The PhysicalSocietyPhysical Society of (JPS){JPS)

ua ee me h, 5BfuMmp ua Address of Congratulation to the 50th Jubilee of the Physical Society of Japan

<:x,n,,e,r',H,,e@ise..;;r.,-.i,n.s:Eyh>Max-Pianck-institutfurphysik Fohringer Ring 6, 80S05 MUnchen, Germany HelMUt ReChenberg

LeipzigInstitutebecame a Last year, the German Physical Society (DPG) cele- Especially Heisenberg's visitors, from Seishi Kikuchi and brated its 150th birthday-to be fair, it was the Berlin Mecca forJapanese to Sin-itiro Tomonaga and Physical Society, which was founded in 1845 and ex- Yoshio Fqjioka(1929-30) Watanabe In these of most panded into the German Physical Society only in Satoshi (1937-39), years in Kyoto and 1899, after the number of out-ofitown members had active exchange it was Hideki Yukawa developed from Heisenberg's idea of nucle- increased immensely. Similarly, this years' celebrant Osaka,who his revolutionary meson theory- looks back to predecessors: the Physico-Mathematical ar exchange forces the way, his results of course before the Society of Japan (founded in 1919), or to the latter's by presenting `[local" Society, When Yukawa visited origin (1884 and 1877, respectively). Physico-Mathematical "old" of not meet Hence, if a member of the DPG congratulates Leipziginsurnmer 1939,he did Heisenberg leave along Tomonaga) his Japanese friends to the jubilee of their Society, the before he had to (taking of outbreak of European age difference is actually not that big. In any case, let Germany because the the "Happy the relations in about me wish you cordially: Birthday!" war, But physics-whether The occasion invites to look back to the relations be- meson or S-matrix theory-were continued also World War II, if necessary by submarines, tween the physicists of both our countries, relations during in that have started early after the Meiji Restoration, After the war, Heisenberg'sMax-Planck-Institute became a of accu- when Germany was selected besides France as the G6ttingen and Munich again place research fe1- country, where Japanese students should learn western mulation of very gifted young Japanese such as Kazuhiko Nishljima, When I entered physics, Well-known scholars were educated there, lows, started with such as -who came in 1893 to the instituteinthe early sixties, friendship Kazuo Yamazaki and followed Berlin, Munich and Vienna (taking courses of Ludwig HiroshiYamarnoto, and seventies, of Boltzmann and Hermann von Helmholtz and working by many ethers in the later sixties Kamefuchi, Michlji in the laboratory of August Kundt)-, Kotaro Honda whom I mention Susumu -who and Seitaro Nakamura, These performed research in Gdttingen (under Konuma, JisukeKubo impression about the high level of Georg Tammann) and Berlin fifteen years later, or guests deepenedthe and research in Japan, Jun Ishiwara-who grew into research on relativity physicseducation post-war from reading the and quantum theories under the guidance of Albert which I had derivedpreviously , Several au- Einstein (Zurich) and (Munich) issuesof Progressof Physi- before World War I. After that war, which separated thors publishing in this important journal of the who haye our understand- the two nations on, different sides, the scientific connec- oal Societyof Japan, payed I met later in tions became reestablished slowly: Einstein visited ing of elementary particlephysics, America and finally Japan, Japan in 1922 and gave lectures (guided by Ishiwara), Europe, Sommerfeld and his students Werner Heisenberg and Let me stop here with the historical reminiscences -which wish the cel- Wolfgang Pauli relied on spectroscopical work of arc becoming too personal-and ebrating celebrated) many further Nagaoka and Toshio Takamine, (and Society great cycles, as lively and successfu1 as the first The gr¢ at successes of the German theoretical physi- fifty-years one. this lead to cists in the twenties then attracted a number of talent- justcompleted May brightfuture exchanges Japanese and ed Japanaes research fe11ows to German universities, new personal between in the notably after Sommerfeld and Heisenberg had paid German physicists paralleling thosc glorious visits to Japan (in 1928 and 1929, respectively). past 110 and more years.

Vol, 51, Ne, 7, 1996 496 U"uaee'\'E"g-';'L;'

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