning of the quantum age to modern particle physics Inspires physics students, pupils, teachers and anyone interested in physics Illuminates the highly topical interplay of theory and experiment Supported with easy-to-use glossary This book provides an introduction to the current state of our knowledge about the structure of matter. Gerhard Ecker describes the development of modern physics from the beginning of the quantum age to the standard model of particle physics, the fundamental theory of interactions of the microcosm. The focus lies on the most important discoveries and developments, e.g. of quantum field theory, gauge theories and the future of particle physics. The author also emphasizes the interplay between theory and experiment, which helps us to explore the 1st ed. 2019, XIV, 144 p. 48 illus., 12 deepest mysteries of nature. "Particles, Fields, Quanta" is written for everyone who enjoys illus. in color. physics. It offers high school graduates and students of physics in the first semesters an encouragement to understand physics more deeply. Teachers and others interested in physics Printed book will find useful insights into the world of particle physics. For advanced students, the book can Softcover serve as a comprehensive preparation for lectures on particle physics and quantum field theory. A brief outline of the mathematical structures, an index of persons with research 49,99 € | £44.99 | $59.99 focuses and a glossary for quick reference of important terms such as gauge theory, spin and [1]53,49 € (D) | 54,99 € (A) | CHF 59,00 symmetry complete the book.
    [Show full text]