Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen

"Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen" (English "Quantum theoretical re-interpretation of kinematic and mechanical relations") was a breakthrough paper in quantum mechanics written by Werner Heisenberg. It appeared in "Zeitschrift für Physik" in September 1925, and laid the groundwork for matrix mechanics, later developed further by Max Born and Pascual Jordan.

Heisenberg worked on the paper while recovering from hay fever on the island of Helgoland, corresponding with Wolfgang Pauli on the subject. When asked for his opinion of the manuscript, Pauli responded favorably, but Heisenberg said he was still "very uncertain about it". In July 1925, he sent the paper to Born to review and decide whether to submit it for publication. [cite book|series=The Historical Development of Quantum Theory|title= The Formulation of Matrix Mechanics and its Modifications 1925-1926 |author= Jagdish Mehra and Helmut Rechenberg|id=ISBN 0387906754|publisher=Springer|year=1982]

In the paper, Heisenberg tried to explain the energy levels of a one-dimensional anharmonic oscillator, avoiding the concrete but unobservable representations of electron orbits by using observable parameters such as transition probabilities for quantum jumps, which necessitated using two indexes corresponding to the initial and final states. [ Emilio Segrè, "From X-Rays to Quarks: Modern Physicists and their Discoveries" (W. H. Freeman and Company, 1980) ISBN 0-7167-1147-8, pp 153 - 157. ] When Born read the paper, he recognized the formulation as one which could be transcribed and extended to the systematic language of matrices. Born, with the help of his assistant and former student Pascual Jordan, began immediately to make the transcription and extension, and they submitted their results for publication; the paper was received for publication just 60 days after Heisenberg’s paper. [ M. Born and P. Jordan, "Zur Quantenmechanik", "Zeitschrift für Physik", 34, 858-888, 1925 (received September 27, 1925). [English translation in: B. L. van der Waerden, editor, "Sources of Quantum Mechanics" (Dover Publications, 1968) ISBN 0-486-61881-1] ] A follow-on paper by all three authors extending the theory to multiple dimensions was submitted for publication before the end of the year. [ M. Born, W. Heisenberg, and P. Jordan, "Zur Quantenmechanik II", "Zeitschrift für Physik", 35, 557-615, 1925 (received November 16, 1925). [English translation in: B. L. van der Waerden, editor, Sources of Quantum Mechanics (Dover Publications, 1968) ISBN 0-486-61881-1] ]

ee also

*History of quantum mechanics
*Mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics
*Matrix mechanics

References

Further reading

*cite journal|title= Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen|journal=Zeitschrift für Physik|author=Werner Heisenberg|volume=33|year=1925|pages= 879–893|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/w22847j178u03029/|doi= 10.1007/BF01328377
*An English translation may be found in cite book|editor=B.L. van der Waerden, trans.|title=Sources of Quantum Mechanics|location=New York|publisher=Dover|year=1968|pages=261-276|id=ISBN 0-486-61881-1

External links

* [http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p07a.htm First page of the paper]
* [http://dbserv.ihep.su/hist/owa/hw.part2?s_c=HEISENBERG+1925 English abstract]