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Solvay Conference 1927

byAykutKutucu
qpdb.eu

TheFormulationOfQuantumPhysics

ErnestSolvay(18381922),theBelgianindustrialist,sponsoredthefirstoneofaseriesof
physicistsmeeting,justafewyearsbeforetheWorldWarIstarted.Participationtotheseconferenceswas
onlypossiblewithaninvitationandparticipantswereaskedtofocusonachoosentopic.
Thefirstfivemeetingsheldbetween1911and1927,thedevelopmentof20thcenturyphysicswaswrittenon
thepagesofthehistory.Themeetingheldin1927wasdevotedtoquantumphysicsand9physicistswho
havegreatlycontributedtoquantumtheorywerethere.Andeachof9,weredeemedworthyfortheNobel
Prizeintimefortheircontributions.
Thephotographabove,takenatSolveyConference1927,isanicestartingpointtointroduceyoumajor
physicistswhocontributedthemostmoderntheoryamongalltheotherphysicaltheories.Nextgenerations
willbesurprisedbythegeographicalproximityandthebusytimeschedule,whichbroughtthegiantsof
quantumphysicstogether.
Thereisnoothertimeperiodinsciencehistory,thatsomanythingswereclarified,withsofew
people,insofewtime.

LookatMaxPlanck,sittingnearMarieCurieinthefrontline.Withhiscigarandhat,helooks
tired,devitalizedafteralltheyearshetriedtorefutehisownideasaboutsubstanceandradiation.
Afterafewyears,apatentofficercalledAlbertEinsteingeneralizedPlancksidea.Einstein,sitting
uprightlyinthefrontmid,withhisformaloutfit.Hehammeredawayaboutquantumproblemformorethan
twentyyears,withoutanysparksinhishead,fromthetimehewrotehisfirstarticleat1905,tilltheSolvay
Conference.Hekeptcontributingtothequantumtheoryinthattime,byconfirmingotherscientistsunique
ideas,withamisterioustrust.Tenyearswasalreadypasssedfromhistheoryofrelativity,whichwashis
biggestsuccess.
Einsteinarguedtheweirdresultsofquantumtheorywiththemostrespectedanddetermined
defenderofthetheory,NielsBohr.Hewasgoingtobeassociatedwiththestruggletoreadandunderstand
thetheory.Theprofessor,atthetopofhispower,comfortable,confident,attherightsideofthephotograph.
ThecalmnessofErwinSchrdingertakesourattention,whosrightbehindEinstein,standingwithhis
blazerandbowtie.The2ndand3rdfromhisleftside,WolfgangPauliandWernerHeisenbergonlyat
their20s,andinfrontofthem,PaulDirac,LouisdeBroglie,MaxBornandBohr.
Afteradayfromthisphotowastaken,whenthehistoricalbickeringofEinsteinandBohrwasstilltinglingin
theirheads,theparticipantsgotontheirtrainstoBerlin,Paris,Cambridge,Gttingen,Copenhagen,Wienand
Zurich,carryingtheweirdestseriesofideasofhistorywiththem.Secretly,theyallthought,thatthe
madnesscalledquantumtheorywasonlyastepthroughamorecompleteandwouldbethrownaway,
whenitisdiscovered.
So,howdidquantumtheorycomeup?Whatforced,theseclassicalphysiciststocomeupwith
theideaswhichconflictwiththedoctrinesofclassicalphysics?
Weneedsomeinformationaboutthermodynamicandstatistic,whichhavebigpointinthedevelopmentof
quantumtheory,beforewebegintomentiontheseexperimentalparadoxes.Soournexttopicwillbe
thermodynamic,dontforgettocheckQPDb.

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