The use of combinatorics in which it is known as the old quantum theory goes back to the famous d... more The use of combinatorics in which it is known as the old quantum theory goes back to the famous deduction of Planck, from 1900. But until 1910 combinatorics practically did not play any other role in the development of the quantum theory. Between 1910 and 1914 some contributions appeared with the objective to improve or to clarify that deduction. In this paper we want to emphasize the interest of the investigations that the Viennese physicist P. Enfenfest carried out in this direction, as well as its connection with investigations of his Ukrainian colleague A. Joffe and of I. Krutkow, a Russian disciple of Ehrenfest, at sight of the respective publications, Ehrentest's personal notebooks and his scientific correspondence with Joffe. It forces -in our opinion- to introduce some new nuances in the widespread historiographical studies on the considered period (1910-1914), where the contributions of Debye, Lorentz, Natanson, Ehrenfest and Kamerlingh-Onnes play an outstanding role.
In this paper, we deal with the historical origins of Fermi–Dirac statistics, focusing on the con... more In this paper, we deal with the historical origins of Fermi–Dirac statistics, focusing on the contribution by Enrico Fermi of 1926. We argue that this statistics, as opposed to that of Bose–Einstein, has been somewhat overlooked in the usual accounts of the old quantum theory. Our main objective is to offer a critical analysis of Fermi’s seminal paper and its immediate impact. Secondly, we are also interested in assessing the status of the particle concept in the years 1926–1927, especially regarding the germ of quantum indistinguishability. We will see, for example, that the first applications of the Fermi–Dirac statistics to the study of metals or stellar matter had a technical nature, and that their main instigators barely touched upon interpretative matters. Finally, we will discuss the reflections and remarks made in these respects in two famous events in physics of 1927, the Como conference and the fifth Solvay congress.
Els quatre fisics de Berlin que havien participat al primer congres Solvay, celebrat a Brussel.le... more Els quatre fisics de Berlin que havien participat al primer congres Solvay, celebrat a Brussel.les la tardor de 1911 -Max Planck, Walther Nernst, Heinrich Rubens i Emil Warburg-, van signar, el juny de 1913, un document on recomanaven als seus confrares de l’Academia Prussiana de Ciencies que hi admetessin Albert Einstein, aleshores professor a la Universitat de Praga, com a membre (Proposta d’admissio d’Einstein a l’Academia Prussiana de Ciencies en qualitat de membre, 12 de juny, 1913 (Klein et al., 1993b)). En aquest text, tantes vegades citat, llegim, despres de les linies dedicades a elogiar els seus treballs sobre relativitat, i que clouen manifestant l’escassesa d’aplicacions practiques d’aquest teoria, el seguent “La seva intervencio en altres questions actualment de gran interes s’ha evidenciat molt mes transcendental per a la fisica aplicada. Aixi, sobretot, ell va ser el primer a mostrar la importancia de la hipotesi quantica tambe per a l’energia dels moviments atomics i...
We describe and analyze the details of the first visit of the Viennese physicist Erwin Schroding-... more We describe and analyze the details of the first visit of the Viennese physicist Erwin Schroding-er to Spain, in the summer of 1934. The reason for the trip was the invitation he received from the International University of Santander, a meeting he attended after participating in the XIV Conference of the Spanish Association for the Advancement of Science that took place that same summer in Santiago de Compostela. We will discuss the impact of this visit on the first developments of quantum mechanics in Spain and see the role that personalities such as Xavier Zubiri or Blas Cabrera played in this episode. We will also put this visit in the context of Schrodinger’s personal and academic life, especially as regards the content of his talks. We will see that what he presented in Santiago and Santander should be considered as an advan-ce of his criticism of the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics. We leave for a se-cond installment the trip he made in the spring of 1935, less t...
In this chapter we analyze the two visits that Erwin Schrodinger made to Spain in the years 1934 ... more In this chapter we analyze the two visits that Erwin Schrodinger made to Spain in the years 1934 and 1935. We discuss them in view of the situation of physics in Spain in the 1930's, as well as the professional situation of Schrodinger in those years.
It is widely known that Paul Ehrenfest formulated and applied his adiabatic hypothesis in the ear... more It is widely known that Paul Ehrenfest formulated and applied his adiabatic hypothesis in the early 1910s. Niels Bohr, in his first attempt to construct a quantum theory in 1916, used it for fundamental purposes in a paper which eventually did not reach the press. He decided not to publish it after having received the new results by Sommerfeld in Munich. Two years later, Bohr published "On the quantum theory of line-spectra." There, the adiabatic hypothesis played an important role, although it appeared with another name: the principle of mechanical transformability. In the subsequent variations of his theory, Bohr never suppressed this principle completely. We discuss the role of Ehrenfest's principle in the works of Bohr, paying special attention to its relation to the correspondence principle. We will also consider how Ehrenfest faced Bohr's uses of his more celebrated contribution to quantum theory, as well as his own participation in the spreading of Bohr'...
The use of combinatorics in which it is known as the old quantum theory goes back to the famous d... more The use of combinatorics in which it is known as the old quantum theory goes back to the famous deduction of Planck, from 1900. But until 1910 combinatorics practically did not play any other role in the development of the quantum theory. Between 1910 and 1914 some contributions appeared with the objective to improve or to clarify that deduction. In this paper we want to emphasize the interest of the investigations that the Viennese physicist P. Enfenfest carried out in this direction, as well as its connection with investigations of his Ukrainian colleague A. Joffe and of I. Krutkow, a Russian disciple of Ehrenfest, at sight of the respective publications, Ehrentest's personal notebooks and his scientific correspondence with Joffe. It forces -in our opinion- to introduce some new nuances in the widespread historiographical studies on the considered period (1910-1914), where the contributions of Debye, Lorentz, Natanson, Ehrenfest and Kamerlingh-Onnes play an outstanding role.
In this paper, we deal with the historical origins of Fermi–Dirac statistics, focusing on the con... more In this paper, we deal with the historical origins of Fermi–Dirac statistics, focusing on the contribution by Enrico Fermi of 1926. We argue that this statistics, as opposed to that of Bose–Einstein, has been somewhat overlooked in the usual accounts of the old quantum theory. Our main objective is to offer a critical analysis of Fermi’s seminal paper and its immediate impact. Secondly, we are also interested in assessing the status of the particle concept in the years 1926–1927, especially regarding the germ of quantum indistinguishability. We will see, for example, that the first applications of the Fermi–Dirac statistics to the study of metals or stellar matter had a technical nature, and that their main instigators barely touched upon interpretative matters. Finally, we will discuss the reflections and remarks made in these respects in two famous events in physics of 1927, the Como conference and the fifth Solvay congress.
Els quatre fisics de Berlin que havien participat al primer congres Solvay, celebrat a Brussel.le... more Els quatre fisics de Berlin que havien participat al primer congres Solvay, celebrat a Brussel.les la tardor de 1911 -Max Planck, Walther Nernst, Heinrich Rubens i Emil Warburg-, van signar, el juny de 1913, un document on recomanaven als seus confrares de l’Academia Prussiana de Ciencies que hi admetessin Albert Einstein, aleshores professor a la Universitat de Praga, com a membre (Proposta d’admissio d’Einstein a l’Academia Prussiana de Ciencies en qualitat de membre, 12 de juny, 1913 (Klein et al., 1993b)). En aquest text, tantes vegades citat, llegim, despres de les linies dedicades a elogiar els seus treballs sobre relativitat, i que clouen manifestant l’escassesa d’aplicacions practiques d’aquest teoria, el seguent “La seva intervencio en altres questions actualment de gran interes s’ha evidenciat molt mes transcendental per a la fisica aplicada. Aixi, sobretot, ell va ser el primer a mostrar la importancia de la hipotesi quantica tambe per a l’energia dels moviments atomics i...
We describe and analyze the details of the first visit of the Viennese physicist Erwin Schroding-... more We describe and analyze the details of the first visit of the Viennese physicist Erwin Schroding-er to Spain, in the summer of 1934. The reason for the trip was the invitation he received from the International University of Santander, a meeting he attended after participating in the XIV Conference of the Spanish Association for the Advancement of Science that took place that same summer in Santiago de Compostela. We will discuss the impact of this visit on the first developments of quantum mechanics in Spain and see the role that personalities such as Xavier Zubiri or Blas Cabrera played in this episode. We will also put this visit in the context of Schrodinger’s personal and academic life, especially as regards the content of his talks. We will see that what he presented in Santiago and Santander should be considered as an advan-ce of his criticism of the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics. We leave for a se-cond installment the trip he made in the spring of 1935, less t...
In this chapter we analyze the two visits that Erwin Schrodinger made to Spain in the years 1934 ... more In this chapter we analyze the two visits that Erwin Schrodinger made to Spain in the years 1934 and 1935. We discuss them in view of the situation of physics in Spain in the 1930's, as well as the professional situation of Schrodinger in those years.
It is widely known that Paul Ehrenfest formulated and applied his adiabatic hypothesis in the ear... more It is widely known that Paul Ehrenfest formulated and applied his adiabatic hypothesis in the early 1910s. Niels Bohr, in his first attempt to construct a quantum theory in 1916, used it for fundamental purposes in a paper which eventually did not reach the press. He decided not to publish it after having received the new results by Sommerfeld in Munich. Two years later, Bohr published "On the quantum theory of line-spectra." There, the adiabatic hypothesis played an important role, although it appeared with another name: the principle of mechanical transformability. In the subsequent variations of his theory, Bohr never suppressed this principle completely. We discuss the role of Ehrenfest's principle in the works of Bohr, paying special attention to its relation to the correspondence principle. We will also consider how Ehrenfest faced Bohr's uses of his more celebrated contribution to quantum theory, as well as his own participation in the spreading of Bohr'...
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