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Main articles

The development of attitudes to the wave-particle duality of light and quantum theory, 1900–1920

Pages 59-79 | Received 30 Jun 1979, Published online: 22 Aug 2006

References

  • The main exceptions here are Stuewer Roger H. The Compton effect—turning point in physics New York 1975 and especially Martin J. Klein, ‘Einstein and the wave-particle duality’, Nat. philosopher, 3 (1964), 1–49 and ‘The first phase of the Bohr-Einstein dialogue’. Hist. stud. phys. sci., 2 (1970), (1–39). See also Bruce R. Wheaton, ‘On the nature of X and gamma rays: attitudes toward localisation of energy in the “new radiations”, 1896–1922’ (Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton, in preparation). For discussions bearing less directly on the problem see the studies cited below and the general works: Max Jammer, The conceptual development of quantum mechanics (1966, New York); Armin Hermann, The genesis of quantum theory (1899–1913) (1971, Cambridge, Mass.); Leon Rosenfeld, ‘La premi`ere phase de l'evolution de la théorie des quanta’, Osiris, 2 (1936), 149–196; and Thomas S. Kuhn, Black-body theory and the quantum discontinuity (1978, London).
  • For the background to Planck's law see Hiebert Erwin N. The concept of thermodynamics in the scientific thought of Mach and Planck Ernst-Mach-Institut Freiburg 1968 Stephen Brush, ‘The development of the kinetic theory of gases VIII—randomness and irreversibility’, Arch. hist. ex. sci., 12 (1972), 1–88 (also ch. 14 of his The kind of motion we call heat (1976, Amsterdam)); and Hans Kangro, The early history of Planck's radiation law (1976, London). For its reception see Kuhn (footnote 1) and Elizabeth Garber, ‘Some reactions to Planck's law, 1900–1914’, Stud. hist. phil. sci., 7 (1976), 89–126. My account of the origins and derivation of Planck's law draws heavily on Martin J. Klein, ‘The beginnings of quantum theory’, in C. Weiner (ed.), History of twentieth century physics (1977, New York). I have, however, departed from the tone and emphasis of this account in some respects.
  • See Kangro Klein Brush Hiebert The concept of thermodynamics in the scientific thought of Mach and Planck Ernst-Mach-Institut Freiburg 1968 Neither Kangro nor Klein seem to do justice to the extraordinary naivety of Planck's arguments against Boltzmann, which must have taxed the latter's patience to the utmost.
  • Planck , M. 1900 . Über eine Verbesserung der Wienschen Spektralgleichung . Verhandl. Deut. Phys. Ges. , 2 : 202 – 204 .
  • This story has been well told by Klein The beginnings of quantum theory History of twentieth century physics Weiner C. New York 1977 7ff 7ff who does not however emphasize the point that the experimenters, Rubens and Kurlbaum, originally fitted their results to the formula of Lummer and Jahnke (see Klein, p. 9). This was one important reason why Planck should have felt that ‘a theoretical derivation [of his law] had to be found at any cost, no matter how high’, when he had not previously felt this to be necessary for the then experimentally established law of Wien. Planck's ‘derivation’ was really little more than a statement of the entropy formula corresponding to the result required. This may have been an achievement in Planck's entropy-oriented eyes—though even this is doubtful, in the light of his attitude to his own law—but it can hardly be seen objectively as such. So far as Planck's ignoring the equipartition law is concerned, the only explanation offered has been by Hermann (footnote 1), who suggests that he might not have known of it. It was however very well known, and must have been so to Planck who, as Hiebert (footnote 3) has shown, was thoroughly familiar with the writings of Maxwell and Boltzmann, on whose statistical mechanics the law was founded. Since it would have been introduced at the very point at which Planck had to abandon his derivation and resort to the mere statement of the result required, one can only deduce that he must have consciously rejected it; but why then did he not profit from the situation at Boltzmann's expense by pointing out that it led to an impossible result, to infinite radiation? The answer to this seems to lie in the fact that Planck had already recognised that his own theory, with its hypothesis of natural radiation, would itself be subject to any criticism of this kind that he might make against Boltzmann. See below, and, for the development of this aspect of Planck's thought, Hiebert and Brush (footnote 3).
  • Planck apparently did not know of Rayleigh's law—more strictly, with the correct constant factor, the Rayleigh-Jeans law—at this stage: see Klein The beginnings of quantum theory History of twentieth century physics Weiner C. New York 1977
  • See references in Hiebert Erwin N. The concept of thermodynamics in the scientific thought of Mach and Planck Ernst-Mach-Institut Freiburg 1968
  • This attitude is explicit in Planck's paper Zur Theorie des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspektrum Ann. d. Phys. 1901 4 553 563
  • Rosenfeld . 1936 . La premi`ere phase de l'evolution de la théorie des quanta . Osiris , 2 : 149 – 196 . and Klein (footnote 3) consider it probable that Planck reached this formula by working backwards; but Planck did show an awareness that it applied to identical energy elements, and this suggests that he may have taken it from a text on mathematical probability theory, perhaps trying several and selecting the one (for the distribution of identical balls over distinguishable urns) that gave the required answer: the reverse derivation, involving the reverse application of Stirling's formula; is not easy.
  • See Garber Some reactions to Planck's law, 1900–1914 Stud. hist. phil. sci. 1976 7 89 126 and Kuhn (footnote 1).
  • Larmor J. Rep. Brit. Assn. Adv. Sci. 1902 546 546 in See also his article ‘Radiation’, Enc. Brit., (10th ed., 1902) vol. 32, 120–128, where Planck's law is discussed but its implications are not.
  • Lorentz , H.A. 1903 . On the emission and absorption by metals of rays of heat of great wavelengths . Proc. Acad. Sci. Amst. , 5 : 666 – 685 . Lorentz found it ‘certainly a most remarkable conclusion’ that the laws should agree in the low frequency limit when the one started from the hypothesis of continuous energy and the other from that of discrete energy. That a physicist of Lorentz's calibre should have failed to see clearly the identification of the low frequency and h → 0 limits is surprising.
  • Strutt , J.W. 1905 . The dynamical theory of gases . Nature , 71 : 559 – 559 . 72 (1905), 54–55. Rayleigh was responding to Jeans's suggestion that the reduction of specific heats below those classically predicted for low temperatures might be due to dissipation in the aether: one would have, argued Rayleigh, to take into account then the infinite degrees of freedom of the aether.
  • Jeans , J.H. 1905 . On the laws of radiation . Proc. Roy. Soc. London , 76 ( A ) : 545 – 552 . ‘On the partition of energy between matter and aether’, Phil. mag., (6) 10 (1905), 91–98; and ‘A comparison between two theories of radiation’, Nature, 72 (1905), 293–294.
  • Einstein , A. 1905 . Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt . Ann. d. Phys. , 17 : 132 – 148 . For the origins and context of Einstein's work see Klein (footnote 3), and especially Russell McCormmach, ‘Einstein, Lorentz, and the electron theory’, Hist. stud. phys. sci., 2 (1970), 41–87, who gives an excellent and stimulating account.
  • Einstein , A. 1907 . Die Plancksche Theorie der Strahlung und die Theorie der spezifischen Wärme . Ann. d. Phys. , 22 : 180 – 190 . See the excellent account in Klein (footnote 3). The importance of Einstein's work in attracting Nernst's attention and thus indirectly leading to the Solvay Congress of 1911 is well known, but I can find no indication of the Einstein-Nernst theory have made any direct impact on the wave-particle issue, or even of it having influenced Nernst in this respect. It must be remembered that, while it was a clear improvement on the classical theory, it still did not give the form required: only when Einstein extended the quantum statistics to matter in 1924 was a fully satisfactory theory obtained. On the latter development see Paul A. Hanle, ‘The coming of age of Erwin Schrödinger: his quantum statistics of ideal gases’, Arch. hist. ex. sci., 17 (1977), 165–192.
  • U=average resonator energy Einstein A. Zur Theorie der Lichterzeugung und Lichtabsorption Ann. d. Phys. 1906 20 199 206
  • Jeans . 1905 . On the laws of radiation . Proc. Roy. Soc. London , 76 A : 545 – 552 . Nature). We may note that Jeans was young and imaginative, and that his work to date had been in kinetic theory and in some ways unorthodox: see the review of his The dynamical theory of gases (1904, Cambridge) in Nature, 73 (1905), 601–603. Of all physicists he was one of the most likely to accept the new ideas; yet he did not even consider the possibility that the classical theory might be wrong, so powerful and well-established was that theory.
  • Planck , M. 1906 . Vorlesungen über die Theorie der Wärmestrahlung Leipzig
  • de Broglie , L. 1921 . Sur la dégradation du quantum dans les transformations successives des radiations de haute fréquence . C.r. Acad. Sci. , 173 : 1160 – 1162 .
  • Lenard , P. 1902 . Über die lichtelektrische Wirkung . Ann. d. Phys. , 8 : 149 – 198 . Compare Bruce R. Wheaton, ‘Philip Lenard and the photoelectric effect, 1889–1911’, Hist. stud. phys. sci., 9 (1978), 299–322.
  • Perhaps the best account of the history of the photoelectric effect is still that of Millikan The electron Chicago 1924
  • Ladenburg , E. 1907 . Über Anfangsgeschwindigkeit und Menge der photoelektrischen Elektronen in ihrem Zusammenhänge mit der Wellenlänge des auslösenden Lichtes . Verhandl. Deut. Phys. Ges. , 9 : 504 – 514 . A. Joffé, ‘Eine Bemerkung zu der Arbeit von E. Ladenburg’, Ann. d. Phys., 24 (1907), 939–940.
  • Lenard . 1902 . Über die lichtelektrische Wirkung . Ann. d. Phys. , 8 : 149 – 198 . Compare Ladenburg (footnote 29); his ‘Die neueren Forschungen über die durch Licht-und Röntgenstrahlen hervorgerufene Emission negativer Elektronen’, Jahr. Rad. Elek., 6 (1909), 425–484; W. Wien. ‘Über die absolute. von positiven Ionen ausgestrahlte Energie und die Entropie der Spektrallinien’, Ann. d. Phys., 22 (1907), 180–190; and his ‘Über eine Berechnungder Wellenlänge der Röntgenstrahlen aus dem Planckschen Energie-Element’, Göttingen Nachr., (1907), 598–610. See Wheaton (footnote 27), 318–322.
  • Bragg , W.H. 1907 . On the properties and natures of various electrical radiations . Phil. mag. , 14 ( 6 ) : 195 – 214 . See Roger H. Stuewer, ‘William H. Bragg's corpuscular theory of X-rays and gammarays’, Brit. j. hist. sci., 5 (1971), 158–181; and, for a general account of the X-ray evidence, Stuewer (footnote 1). A material theory of light was put forward by Callendar in 1912, Rep. Brit. Assn. Adv. Sci., (1912), 387–399, and later by L. de Broglie (footnote 109).
  • Thomson , J.J. 1904 . Electricity and matter New Haven (the Silliman lectures of 1903); and his ‘The ionisation of gases by ultraviolet light and the evidence as to the structure of light afforded by its electrical effects’, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 14 (1907), 417–424. See Russell McCormmach, ‘J. J. Thomson and the structure of light’, Brit. j. hist. sci., 3 (1967), 362–387.
  • Faraday-tubes were three dimensional versions of Faraday's lines of electric force, and had been used as a model by Thomson since 1893, Notes on recent researches in electricity and magnetism London 1893 They became the subject of a considerable body of research in Britain in the 1920s, featuring in Whittaker's atomic model and appearing, quantised and in four dimensions, as his calamoids (see H. S. Allen, The quantum and its interpretation (1928, London)). The fundamentally wave nature of light was stressed by Thomson throughout.
  • Thomson . 1907 . Electricity and matter New Haven and A. L. Hughes, Photoelectricity (1914, Cambridge), 7–26. The trigger hypothesis was not always considered applicable to the X-ray ionisation problem (Wheaton (footnote 27), 321), but this did not affect the general presumption of some, unspecified, atomic model.
  • Both his model and his method were adapted from Faraday, who described the latter particularly clearly in the context of the physical nature of the lines of magnetic force Experimental researches 3 507 507
  • See McCormmach Einstein, Lorentz, and the electron theory Hist stud. phys. sci. 1970 2 41 87
  • Einstein , A. 1909 . Zum gegenwärtigen Stand des Strahlungsproblems . Phys. Zeit. , 10 : 185 – 193 . The energy fluctuations, for example, were given by an expression where the first term, and only the first term, could be derived from the classical theory, the second, and only the second, from a particle theory:
  • Einstein , A. 1909 . Über die Entwicklung unsere Anschauungen über das Wesen und die Konstitution der Strahlung . Phys. Zeit. , 10 : 817 – 825 . followed by discussion on 825–826. For a good treatment of Einstein's work here see Klein (footnote 1).
  • Einstein , A. 1909 . Über die Entwicklung unsere Anschauungen über das Wesen und die Konstitution der Strahlung . Phys. Zeit. , 10 : 825 – 825 . See also the responses of Wien and Langevin to Einstein's presentation of his arguments at the 1911 Solvay Congress (P. Langevin and M. de Broglie (eds.), La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta (1912, Paris), 446).
  • Einstein , A. 1905 . Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig? . Ann. d. Phys. , 18 : 639 – 641 . The criterion of simplicity seems to have dominated in Einstein's thought.
  • Hendry John An investigation of the mathematical formulation of quantum theory and its physical interpretation 1900–1927 London1978 Ph.D. thesis chapter 1.
  • Einstein . 1909 . Über die Entwicklung unsere Anschauungen über das Wesen und die Konstitution der Strahlung . Phys. Zeit. , 10 : 826 – 826 . see also Einstein to Lorentz, 23 May 1909, discussed in Stuewer (footnote 1), 49.
  • Kunz , J. 1909 . On the photoelectric effect of sodium potassium alloy and its bearing on the structure of the ether . Phys. rev. , 29 : 212 – 228 . Kunz in fact adopted Thomson's, not Einstein's, theory.
  • Hughes , A.L. 1912 . On the emission velocities of photoelectrons . Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London , 212 : 205 – 226 .
  • Millikan , R.A. 1913 . Atomic theories of radiation . Science , 37 : 119 – 133 . O. W. Richardson and K. T. Compton, ‘The photoelectric effect’, Phil. mag., (6) 24 (1912), 573–594.
  • Kunz , J. 1911 . On the positive potential of metals in the photoelectric effect and the determination of the wave-length equivalent of Röntgen rays . Phys. rev. , 33 : 208 – 214 .
  • Cornelius , D.W. 1913 . The velocity of electrons in the photoelectric effect as a function of the wavelengths of light . Phys. rev. , 1 : 16 – 34 .
  • Pohl , R. and Pringsheim , P. 1913 . On the long-wave limits of the normal photoelectric effect . Phil. mag. , 26 ( 6 ) : 1017 – 1024 .
  • Hughes , A.L. 1913 . On the velocities with which photoelectrons are emitted from matter . Phil. mag. , 25 ( 6 ) : 683 – 686 . on the same theme see also T. C. Sutton, ‘Photoelectric content and atomic heat’, Phil. mag., (6) 29 (1915), 734–736. Hughes (footnote 44) had used only three frequencies. He fixed a curve through two of them, and found that the third (itself extremely vague due to experimental problems) fitted Einstein's formula slightly better than that of Ladenburg.
  • Sutton . 1915 . Photoelectric content and atomic heat . Phil. mag. , 29 ( 6 ) : 734 – 736 . reviewed the results quantitatively. Other useful reviews of the literature of the period are Hughes (footnote 34); R. A. Millikan, The electron (1917, Chicago); O. W. Richardson and K. T. Compton, ‘The photoelectric effect II’, Phil. mag., (6) 26 (1913), 549–567; and W. Hallwachs, ‘Die Lichtelektrizität’, Handbuch der Radiologie, vol. 3 (1916), 537–559.
  • Richardson and Compton . 1912 . The photoelectric effect . Phil. mag. , 24 ( 6 ) : 573 – 594 . and see Stuewer (footnote 1), 60–67. Wien's law was used as an approximation to Planck's law, Richardson relying on Planck's assertion that this could be reconciled with the wave theory.
  • Millikan . 1913 . Atomic theories of radiation . Science , 37 : 132 – 132 .
  • Hughes . 1914 . Photoelectricity 47 – 48 . Cambridge
  • Campbell , N.R. 1913 . Modern electrical theory 249 – 249 . Cambridge
  • For example, the theories of Thomson J.J. On the theory of radiation Phil. mag. 1910 20 6 238 247 and ‘On the structure of the atom’, ibid., 26 (1913), 792–799. These were easily shown to be unworkable by Jeans, however (Phil. mag., (6) 20 (1910), 380–382 and 27 (1914), 14–22).
  • Einstein , A. Rapport sur l'état actuel du probl`eme des chaleurs spécifiques 407 – 435 . of Langevin and de Broglie (footnote 39): see pp. 429, 436.
  • Marx , E. and Lichteneker , K. 1913 . Experimentelle Untersuchung des Einflusses der Unterteilung der Belichtungszeit auf die Elektronenabgabe in Elster und Geteilschen Kaliumhydrürzellen bei sehr schwacher Lichtenergie . Ann. d. Phys. , 41 : 124 – 160 . They varied the exposure to a source of weak light between 4·4.10-3 and 1·5.10-7 seconds, and found no change in the number of electrons emitted. The impact of these experiments is not clear, but they seem to have encouraged Sommerfeld to give up his attempts at a classical theory.
  • Stark , J. 1909 . Über Röntgenstrahlen und die atomische Konstitution der Strahlung . Phys. Zeit. , 10 : 579 – 586 . his ‘Zur experimentellen Entscheidung zwischen Ätherwellen und Lichtquantenhypothese, I Röntgenstrahlung’, Phys. Zeit., 10 (1909), 902–913; and see also Phys. Zeit., 8 (1907), 881–884 and 10 (1909). 614–623. See Stuewer (footnote 1), 28–37.
  • Friedrich , W. , Knipping , P. and Laue , M. 1912 . Interferenzerscheinungen bei Röntgenstrahlen . Ann. d. Phys. , 41 : 971 – 988 . Compare Paul Forman, ‘The discovery of the refraction of X-rays by crystal: a critique of the myth’, with a response by P. Ewald, Arch. hist. ex. sci., 6 (1969), 38–71.
  • See Hermann Armin Die frühe Diskussion zwischen Stark und Sommerfeld über die Quantenhypothese (1) Centaurus 1968 12 38 59
  • Larmor , J. 1909 . The statistical and thermodynamical relations of radiant heat . Proc. Roy. Soc. , 83 : 82 – 95 . A
  • Jeans , J.H. 1910 . Non-Newtonian mechanical systems and Planck's theory of radiation . Phil. mag. , 20 ( 6 ) : 943 – 954 . see also his ‘Temperature radiation and the partition of energy in continuous media’, Phil. mag., (6) 17 (1909), 229–254.
  • Jeans . 1910 . Non-Newtonian mechanical systems and Planck's theory of radiation . Phil. mag. , 20 ( 6 ) : 944 – 944 .
  • Jeans . 1910 . Non-Newtonian mechanical systems and Planck's theory of radiation . Phil. mag. , 20 ( 6 ) : 945 – 945 . His assumption was universally accepted at the time, but it has been challenged in recent years by jaynes and the supporters of a neo-classical radiation theory. It can only be taken as an approximation.
  • Jeans . 1910 . Non-Newtonian mechanical systems and Planck's theory of radiation . Phil. mag. , 20 ( 6 ) : 953 – 953 .
  • Jeans . 1910 . Non-Newtonian mechanical systems and Planck's theory of radiation . Phil. mag. , 20 ( 6 ) : 953 – 953 .
  • Ehrenfest , P. 1911 . Welche Züge der Lichtquantenhypothese spielen in der Theorie der Wärmestrahlung eine wesentliche Rolle? . Ann. d. Phys. , 36 : 91 – 118 .
  • Langevin and de Broglie . 1912 . La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta 453 – 453 . Paris
  • Poincaré , H. 1912 . Sur la théorie des quanta . J. physique , 2 : 1 – 34 . and C. r. Acad. Sci., 153 (1912), 1103–1108.
  • Langevin and de Broglie . 1912 . La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta 451 – 451 . Paris We should note that Poincaré treated the wave-particle inconsistency as being equivalent to a logical inconsistency, which points up the degree to which structural consistency was seen as an essential feature of physical description.
  • Poincaré H. L'hypoth`ese des quanta Derni`eres pensées Paris1913 in his For a discussion of Poincaré's work see Russell McCormmach, ‘Henri Poincaré and the quantum theory’, Isis, 58 (1967), 37–55.
  • Taylor , G.I. 1910 . Interference fringes with feeble light . Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. , 15 : 114 – 115 . Despite these results, some physicists later suggested models according to which the classical wave theory held only statistically for large numbers of quanta, without realisting that a guiding wave of some sort would still be needed to direct isolated light-quanta (see Hendry (footnote 41), chapter 2). Perhaps the classical theory was so firmly established at the time that Taylor's results were not seen as necessary for its confirmation. Thomson also prompted Campbell to conduct a ‘crucial’ experiment, but this was not decisive: N. R. Campbell, ‘Discontinuities in light emission’, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 15 (1910), 310–328.
  • See, for example Gibson G.E. Bemerkung zum Planckschen Wirkungsquantum Verhandl. Deut. Phy. Ges. 1912 14 104 112 and C. Benedicks, ‘Deduction de la loi de Planck de la distribution de l'énergie par l'hypoth`ese d'agglomération’, C. r. Acad. Sci., 156 (1913), 1526–1529.
  • Planck M. Rapport sur la loi du rayonnement noir et l'hypoth`ese des quantités élémentaires d'action La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta Langevin de Broglie paris1912 93 114 in (p. 110). See also his ‘Eine neue Strahlungshypothese’, Verhandl. Deut. Phys. Ges., 13 (1911), 138–148.
  • Langevin and de Broglie , eds. 1912 . La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta 99 – 99 . paris
  • Langevin and de Broglie , eds. 1912 . La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta 118 – 118 . paris
  • Planck , M. 1912 . Über die Begründung des Gesetzes der Schwarzen Strahlung . Ann. d. Phys. , 37 : 642 – 656 .
  • Sommerfeld , A. 1909 . Über die Verteilung der Intensität bei der Emission von Röntgenstrahlung . Phys. Zeit. , 10 : 969 – 986 .
  • Sommerfeld A. Rapport sur l'application de la théorie de l'élément d'action aux phénom`enes moleculaires non périodiques La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta Langevin de Broglie paris1912 313 372 in Compare his ‘Das Plancksche Wirkungsquantum und seine allgemeine Bedeutung für die Molekularphysik’, Phys. Zeit., 12 (1911), 1057–1069). Sommerfeld accepted the heuristic value of the light-quantum hypothesis, but argued that it lacked the absolute nature of his own action law, and that action was a relativistic invariant while energy was not. He also found the hypothesis to be too opposed to the classical theory. His own theory was criticised, especially by Einstein, on the grounds that it gave no concrete results at all, and Sommerfeld acknowledged that it was still limited in range of applicability.
  • Sommerfeld , A. and Debye , P. 1913 . Theorie des lichtelektrischen Effektes vom Standpunkt des Wirkungsquantums . Ann. d. Phys. , 41 : 873 – 930 .
  • Debye , P. 1910 . Der Wahrscheinlichkeitsbergriff in der Theorie der Strahlung . Ann. d. Phys. , 33 : 1427 – 1434 .
  • Natanson , L. 1911 . Über die statistische Theorie der Strahlung . Phys. Zeit. , 12 : 659 – 666 .
  • Ehrenfest . 1911 . Welche Züge der Lichtquantenhypothese spielen in der Theorie der Wärmestrahlung eine wesentliche Rolle? . Ann. d. Phys. , 36 : 113 – 113 .
  • Ehrenfest . 1911 . Welche Züge der Lichtquantenhypothese spielen in der Theorie der Wärmestrahlung eine wesentliche Rolle? . Ann. d. Phys. , 36 : 113 – 113 .
  • Klein in his excellent book on Ehrenfest gives this work relatively little attention: Klein M. Paul Ehrenfest vol. 1—the making of a theoretical physicist London 1970 See also his ‘Ehrenfest's contribution to the development of quantum statistics’, Konikl. Ned. Akad. Wetenschappen, 62 B (1959), 41–62.
  • Reported in Nature 1912 90 423 423
  • Bohr , N. 1913 . On the constitution of atoms and molecules . Phil. mag. , 26 ( 6 ) : 1 – 25 . 476–502, 857–875
  • 1913 . Rep. Brit. Assn. Adv. Sci. 381 – 381 .
  • 1913 . Rep. Brit. Assn. Adv. Sci. 378 – 378 .
  • 1913 . Rep. Brit. Assn. Adv. Sci. 378 – 378 . The discussion of Poincaré's work is on pp. 376–377.
  • Jeans , J.H. 1914 . Report on radiation and the quantum theory London
  • Jeans , J.H. 1914 . Report on radiation and the quantum theory 89 – 89 . London
  • Bragg , W.H. 1912 . X-rays and crystals . Nature , 90 : 360 – 361 . W. H. and W. L. Bragg. ‘The reflection of X-rays by crystals’, Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 88 A (1913), 428–438.
  • Campbell . 1913 . Modern electrical theory 249 – 249 . Cambridge
  • Campbell . 1913 . Modern electrical theory 253 – 253 . Cambridge
  • Campbell Modern electrical theory Cambridge1913 303 303 suggested that ‘it almost seems as if the energy itself is transferred by the corpuscles, while the power of absorbing energy and making it perceptible to experience is transferred by spherical waves’. This suggestion may be seen as linking Newton's theory of light with de Broglie's (I. Newton, Opticks (1704, London), Bk. 2, pt. 3, prop. 12; and L. de Broglie, ‘A tentative theory of light quanta’, Phil. mag., (6) 47 (1924), 446–458 (p. 452)).
  • Planck , M. 1914 . Eine veränderete Formulierung der Quantenhypothese . Sitz. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. , : 918 – 923 . The idea had already been suggested and dismissed by E. Bauer, ‘Sur le théorie du rayonnement’, C. r. Acad. Sci., 153 (1911), 1466–1469, and it was shown to be unworkable by A. D. Fokker, ‘Die mittlere Energie rotierender elektrischer Dipole im Strahlungsfeld’, Ann. d. Phys., 43 (1914), 810–820.
  • See, for example Millikan The electron Chicago 1917 G. W. Walker, ‘A suggestion as to the origin of black-body radiation’, Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 89 A (1914), 393–398; W. Duane, ‘Planck's radiation formula deduced from hypotheses suggested by X-ray phenomena’, Phys. rev., 7 (1916), 143–147; J. B. Green, ‘A method of deriving Planck's law of radiation’, iPhil. mag., (6) 32 (1916), 229–232; C. G. Barkla, ‘On the X-rays and the theory of radiation’, Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 92 A (1916), 501–504; M. B. Weinstein, ‘Zur Strahlungstheorie’, Ann. d. Phys., 49 (1916), 363–372; T. Wereide, ‘Die statistische-mechanische Grundlagen der allgemein Quantentheorie’, Phys. Zeit., 17 (1916), 104–106 and Ann. d. Phys., 49 (1916), 966–975; his ‘Das Energieaustausch zwischen Materie und Äther’, ibid., 977–1000; G. A. Schott, ‘On Bohr's hypothesis of stationary states of motion and the radiation from an accelerated electron’, Phil. mag., (6) 36 (1918), 243–261; F. R. v. Bichowsky, ‘The necessary physical assumptions underlying a proof of Planck's radiation law’, Phys. rev., 11 (1918), 58–65; L. Flamm, ‘Zur gegenwärtigen Stand der Quantentheorie’, Phys. Zeit., 19 (1918), 116–128, and ‘Bemerkung zu den statistischen Grundlagen der Quantentheorie’, Ibid., 166–168; and W. V. Houston, ‘Ionisation and radiation’, Nature, 103 (1919), 145. Planck's 1911 derivation of the radiation law continued to be taken as authoritative, appearing in his Vorlesungen über die Theorie der Wärmestrahlung (1913, Leipzig), translated as The theory of heat radiation (1914, Philadelphia); and also in O. W. Richardson, The electron theory of matter (1916, Cambridge). His 1911 interpretation of quantisation as applying to regions of phase space was carried into the Bohr theory by J. Ishiwara, ‘Die universelle Bedeutung des Wirkungsquantums’, Tokyo sugaki-buturigakkwai kuzi, (2) 8 (1915), 106–116; but this was pointed out as erroneous by W. Wilson, ‘The quantum of action’, Phil. mag., (6) 31 (1916), 156–162.
  • Ramsauer , C. 1914 . Über die lichtelektrische Geschwindigkeitsverteilung und ihre Abhängigkeit von der Wellenlänge . Ann. d. Phys. , 45 : 1121 – 1159 .
  • Kadesch , W.H. 1914 . The positive potential in the photoelectric effect . Phys. rev. , 3 : 63 – 64 .
  • Millikan , R.A. 1916 . A direct photoelectric determination of Planck's h . Phys. rev. , 7 : 355 – 388 .
  • Millikan , R.A. A direct photoelectric determination of Planck's h . Phys. rev. , 7 383 – 385 . and Millikan (footnote 50), which went through many editions.
  • Both Millikan's change of heart and de Broglie's report of his results came at the third Solvay Congress of April 1921 (Institut International de Physique Solvay Atomes et electrons Paris 1921
  • Ehrenfest , P. and Kamerlingh-Onnes , H. 1915 . Simplified deduction of the formula for the theory of combinations which Planck uses as a basis of his radiation theory . Phil. mag. , 29 ( 6 ) : 197 – 199 . Ann. d. Phys., 46 (1915), 1021–1023; Versl. Akad. Amst., 23 (1914), 789–792. There can have been nothing new in this so far as Ehrenfest was concerned, and the paper appears to have resulted from Kamerlingh-Onnes's recognition of the problem faced by physicists in general with respect to the probability formula.
  • See, for example, Jammer The conceptual development of quantum mechanics New York 1966 and Klein (footnote 86).
  • Krutkow , G. 1914 . Aus der Annahme unabhängiger Lichtquanten folgt die Wiensche Strahlungsformel . Phys. Zeit. , 15 : 133 – 136 .
  • de Broglie , L. 1922 . Rayonnement noir et quanta de lumi`ere . J. physique , 3 : 422 – 428 .
  • Einstein , A. 1916 . Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung . Mitt. Phys. Zürich , 18 : 47 – 62 . Phys. Zeit., 18 (1917), 121–128.
  • While working in the context of the light-quantum hypothesis, Einstein assumed that there should be a component of stimulated emission, as in the classical theory. While it was natural for an incoming wave to stimulate the emission of another wave of the same frequency, the same could be true of light-quanta only if one assumed quanta of the same frequency to be mutually dependent. The assumption of stimulated emission gave light-quanta a quasi-wave-like behaviour, and the assumption that the radiation should tend to infinity with temperature ensured that this aspect of the classical theory was wholly retained. The importance of the latter assumption was noticed apparently first by Eddington in On the derivation of Planck's law from Einstein's equation Phil. mag. 1925 50 6 803 808
  • Interview with Heisenberg, Sources for History of Quantum Physics archive (see Kuhn T.S. Sources for history of quantum physics Philadelphia 1967
  • Bohr to C. G. Darwin, July 1919. See also Darwin to Bohr, 20 July 1919, and Darwin, manuscript draft of a critique on the foundations of quantum physics, 1919; Sommerfeld to Bohr, 10 May 1918 (Sources for History of Quantum Physics archive, ibid). For attitudes toward the stronger position of a rejection of causality see Hendry John Weimar culture and quantum causality History of science to be published in
  • Eddington , A.S. 1920 . Space, time and gravitation 182 – 182 . Cambridge Pauli's views are not stated explicitly in extant correspondence until Pauli to Eddington, 20 September 1923, but they may be inferred from Weyl to Pauli, 9 December 1919 and Einstein to Born, 27 January 1920. The Pauli letters are printed in his Briefwechsel (ed. A. Hermann et alii), volume 1 to be published by Springer, 1979, letters no. 45, 2. The Einstein letter is in The Born-Einstein letters (1971, New York), letter no. 13. See Hendry ibid.

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