Traditions and Transformations in the History of Quantum Physics Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge
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Traditions and Transformations in the History of Quantum Physics Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Series Editors Jürgen Renn, Robert Schlögl, Bernard F. Schutz. Edition Open Access Development Team Lindy Divarci, Jörg Kantel, Nina Ruge, Matthias Schemmel, Kai Surendorf. Scientific Board Markus Antonietti, Ian Baldwin, Antonio Becchi, Fabio Bevilacqua, William G. Boltz, Jens Braarvik, Horst Bredekamp, Jed Z. Buchwald, Olivier Darrigol, Thomas Duve, Mike Edmunds, Yehuda Elkana†, Fynn Ole Engler, Robert K. Englund, Mordechai Feingold, Rivka Feldhay, Gideon Freudenthal, Paolo Gal- luzzi, Kostas Gavroglu, Mark Geller, Domenico Giulini, Günther Görz, Gerd Graßhoff, James Hough, Manfred Laubichler, Glenn Most, Klaus Müllen, Pier Daniele Napolitani, Alessandro Nova, Hermann Parzinger, Dan Potts, Sabine Schmidtke, Circe Silva da Silva, Ana Simões, Dieter Stein, Richard Stephenson, Mark Stitt, Noel M. Swerdlow, Liba Taub, Martin Vingron, Scott Walter, Norton Wise, Gerhard Wolf, Rüdiger Wolfrum, Gereon Wolters, Zhang Baichun. Proceedings 5 Edition Open Access 2017 Traditions and Transformations in the History of Quantum Physics HQ–3: Third International Conference on the History of Quantum Physics, Berlin, June 28 – July 2, 2010 Shaul Katzir, Christoph Lehner, Jürgen Renn (eds.) Edition Open Access 2017 Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Proceedings 5 Communicated by: Olivier Darrigol Edited by: Shaul Katzir, Christoph Lehner, Jürgen Renn Editorial Coordination: Nina Ruge Copyedited by: Heidi Henrickson, Oksana Kuruts, Jonathan Ludwig, Marius Schneider Cover image: From Robert W. Wood (1923), Physical Optics, New York: Macmillan ISBN 978-3-945561-22-5 Published 2017 by Edition Open Access, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Reprint of the 2013 edition Printed and distributed by PRO BUSINESS digital printing Deutschland GmbH, Berlin Edition Open Access http://www.edition-open-access.de Published under Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 Germany Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/de/ The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. The Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowl- edge comprises four subseries, Studies, Proceedings, Sources and Textbooks. They present research results and the relevant sources in a new format, combining the advantages of traditional publications and the digital medium. The volumes are available both as printed books and as online open access publications. 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Contents Contributors .. .............................................. 1 Introduction ................................................. 3 From Classical to Quantum Physics 9 1 Theoretical Challenges by Experimental Physics: Radiation and Its Interaction with Matter Shaul Katzir .................................................. 11 1.1 The Nature of X- and 훾-Rays. 14 1.2 Photoelectricity and the Triggering Hypothesis. 16 1.3 Visible Light and X-rays . 20 1.4 Later Theoretical Accounts . 22 1.5 Conclusion . 24 References . 25 2 Challenging the Boundaries between Classical and Quantum Physics: The Case of Optical Dispersion Marta Jordi Taltavull .......................................... 29 2.1 The Classical Theory of Optical Dispersion. 30 2.2 Bohr’s Model of the Atom and the Optical Dispersion of Molecules . 34 2.3 Debye and the First Theory of Optical Dispersion According to Bohr’s Model . 36 2.4 Sommerfeld and Optical Dispersion in 1915 . 37 2.5 Reactions to Debye-Sommerfeld’s Hybrid Theory . 40 2.6 Sommerfeld’s Counterattack . 46 2.7 From the Hybrid Theory to the Light Quantum. 48 2.8 A New Thread of the Story . 51 2.9 Conclusion . 53 Abbreviations and Archives . 54 Acknowledgements . 54 References . 55 viii Contents 3 Putting the Quantum to Work: Otto Sackur’s Pioneering Exploits in the Quantum Theory of Gases Massimiliano Badino and Bretislav Friedrich .................... 61 3.1 Biographical Overview . 63 3.2 The Problem of Chemical Equilibrium . 65 3.3 The Beginnings of the Quantum Theory of Gases . 69 3.4 Sackur’s “Elementary Regions” . 73 3.5 The Generalization of Sackur’s Statistical Theory . 75 3.6 Conclusion . 80 References . 81 Quantum Mechanics in the Making 87 4 The Concepts of Light Atoms and Light Molecules and Their Final Interpretation Dieter Fick and Horst Kant .................................... 89 4.1 First Corpuscular Concepts of Light . 90 4.2 Light Molecules, Static Concepts . 95 4.3 Dynamical Treatments of Light Multiples . 98 4.4 Obituary . 112 Appendix . 115 Abbreviations and Archives . 119 Acknowledgements . 119 References . 120 5 Early Interactions of Quantum Statistics and Quantum Mechanics Daniela Monaldi.............................................. 125 5.1 The Birth of Quantum Statistics . 126 5.2 Heisenberg’s Many-body Problem and Quantum Resonance. 129 5.3 Dirac’s “On the Theory of Quantum Mechanics” . 137 5.4 Conclusion . 144 Abbreviations and Archives . 145 References . 145 6 Pourparlers for Amalgamation: Some Early Sources of Quantum Gravity Research Dean Rickles ................................................. 149 6.1 The Torch of Unification: Mie, Hilbert, Weyl and Haas . 152 6.2 Einstein on the Relationship between Gravity and Quantum . 156 6.3 Quantum Meets Gravity in the Pages of Nature . 159 Contents ix 6.4 On the Way to Quantum Geometry . 172 6.5 Conclusion . 174 Abbreviations and Archives . 175 Acknowledgements . 175 References . 175 Extending the Framework of Quantum Physics 181 7 Superposing Dynamos and Electrons: Electrical Engineering and Quantum Physics in the Case of Nishina Yoshio Kenji Ito ..................................................... 183 7.1 Engineering in Japan . 185 7.2 Nishina Yoshio as an Engineering Student . 187 7.3 The Klein-Nishina Formula . 196 7.4 Superposition of States in the Klein-Nishina Paper . 201 7.5 Conclusion . 205 Acknowledgements . 205 References . 206 8 The Origins of Maria Göppert’s Dissertation on Two-Photon Quantum Transitions at Göttingen’s Institutes of Physics 1920-1933 Barry R. Masters ............................................. 209 8.1 Physics in Germany at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century and the Development of the Institutes of Physics at the University of Göttingen . 210 8.2 Göppert as a University and Doctoral Student . 212 8.3 What Was the Role of Paul Dirac in Göppert’s Dissertation Research? . 215 8.4 Reconstruction of Göppert’s Göttingen Dissertation . 218 8.5 What Was Known and What Did Göppert Contribute in Her Dissertation Research? . 222 8.6 Conclusion . 225 Acknowledgements . 226 References . 227 9 An Act of Creation: The Meitner-Frisch Interpretation of Nuclear Fission Roger H. Stuewer ............................................. 231 9.1 The Birth of the Liquid-Drop Model . ..