Wolfgang Pauli's100th Birthday Fact, a First Marriage Failed After Less Than a Year

FEATURES the University ofZurich, Gregor Wentzel, "withthewomen things don't go at all". In Wolfgang Pauli's 100th birthday fact, a first marriage failed after less than a year. It was during this period, however, A personal view by Prof. C. P. Enz, W. Pauli's last assistant that Pauli had the idea of the neutrino as the only way out ofthe problem ofan en ccording to a recent inquiry by of the elements and later was recognized ergy deficit in the beta-decay. - In 1932 A Physics World concerning the ten to be responsible, quite generally, for the Pauli met the famous psychiatrist Carl most important physicists ever, Wolfgang stability ofmatter. But even before that he Gustav Jung in Zurich which resulted in a Pauli does not belong to them. For those had postulated the existence of a nuclear psychoanalysis during three years. Short ofan older generation for whom Pauli was spin in order to explain the hyperfine ly afterwards Pauli remarried, "the conscience ofphysics" this comes as a anomalies in the spectra. Hamburg also this time durably. Jung had surprise. But it shows perhaps that both was the scene of Pauli's discussions with immediatly seen that his exclusion principle and his neutrino Otto Stern. But in spite of this friendship Pauli had frequent idea - which at first were hard to swallow Stern would not let Pauli enter his labora dreams containing a - have since become household words, tory - because of the Pauli effect. For, it wealth ofarchaic ma while his proverbial wit is lost to a genera was said that every time Pauli entered a terial that caught Jung's tion communicating bye-mail. laboratory something went wrong. Pauli keen interest. From this So who was this man? Pauli was born believed in it and was amused. time on Pauli wrote up just 100 years ago on 25 April 1900 in Vi In 1928 Pauli became the successor of his dreams, and a fas- 4 enna. His father WolfPascheles came from Peter Debye at ETH, the Swiss Federal In cinating exchange of a well-known Jewish family in Prague stitute ofTechnology in Zurich. He asked ideas developed between Pauli where he studied medicine with one of for only one condition, namely to have a andJungwhich lasted almost to the endof Ernst Mach's sons and took physics class research assistant. Pauli stayed in this po Pauli's life. es from Mach himself. As a young medical sition to the end ofhis life, and at the same The war years, from 1940 to 1946 Pauli doctorWolf Pascheles settled inVienna in time the assistantship was occupied 12 spent in the United States at the Institute 1893, took the name ofPauli,was baptized times. The first of Pauli's assistants was for Advanced Studyin Princeton. There he Catholic and married in 1899. Mach, who RalfKronig.With him andwithhis exper published the famous spin-statistics theo accepted a chair ofphilosophy at the Uni imental colleague Paul Scherrer, Pauli ex rem which probably constitutes his most versity ofVienna in 1895 accepted to be plored the nightlife ofZurich. The second brilliant paper. Itwas in Princeton that in godfather for Pauli's son Wolfgang. assistant, Felix Bloch, later received the November 1945 the news of his Nobel At age 13 Wolfgang read Mach's famous Nobel Prize. Of the third, Rudolf Peierls Prize for the exclusion principle reached Mechanics that the latter had given him from Berlin, Pauli said :"Peierls, he speaks him. But Pauli went to Stockholm only in with a dedication. At 18, before becoming so fast, when one understands whathe has 1946, on the way back to ETH in Zurich. a student of Arnold Sommerfeld in Mu said he already claims the contrary". Hen Instead there was a great celebration in nich, Pauli published his first paper on drik Casimir, the fourth assistant, later be Princeton where Einstein unexpectedly general relativity. Sommerfeld, who saw came a directorwith Philips at Eindhoven. rose for a toast, in which he designated that this young man could notlearn much When Pauli then heardthat one was going Pauli his spiritual son andsuccessor at the more from him,let Pauli write a review on to Holland he would say: "when you see Insitute for Advanced Study. relativity in the Encyklopadie der Mathe Casimir, call him 'Herr Director', for, that Back in Zurich Pauli's institute became matischen Wissenchaften. This almost vexes him!". His fifth assistant, Victor a world centre of quantum field theory. perfect work published in 1921 (still a Weisskopf had the misfortune to publish Moreover Pauli, influenced byhis dreams, standard reference today) made Pauli fa the result for the self-energy of the elec also devoted much time to the archetypal mous. Pauli's biting wit was already well tronwith thewrong sign, whereupon Pauli backgroundofphysical ideas. This he first known. When in 1922 Paul Ehrenfest mused: "I should have taken Bethe!" For, exemplified with Johannes Kepler, on who had also written an Encyklopadie ar Hans Bethe was an accomplished calcula whom he wrote an important essay, and ticle - met Pauli, he said to him :"Pauli, I tor, buthe worked on the solid statewhich went on to physical notions in general. In like your Encyklopadie article better than displeased Pauli. Apparently, later assis the mid-fifties, again guidedbydreams, he yourself", to which Pauli answered:"How tants came away with milder jugements turned his attention to symmetries and strange, with me it is just the opposite!". until the last, myself, who at the beginning wrote the important paper on the CPT In Copenhagen where Pauli spent the year ignored that organizing tickets for classical theorem This was like a presentiment of 1922/23 at Bohr's institute he became a concerts for Pauli and collaborators was the sensational news in January 1957 of good friend of Bohr's assistant Hans one ofthe assistant's tasks. One day I had parity violation in weak decays. The last Kramers who remarked : "Pauli, your in my mail a card from a bar in down year ofhis life Pauli let himself be carried heart is better than your wit!". town Zurich, on which Pauli complained away bythe"world formula", a non-linear The following six years Pauli spent in that he had missed a concert with Isaac Dirac equation, of his life-long friend Hamburg where three fundamental ideas Stern and which closed "with the hope of Werner Heisenberg who had succeded in were born. First, Pauli introduced the better times". building into it an internal symmetry. But fourth quantum number of the electron There was also a more hidden side to realizing the shortcomings of this ap that later was recognized as the spin. Then, Pauli's personality. At the beginning ofhis proach, Pauli soon withdrew again in dis making use ofthis fourth quantum num professorship at ETH he developed a neu appointment. And after a short struggle ber, he formulated the exculsion principle rosis which manifested itself in the fact with cancer he died in Zurich on 15 De which could explain the periodic system that, as he told his friend and colleague at cember 1958. 12 europhysics news JULY/AUGUST 2000 Article available at http://www.europhysicsnews.org or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn:2000405.

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