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History 181B:  Modern Physics
Class 24 (3/12/01)
Making quantum mechanics
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Outline The first route to a quantum mechanics

     The (old) quantum theory of atomic structure
          Who, where
          And what
          Troubles of the theory

     Heisenberg's new foundation (1925)
          Eliminating talk of orbits, sticking to observables
          Exploring the relation between classical and quantum
          Strange quantities, noncommutative multiplication

     Matrix mechanics and its implications

And a second route

     The (old) quantum theory of radiation
          Review:  Planck and Einstein, 1900-1905
          The dualism of waves and particles
          Einstein on the light quantum (1910s)
          de Broglie on waves associated with matter (1923)

     Schrödinger's wave mechanics (1926) (next time)

Names and terms 
Primary Secondary
Copenhagen, Munich, Göttingen
Arnold Sommerfeld (1861-1951)
Max Born (1882-1970), NP 1944
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976), NP 1932
Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958), NP 1945
"The quantum-theoretical reinterpretation of kinematic and mechanical relations" (1925)
pq - qp = -i x h-bar
Paul Dirac (1902-1984), NP 1933
Louis de Broglie (1892-1987), NP 1929
electron diffraction
Zeeman effect, Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943), NP 1902
Stark effect, Johannes Stark (1874-1957), NP 1919
simple harmonic oscillator
Compton scattering
standing wave
 
Copyright © Cathryn Carson 2001