Heisenberg's Physics and Philosophy
Edit Page
Report
Scan day: 09 February 2014 UTC
-56
Virus safety - good
Description: History of QM and Copenhagen Interpretation
Heisenberg's Physics and Philosophy , 1958; Chapters 2 (History), 3 (Copenhagen interpretation) and 5 (HPS), reproduced here; : by George Allen and Unwin Edition, 1959. THE origin of quantum theory is connected with a well-known phenomenon, which did not belong to the central parts of atomic physics. Any piece of matter when it is heated starts to glow, gets red hot and white hot at higher temperatures. The colour does not depend much on the surface of the material, and for a black body it depends solely on the temperature. Therefore, the radiation emitted by such a black body at high temperatures is a suitable object for physical research; it is a simple phenomenon that should find a simple explanation in terms of the known laws for radiation and heat. The attempt made at the end of the nineteenth century by Lord Rayleigh and Jeans failed, however, and revealed serious difficulties. It would not be possible to describe these difficulties here in simple terms. It must be sufficient to state that the application of the known laws did not lead to sensible results. When Planck, in 1895, entered this line of research he tried to turn the problem from radiation to the radiating atom. This turning did not remove any of the difficulties inherent in the problem, but it simplified the interpretation of the empirical facts. It was just at this time, during the summer of 1900, that Curlbaum and Rubens in Berlin had made very accurate new measurements of the spectrum of heat radiation. When Planck heard of these results he tried to represent them by simple mathematical formulas which looked plausible from his research on the general connection between heat and radiation. One day Planck and Rubens met for tea in Planck's home and compared Rubens' latest results with a new formula suggested by Planck. The comparison showed a complete agreement. This was the discovery of Planck's law of heat radiation.
Size: 1940 chars
Contact Information
Email: —
Phone&Fax: —
Address: —
Extended: —
WEBSITE Info
| Page title: | Heisenberg's Physics and Philosophy |
| Keywords: | Werner Heisenberg, epistemology, philosophy |
| Description: | Key chapters of Werner Heisenberg's book outlining the philosophical conclusions to which Heisenberg was led, later in his career, as a result of the surprising discoveries of quantum physics and relativity |
| IP-address: | 72.13.82.90 |
WHOIS Info
| NS | Name Server:NS1.CATBULL.COM Name Server:DNS1.WEBARCHITECTS.CO.UK Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: Name Server: |
| WHOIS | Status: ok |
| Date | Creation Date: 1998-07-09T04:00:00Z Expiry Date: 2016-07-08T04:00:00Z |