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THE PHYSICIST's CONCEPTION of NA TURE the Physicist's Conception of Nature

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THE PHYSICIST's CONCEPTION of NA TURE the Physicist's Conception of Nature THE PHYSICIST'S CONCEPTION OF NA TURE The Physicist's Conception of Nature Edited by Jagdish Mehra D. Reidel Publishing Company Dordrecht-Holland / Boston-U. S.A. 1973 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 73-75765 ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2604-8 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-2602-4 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-010-2602-4 Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17, Dordrecht, Holland Sold and distributed in the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Inc. 306 Dartmouth Street, Boston, Mass. 02116, U.S.A. All Rights Reserved Copyright © 1973 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1973 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher Dedicated to PAUL ADRIEN MAURICE DIRAC on the occasion of his seventieth birthday SYMPOSIUM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHYSICIST'S CONCEPTION OF NATURE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Held at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Miramare, Trieste, Italy, 18-25 September 1972 Sponsoring Committee: Co-Chairmen: H. B. G. CASIMIR (Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven), EUGENE P. WIGNER (Princeton University) EDOARDO AMALDI (University of Rome), PIERRE AUGER (Universite de Paris), BRIAN FLOWERS (U.K. Science Research Council, London), RUDOLF E. PEIERLS (University of Oxford), FRANCIS PERRIN (College de France), ISIDOR I. RABI (Columbia University), GUNNAR RANDERS (NATO, Brussels), LEON ROSENFELD (NORDITA, Copenhagen), ABDUS SALAM (Imperial College, London, and International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste) Symposium Director: JAGDISH MEHRA (The University of Texas at Austin) Financial Sponsorship: The Science Committee, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Brussels, Belgium); Minna-James-Heineman Stiftung (Hanover, Germany); Consortia of the City and the Region of Trieste (Trieste, Italy); The Lorentz Foundation (Haarlem, The Netherlands) Contents page Preface XI Contributors xv Opening remarks at the symposium XIX 1 Development of the physicist's conception of nature, by P. A. M. DIRAC 1 Part I Space, Time, and Geometry 2 The universe as a whole, by DENNIS W. SCIAMA 17 3 A chapter in the astrophysicist's view of the universe, by s. CHANDRASEKHAR 34 4 Fundamental constants and their development in time, by P. A. M. DIRAC 45 5 The expanding earth, by PASCUAL JORDAN 60 6 The nature and structure of spacetime, by JVRGEN EHLERS 71 7 Einstein, Hilbert, and the theory of gravitation, by JAGDISH MEHRA 92 8 Theory of gravitation, by ANDRZEJ TRAUTMAN 179 9 From relativity to mutability, by JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER 202 Part II Quantum Theory 10 The wave-particle dilemma, by LEON ROSENFELD 251 11 Development of concepts in the history of quantum theory, by WERNER HEISENBERG 264 12 From matrix mechanics and wave mechanics to unified quantum mechanics, by B. L. V AN DER W AERDEN 276 13 Early years of quantum mechanics: some reminiscences, by PASCUAL JORDAN 294 14 The mathematical structure of elementary quantum mechanics, by JOSEF M. JAUCH 300 15 Relativistic equations in quantum mechanics, by EUGENE P. WIGNER 320 16 The electron: development of the first elementary particle theory, by FRITZ ROHRLICH 331 17 The development of quantum field theory, by RUDOLF E. PEIERLS 370 18 Quantum theory of fields (until 1947), by GREGOR WENTZEL 380 19 Development of quantum electrodynamics, by SIN-ITIRO TOMONAGA 404 20 A report on quantum electrodynamics, by JULIAN SCHWINGER 413 x CONTENTS 21 Progress in renormalization theory since 1949, by ABDUS SALAM 430 22 Some concepts in current elementary particle physics, by CHEN NING YANG 447 23 Crucial experiments on discrete symmetries, by v. L. TELEGDI 454 24 Superconductivity and superfluidity, by H. B. G. CASIMIR 481 Part III Statistical Description of Nature 25 Problems of statistical physics, by GEORGE E. UHLENBECK 501 26 Phase transitions, by MARK KAC 514 27 Approach to thermodynamic equilibrium (and other stationary states), by WILLIS E. LAMB, JR. 527 28 Kinetic approach to non-equilibrium phenomena, by E. G. D. COHEN 548 29 Time, irreversibility and structure, by IL Y A PRIGOG INE 561 30 The origin of biological information, by MANFRED EIGEN 594 Part IV Physical Description, Epistemology, and Philosophy 31 Classical and quantum descriptions, by c. F. VON WEIZSACKER 635 32 Wavefunction and observer in the quantum theory, by LEON N. COOPER 668 33 The problem of measurement in quantum mechanics, by JOSEF M. JAUCH 684 34 Subject and object, by J. S. BELL 687 35 Subject, object, and measurement, by R. HAAG 691 36 Measurement process and the macroscopic level of quantum mechanics, by IL Y A PRIGOGINE 697 37 Why a new approach to found quantum theory?, by G. LUDWIG 702 38 A process conception of nature, by DA VID FINKELSTEIN 709 39 Quantum logic and non-separability, by BERNARD D'ESPAGNAT 714 40 Physics and philosophy, by c. F. VON WEIZSACKER 736 Part V Memorial Lectures 41 Recollections of Lord Rutherford, by P. L. KAPITZA 749 42 W. Pauli's scientific work, by CHARLES P. ENZ 766 43 Remarks on Enrico Fermi, by s. CHANDRASEKHAR 800 Part VI Celebration of P. A. M. Dirac's 70th Birthday 44 The banquet of the symposium - in honour of Paul Dirac, including an address on: The classical mind, by c. P. SNOW 805 Appendix 1 Programme of the symposium 820 Appendix 2 Participants 823 Index of names 830 Preface The fundamental conceptions of twentieth-century physics have profoundly influenced almost every field of modern thought and activity. Quantum Theory, Relativity, and the modern ideas on the Structure of Matter have contributed to a deeper understand­ ing of Nature, and they will probably rank in history among the greatest intellectual achievements of all time. The purpose of our symposium was to review, in historical perspective, the current horizons of the major conceptual structures of the physics of this century. Professors Abdus Salam and Hendrik Casimir, in their remarks at the opening of the symposium, have referred to its origin and planning. Our original plan was to hold a two-week symposium on the different aspects of five principal themes: 1. Space, Time and Geometry (including the structure of the universe and the theory of gravita­ tion),2. Quantum Theory (including the development of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory), 3. Statistical Description of Nature (including the discussion of equilibrium and non-equilibrium phenomena, and the application of these ideas to the evolution of biological structure), 4. The Structure of Matter (including the discus­ sion, in a unified perspective, of atoms, molecules, nuclei, elementary particles, and the physics of condensed matter), and finally, 5. Physical Description and Epistemo­ logy (including the distinction between classical and quantum descriptions, and the epistemological and philosophical problems raised by them). These themes, taken together, might be regarded as constituting almost the whole of modern physics, and as a programme for one symposium it would have seemed to be too ambitious. It was, however, not all that insane. Our intention was not to cover the details of all the problems that come under these themes. Rather we had hoped to discuss the historical development of the principal conceptions, and the current horizons which have arisen from them, which would emphasize the structural and conceptual unity of the body of physical knowledge about Nature. These would be presented by some of their most authentic exponents. The Sponsoring Committee came to the conclusion that the programme, even for a two-week symposium, would be too heavy. They thought that it would be advisable to hold two symposia to cover the intended programme, and that it could be done without damaging the unity of the general theme. They decided that we should deal with four themes in the first symposium, leaving the Structure of Matter to the second. Our financial sponsors also thought that this was a good idea, that based upon the success of the first symposium the second one could be held with confidence a couple of years later. We thus finally adopted the programme which is reproduced in Appendix 1. xu PREFACE With a programme so rich in scientific and historical fare, and with many stars among the lecturers, every occasion at the symposium represented a highlight. Yet, there were several exceptional occasions which many of us will specially cherish. Dirac's evening lecture on the 'Development of the Physicist's Conception of Nature' was such an occasion. In pin-drop silence, all ears attuned to his words, Dirac developed his theme. He talked about classical mechanics and relativity, about quantum mechanics and the quantum theory of fields, and about how the development of physics could be pictured as a rather steady development with many small steps, superposed on which were a number of big jumps, the latter consisting usually of over­ coming prejudices. Dirac wondered about the present state of physical theory and invoked the twin principles of 'beauty and logic' as the guidelines for the developing architecture of physics. He declared his belief that the physicist's conception of Nature has not stopped in growing: it is at an interim state at present and fundamental developments will occur in the future that will change it. As he spoke, his voice feeble but firm, the sentences perfectly formed as only Dirac's sentences can be, his spirit grew and filled the hall. The audience shrank in size if not in numbers. As he finished his talk, one felt the presence of only this frail man who had the strength of character to match his wisdom, a man who, with a few kindred spirits, had created the language of modem theoretical physics, and who now enjoined his audience of distinguished physicists to cast away prejudice and seek a deeper understanding of Nature.
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