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Annalen der Physik

The Compton effect: Transition to quantum mechanics

Roger H. Stuewer

Published Nov 1, 2000• 41 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The discovery of the Compton effect at the end of 1922 was a decisive event in the transition to the new quantum mechanics of 1925-1926 because it stimulated physicists to examine anew the fundamental problem of the interaction between radiation and matter. I first discuss Albert Einstein's light-quantum hypothesis of 1905 and why physicists greeted it with extreme skepticism, despite Robert A. Millikan's confirmation of Einstein's equation of the photoelectric effect in 1915. I then follow in some detail the experimental and theoretical research program that Arthur Holly Compton pursued between 1916 and 1922 at the University of Minnesota, the Westinghouse Lamp Company, the Cavendish Laboratory, and Washington University that culminated in his discovery of the Compton effect. Surprisingly, Compton was not influenced directly by Einstein's light-quantum hypothesis, in contrast to Peter Debye and H.A. Kramers, who discovered the quantum theory of scattering independently. I close by discussing the most significant response to that discovery, the Bohr-Kramers-Slater theory of 1924, its experimental refutation, and its influence on the emerging new quantum mechanics.

DOI
10.1002/1521-3889(200011)9:11/12<975::aid-andp975>3.0.co;2-8

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The discovery of the Compton effect at the end of 1922 was a decisive event in the transition to the new quantum mechanics of 1925-1926 because it stimulated physicists to examine anew the fundamental problem of the interaction between radiation and matter. I first discuss Albert Einstein's light-quantum hypothesis of 1905 and why physicists greeted it with extreme skepticism, despite Robert A. Millikan's confirmation of Einstein's equation of the photoelectric effect in 1915. I then follow in some detail the experimental and theoretical research program that Arthur Holly Compton pursued between 1916 and 1922 at the University of Minnesota, the Westinghouse Lamp Company, the Cavendish Laboratory, and Washington University that culminated in his discovery of the Compton effect. Surprisingly, Compton was not influenced directly by Einstein's light-quantum hypothesis, in contrast to Peter Debye and H.A. Kramers, who discovered the quantum theory of scattering independently. I close by discussing the most significant response to that discovery, the Bohr-Kramers-Slater theory of 1924, its experimental refutation, and its influence on the emerging new quantum mechanics.
Abstract The discovery of the Compton effect at the end of 1922 was a decisive event in the transition to the new quantum mechanics of 1925‐1926 because it stimulated physicists to examine anew the fundamental problem of the interaction between radiation and matter. I first discuss Albert Einstein's light‐quantum hypothesis of 1905 and why physicists greeted it with extreme skepticism, despite Robert A. Millikan's confirmation of Einstein's equation of the photoelectric effect in 1915. I then follow in some detail the experimental and theoretical research program that Arthur Holly Compton pursued between 1916 and 1922 at the University of Minnesota, the Westinghouse Lamp Company, the Cavendish Laboratory, and Washington University that culminated in his discovery of the Compton effect. Surprisingly, Compton was not influenced directly by Einstein's light‐quantum hypothesis, in contrast to Peter Debye and H.A. Kramers, who discovered the quantum theory of scattering independently. I close by discussing the most significant response to that discovery, the Bohr‐Kramers‐Slater theory of 1924, its experimental refutation, and its influence on the emerging new quantum mechanics.
The important discoveries and events that occurred in the development of quantum mechanics may be ordered as follows: Blackbody radiation formulated by Max Planck in 1901. Photoelectric effect interpreted by Albert Einstein in 1905. Model of the atom proposed by Ernest Rutherford in 1911. Quantum theory of atomic spectra developed by Niels Bohr in 1913. Photon–electron scattering experiments done by Arthor Holly Compton in 1922. Exclusion principle proposed by Wolfgang Pauli in 1925. Matter waves proposed by Prince Louis Victor de Broglie in 1925. Wave equation proposed by Erwin Shrödinger in 1926. Electron diffraction experiments done by Clinton Joseph Davisson and L.H. Germer in 1927. Uncertainty principle proposed by Werner Karl Heisenberg in 1927. Interpretation of the wave function done by Max Born in 1927. Relativistic wave equation proposed by Paul A. M. Dirac in 1928.
Einstein’s 1905 paper on the photoelectric effect, in which he considered Planck’s idea of quanta of energy to be a universal characteristic of light, marks the beginning of quantum theory. For over ten years Einstein stood alone on the issue of energy quantization of light; and although in 1915 experimental conrmation of his photoelectric effect came from painstaking experiments performed by Millikan, acceptance of the idea that light was composed of particles was far from universal. Millikan himself wrote in 1915: “Despite … the apparent complete success of the Einstein equation, the physical theory of which it was designed to be the symbolic expression is found so untenable that Einstein himself, I believe, no longer holds to it.” Einstein did hold to it. It was only in the mid 1920s, when Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Dirac, and others developed the rst forms of quantum theory, that serious discussions concerning the particle nature of light and the meaning of the new theory began. Discussions about the meaning of quantum theory continue today.
This is an account of Einstein's work and thoughts on the quantum theory. The following topics will be discussed: The light-quantum hypothesis and its gradual evolution into the photon concept. Early history of the photoelectric effect. The theoretical and experimental reasons why the resistance to the photon was stronger and more protracted than for any other particle proposed to date. Einstein's position regarding the Bohr-Kramers-Slater suggestion, the last bastion of resistance to the photon. Einstein's analysis of fluctuations around thermal equilibrium and his proposal of a duality between particles and waves, in 1909 for electromagnetic radiation (the first time this duality was ever stated) and in January 1925 for matter (prior to quantum mechanics and for reasons independent of those given earlier by de Broglie). His demonstration that long-known specific heat anomalies are quantum effects. His role in the evolution of the third law of thermodynamics. His new derivation of Planck's law in 1917 which also marks the beginning of his concern with the failure of classical causality. His role as one of the founders of quantum statistics and his discovery of the first example of a phase transition derived by using purely statistical methods. His position as a critic of quantum mechanics. Initial doubts on the consistency of quantum mechanics (1926-1930). His view maintained from 1930 until the end of his life: quantum mechanics is logically consistent and quite successful but it is incomplete. His attitude toward success. His criterion of objective reality. Differences in the roles relativity and quantum theory played in Einstein's life. His vision regarding quantum theory in the context of a unified field theory. His last autobiographical sketch, written a few months before his death, concluding with a statement about the quantum theory, a subject to which (by his own account) he had given more thought than even to general relativity.
This chapter starts with the historical development of quantum mechanics and explanations of key concepts behind fundamental discoveries such as Planck's hypothesis, the photoelectric effect, Bohr's atomic model, Compton scattering, the de Broglie hypothesis, the Pauli exclusion principle, the Schrödinger equation, Heisenberg quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle, the Born interpretation of wave function, the Davisson and Germer experiment, and Dirac relativistic quantum mechanics, which made important contributions to the foundation of modern quantum mechanics. Concepts like the particle properties of radiation, the wave properties of matter, quantized energy and momentum, and the idea that one can no longer know exactly where a single particle like an electron is at any instant of time are brought out clearly through this chapter. A list of important quantum mechanical parameters along with solved examples and unsolved exercises on the key concepts are included towards the end.
Abstract With the failure of classical physics to explain the experimentally observed black body radiation spectrum, the photoelectric effect and the existence of narrow spectral lines in the light emitted by excited atoms, physicists were forced to reach out for new ideas. Following Planck’s initial “drastic hypothesis” of light “quanta”, Einstein led the way in exploring some of the myriad implications of this idea. In particular, the study of fluctuations led to a new understanding of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with atoms. Einstein invented the photon by showing, through fluctuation studies, that light emitted by atoms must be in the form of plane waves. These ideas led to the first notions regarding the quantization of matter and its dynamics.