Statistical and causal concepts in Einstein's early thought

References

• On the factual background of this saying, see Cark Ronald W. Einstein: the life and times New York 1971 414ff 414ff
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• Einstein , A. 1951 . “ Autobiographical notes ” . In Albert Einstein: philosopher and scientist Edited by: Schlipp , P. 2 vols , New York 1 53
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• Born , M. 1951 . “ Einstein's statistical theories ” . In Albert Einstein: philosopher and scientist Edited by: Schilpp . Vol. 1 , 163 – 164 . New York 2 vols
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• Einstein , A. 1901 . Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen . Annalen der Physik , 4 ( 4 ) : 513 – 523 . and his ‘Über die thermodynamische Theorie der Potential-differnz zwischen Metallen und vollständig dissociierten Lösungen ihrer Salze, und über eine elektrische Methode zur Erforschung der Molekularkräfte’, Annalen der Physik, (4) 8 (1902), 798–814
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• As quoted by Klein Thermodynamics in Einstein's thought Science 1967 157 510 510
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• Einstein , A. 1901 . Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen . Annalen der Physik , 4 ( 4 ) : 798 – 798 .
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• Einstein , A. 1901 . Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen . Annalen der Physik , 4 ( 4 ) : 799 – 799 .
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 417 – 433 .
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 417 – 417 .
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 417 – 419 . 429. Einstein's assumptions varied slightly from section to section in KTSP. For example, he restricted himself to systems governed only by potentials which did not depend explicitly on time (p. 418), and this assumption holds for sections 2–7 of the article. On the other hand, beginning with section 8, he generalized his assumptions to include systems which could also be governed by time-dependent potentials and further forces which were not derivable from any potential. (The second law of thermodynamics was derived from the more general assumptions.) Again, in sections 3–7, his results depended upon his assumption that each system under consideration consisted of two mechanically intersecting sub-systems. These minor variations in assumptions do not affect the main argument presented here
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• Einstein , A. 1901 . Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen . Annalen der Physik , 4 ( 4 ) : 799 – 799 .
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• M. Klein has shown how Einstein later came to regard a statistical principle as more valid than mechanics. See his Einstein, Boltzmann's principle, and the mechanical world view Proceedings of the XIV International Congress on the History of Science, 1974 Tokyo 1975 183 194
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 433 – 433 .
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 433 – 433 .
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 427 – 427 . Liouville's principle is derived using the Hamiltonian formulation of mechanical principles.
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 170 – 187 .
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• Einstein , A. and Besso , M. 1972 . Correspondence: 1903–1955 3 – 3 . Paris (introduction and notes by P. Speziali:
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 171 – 171 .
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 187 – 187 .
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 184 – 184 .
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 177 – 178 .
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• Einstein , A. 1905 . Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt . Annalen der Physik , 7 ( 4 ) : 132 – 148 .
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• Einstein , A. 1905 . Über einen die Erzeugung und Verwandlung des Lichtes betreffenden heuristischen Gesichtspunkt . Annalen der Physik , 7 ( 4 ) : 132 – 132 .
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• Iowe this insight to Klein M. Einstein's first paper on quanta Natural philosopher 1963 2 57 86 (p. 62)
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 170 – 170 .
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• Einstein , A. 1902 . Kinetische Theorie des Wärmegleichgewichtes und des zweiten Hauptsatzes der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 9 ( 4 ) : 420 – 420 .
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• Einstein , A. 1903 . Eine Theorie der Grundlagen der Thermodynamik . Annalen der Physik , 11 ( 4 ) : 174 – 174 .
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• Of course, the same would be true of the assumptions which Einstein explicitly mentioned in the letter to Besso, though presumably the atomic theory could be replaced by a form of field theory. Klein M. Einstein, Boltzmann's principle, and the mechanical world view Proceedings of the XIV International Congress on the History of Science, 1974 Tokyo 1975 183 194 has shown in his how Einstein hoped to pursue new foundations in physics through the guidance of Boltzmann's principle. As Klein shows, Einstein selected that particular statistical principle, because he had succeeded in so generalizing the results of TFT that they were no longer dependent upon the equations nor indeed upon any particular mathematical representation of the laws of motion. It is possible that Einstein similarly freed the very idea of a law of motion from any particular mathematical form by retaining only the general schema found in TFT: the state of a system at a given time uniquely determines its state in the next instant. Hence, just as Einstein sought guidance from the Boltzmann principle, he also sought guidance from a causal concept, both highly generalized from their original prototypes in his early work
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• Einstein , A. 1905 . Elektrodynamik der bewegter Körper . Annalen der Physik , 17 ( 4 ) : 891 – 921 . All citations in the present essay are taken from A. Einstein, ‘On the electrodynamics of moving bodies’ (trans. W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffrey), in H. A. Lorentz et alii, The principle of relativity (1923, New York). 35–65.
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• Since the two common interpretations are more a matter of common opinion—something in the air', as it were—rather than a matter of scholarly consensus, it is difficult to find unambiguous written statements to the effect that EMB was intended as an explanation of anomolous experimental results or as a new space-time theory. It is easy, however, to find accounts of Einstein's work which lead thinking in this direction. For example, David Bohm combines both interpretations in his The special theory of relativity New York 1965 There, for example, he writes: ‘It is only against the background of these experimental and conceptual problems that one can fully appreciate the fact that Einstein's basic contribution was less in the proposal of new formulas than in the introduction of fundamental changes in our basic notions of space, time, matter, and movement’ (pp. vii–viii). Again, P. W. Bridgman, while principally regarding Einstein as the implicit founder of operationalism, likewise stresses Einstein's innovations in the areas of space and time to the exclusion of the work on electrodynamics (The logic of modern physics (1927, New York), 1–14.
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• Holton , Gerald . 1973 . Thematic origins of scientific thought 261 – 352 . Cambridge, Mass.
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• Holton , G. 1973 . Thematic origins of scientific thought 168 – 169 . Cambridge, Mass. 362–367
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• Einstein , A. and Besso , M. 1972 . Correspondence: 1903–1955 4 – 4 . Paris (introduction and notes by P. Speziali:
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• Einstein , A. 1905 . Elektrodynamik der bewegter Körper . Annalen der Physik , 17 ( 4 ) : 64 – 65 . The three relationships referred to are: (1) an equation for determining the velocity of the electron from the ratio of the magnetic power of deflection to the electric power of deflection; (2) an expression for the velocity acquired by an electron passing through a known electric potential difference; and (3) a relation between the radius of curvature of a moving electron, its velocity, and the magnitude of the deflecting magnetic field.
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• Einstein A. On the electrodynamics of moving bodies The principle of relativity et al. New York 1923 61 61 trans. W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffrey
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• Einstein A. On the electrodynamics of moving bodies The principle of relativity et al. New York 1923 63 63 trans. W. Perrett and G. B. Jeffrey
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• Holton , G. 1973 . Thematic origins of scientific thought 261 – 352 . Cambridge, Mass. 170 notes that the kind of electron theory H. Lorentz was seeking in 1904 was more a theory of electron structure than of its motion
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• Einstein , A. 1905 . Elektrodynamik der bewegter Körper . Annalen der Physik , 17 ( 4 ) : 61 – 61 .
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• Einstein , A. 1927 . Newton's Mechanik und ihr Einfluss auf die Gestaltung der theoretischen Physik . Naturwissenschaften , 15 : 273 – 276 . The text cited here is from his translation ‘The mechanics of Newton and their influence on the development of theoretical physics’, in Ideas and opinions (1954, New York), 247–255.
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• Einstein , A. 1927 . Newton's Mechanik und ihr Einfluss auf die Gestaltung der theoretischen Physik . Naturwissenschaften , 15 : 250 – 250 .
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• Einstein , A. 1927 . Newton's Mechanik und ihr Einfluss auf die Gestaltung der theoretischen Physik . Naturwissenschaften , 15 : 248 – 248 .
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• Einstein , A. 1927 . Newton's Mechanik und ihr Einfluss auf die Gestaltung der theoretischen Physik . Naturwissenschaften , 15 : 249 – 249 .
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• Klein , M. 1970 . The first phase of the Bohr-Einstein dialogue . Historical studies in the physical sciences , 2 : 1 – 39 .
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• Heisenberg , W. 1925 . Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischen Beziehungen . Zeitschrift für Physik. , 33 : 879 – 893 .
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• Klein , M. 1970 . The first phase of the Bohr-Einstein dialogue . Historical studies in the physical sciences , 2 : 19 – 19 .
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• The ‘paradox’ was originally presented in Einstein A. Podolsky B. Rosen N. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 47 777 780
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• As in N. Bohr's reply Can quantum-mechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 48 696 702
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• Two recent exceptions to this statement are to be found: in Hooker Clifford The nature of quantum mechanical reality Paradigms and paradoxes Colodny Robert G. Pittsburgh 1972 67 302 (especially pp. 78–131); and in Max Jammer, The philosophy of quantum mechanics (1974, New York), 184–185
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• et al. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 47 779 779
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• et al. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 47 777 777 This statement of the reality criterion poses several difficulties for interpretation which should be noted, though they are tangential to the contention that the concept of classical causality provides a link between Einstein's early statistical investigations and his later positions on quantum mechanics. In particular, the appearance of the phrase, ‘without in any way disturbing the system’ raises several questions. No usual meaning of ‘predicting’ would imply that a disturbance must take place. Why, then, was the disclaimer needed? It may be that ‘disturbing' was the authors’ way of referring to measurement—as I believe it was. Still, why would one have to stipulate that ‘predicting with certainty’ should not include a measuring process, when one would not ordinarily think of including one? Finally, from the authors' viewpoint, it would seem that relevant information about the initial state should include the initial state of the disturbance, so that the effects of the disturbance could likewise be predicted with certainty. Again the disclaimer seems unnecessary. I do not think the authors were being inconsistent in their phrasing. Rather, I think these questions suggest a closer examination of the historical and philosophical contexts of this quotation.
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• This follows from the authors' statement of the idea of completeness: ‘every element of the physical reality must have a counterpart in the physical theory’ Einstein A. Podolsky B. Rosen N. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 47 777 777
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• Einstein , A. , Podolsky , B. and Rosen , N. 1935 . Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? . Physical review , 47 : 778 – 778 . It is clear from the text that the kind of disturbances the authors had in mind were measurements.
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• Born , Max , ed. 1971 . The Born-Einstein letters 82 – 82 . New York (in a letter to Hedwig Born dated 29 April 1924)
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• et al. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 47 777 777 Contrary to their disclaimer the authors had to introduce an a priori idea of reality, because they could not have said that reality is what is known through the framework of quantum theory. The fact that the criterion of reality plays such a fundamental role in the EPR critique of quantum mechanics points to the importance of a critical philosophical clarification of the meaning of ‘reality’ for the future development of physics.
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• et al. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? 1935 47 778 778
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• See, for example Bub Jeffrey Some reflections on quantum logic and Schrödinger's cat The British journal for the philosophy of science 1979 30 27 39
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• All citations in this Appendix are from et al. Can quantummechanical description of physical reality be considered complete? Physical review 1935 47 777 778
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