Practicing the Correspondence Principle in the Old Quantum Theory: A Transformation Through Implementation

ISBN-13: 9783030133023 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 293 str.

Martin Jähnert

Recenzje

"His writing is also clear, to be sure ... . No doubt this novel interpretation will be carefully scrutinized by experts in the near future, as it clearly involves an interesting new twist on how quantum mechanics arose, in particular a new view of the immediate events that led up to Heisenberg's breakthrough." (David Rowe, NTM, Vol. 29 (3), September, 2021)

"This book provides an original contribution to the study of the history of quantum mechanics. ... The monograph is carefully written and logically organised, it further provides valuable insights based on a rich historical documentation." (Bassano Vacchini, zbMATH 1428.81004, 2020)

Spis treści

1. Introduction

2. The Correspondence Principle in Copenhagen 1913–1923: Origin, Formulation and Consolidation

2.1. Formulating the Problem, Part I: The State-Transition Model and the Relation between Radiation and Motion

2.2. Formulating the Problem, Part II: The State-Transition Model and the Radiation Process in Quantum Theory

2.3. Bohr’s Adaptive (Re-)Formulation: The Emergence of the Correspondence Principle (1916–1918)

2.4. Consolidation and Extension of the Correspondence Principle (1919–1923)

2.5. Conclusion

3. The Correspondence Principle in the Quantum Network 1918–1926

3.1. From Reception to Adaptation: Paraphrases of the Correspondence Principle 1918–1926

3.2. The Dissemination of the Correspondence Principle: Preliminary Considerations

3.3. Conclusion

4. Using the Magic Wand: Sommerfeld, Multiplet Intensities and the Correspondence Principle

4.1. Formulating the Problem: The Gesetzmäßigkeiten of Multiplet Spectra and Their Model Interpretation

4.2. Implementing the Correspondence Principle: Heisenberg’s Model Interpretation and Sommerfeld’s Intensity Rule

4.3. Recognizing Problems: Sommerfeld, Heisenberg and the Total Intensity of Split-up Lines

4.4. Adaptive Reformulation: Sommerfeld, Hönl and the “Theory of Intensities”

4.5. Conclusion

5. Fertilizer on a Sandy Acreage: Franck, Hund and the Ramsauer Effect

5.1. Formulating the Problem: Franck, Hund and the “Argon Effect”

5.2. Implementing the Correspondence Principle: Franck, Hund and the Non-deflection Hypothesis

5.3. Recognizing Problems: Hund and the Estimate of Transparency

5.4. Adaptive Reformulation: Franck, Hund and the Statetransition Model for Scattering

5.5. Conclusion

6. That I Cannot Conceive of After the Results of Your Dissertation: Fritz Reiche and the F-sum Rule

6.1. Formulating the Problem: Ladenburg, Reiche and the Number of Dispersion Electrons

6.2. Implementing the Correspondence Principle: Reiche, Ladenburg and the Determination of Transition Probabilities

6.3. Recognizing Problems: Reiche and the Comparison of Absorption in Classical and Quantum Theory

6.4. Adaptive Reformulation: Reiche, Thomas and the F-sum Rule

6.5. Conclusion

7. Copenhagen Reactions: The Intensity Problem in Copenhagen, 1924–1925

7.1. Defending the Correspondence Principle: The Sum Rules in Copenhagen

7.2. Reformulating the Intensity Problem: The Vanishing At the Edges Argument in Copenhagen

7.3. Pauli, Heisenberg, and Kronig and the Search for a Quantum Kinematics

7.4. The Intensity Problem and Heisenberg’s Umdeutung

7.5. Conclusion

8. Conclusion

8.1. The Correspondence Principle and the Patchwork of Problems

8.2. Transformation through Implementation: The Conceptual Development of the Correspondence Principle

A. Applications of the Correspondence Principle 1918–1928

Archives

Bibliography

Index

O autorze

Martin Jähnert is a historian of science focused on conceptual developments in 19th- and 20th-century physics. As a fellow at the Berlin Center for the History of Knowledge he is currently working on the history of photometry as practiced at lighthouses in the 19th century. He was part of the project History and Foundation of Quantum Physics at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science where he worked on the conceptual development of the old quantum theory, in particular of the correspondence principle and the interpretational debate on quantum mechanics in the 1920s.

Jähnert studied History and Physics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and completed his Ph.D. thesis Practicing the Correspondence Principle in the Old Quantum Theory at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Technische Universität Berlin. Currently he is a post-doc at the Berlin Center for the History Knowledge with the project “Photometry at the Lighthouse”.

Blurb

This book presents a history of the correspondence principle from a new perspective. The author provides a unique exploration of the relation between the practice of theory and conceptual development in physics. In the process, he argues for a new understanding of the history of the old quantum theory and the emergence of quantum mechanics.

The analysis looks at how the correspondence principle was disseminated and how the principle was applied as a research tool during the 1920s. It provides new insights into the interaction between theoretical tools and scientific problems and shows that the use of this theoretical tool changed the tool itself in a process of transformation through implementation. This process, the author claims, was responsible for the conceptual development of the correspondence principle.

This monograph connects to the vast literature in the history of science, which analyzed theoretical practices as based on tacit knowledge, skills, and calculation techniques. It contributes to the historical understanding of quantum physics and the emergence of quantum mechanics. Studying how physicists used a set of tools to solve problems, the author spells out the ‟skillful guessing” that went into the making of quantum theoretical arguments and argues that the integration and implementation of technical resources was a central driving force for the conceptual and theoretical transformation in the old quantum theory.