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Cambridge University Press eBooks

The peace before the quantum

Andrew Whitaker

Published Jun 29, 2006• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Classical physics Quantum theory was produced roughly between 1900 and 1925; it changed our view of the Universe in a revolutionary way. Such is the central preoccupation of this book. Relativity was another revolutionary theory produced between 1905 and 1916; it is less central here. The clear implication of these statements is that, prior to 1900, there was an established body of theory that was widely successful and was thought to provide final answers to fundamental physical questions. This body of theory is known as classical physics . The above is a simplified account of the development of physics over the last few hundred years. There is a good deal of truth in it. By 1900, Newton's Laws of mechanics had been established for over 200 years; they had been overwhelmingly successful in describing a huge range of phenomena, both terrestrial and in the solar system. They were held to be among the greatest human achievements, indeed the very greatest strictly scientific achievement, and practically a direct revelation of divine intent, and by 1900 it seemed unthinkable that they could be challenged. The same could not quite be said of electromagnetism, an area of physics that encompasses electricity, magnetism and, as will be seen later in this chapter, optics. By 1900, what we now take to be the complete and final theory of classical electromagnetism , that of James Clerk Maxwell, was over 30 years old, and the discovery of radio waves by Heinrich Hertz which was acknowledged to confirm the theory, more than ten years old.

DOI
10.1017/cbo9780511805714.003

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Classical physics Quantum theory was produced roughly between 1900 and 1925; it changed our view of the Universe in a revolutionary way. Such is the central preoccupation of this book. Relativity was another revolutionary theory produced between 1905 and 1916; it is less central here. The clear implication of these statements is that, prior to 1900, there was an established body of theory that was widely successful and was thought to provide final answers to fundamental physical questions. This body of theory is known as classical physics . The above is a simplified account of the development of physics over the last few hundred years. There is a good deal of truth in it. By 1900, Newton's Laws of mechanics had been established for over 200 years; they had been overwhelmingly successful in describing a huge range of phenomena, both terrestrial and in the solar system. They were held to be among the greatest human achievements, indeed the very greatest strictly scientific achievement, and practically a direct revelation of divine intent, and by 1900 it seemed unthinkable that they could be challenged. The same could not quite be said of electromagnetism, an area of physics that encompasses electricity, magnetism and, as will be seen later in this chapter, optics. By 1900, what we now take to be the complete and final theory of classical electromagnetism , that of James Clerk Maxwell, was over 30 years old, and the discovery of radio waves by Heinrich Hertz which was acknowledged to confirm the theory, more than ten years old.
By the end of the nineteenth century all the important elements of classical physics were fully mature. Newton's Laws had been applied with success to everything from industrial machines to planetary orbits. Classical thermodynamics had extended energy conservation arguments into thermal processes, and scientists including J. Willard Gibbs and Ludwig Boltzmann had developed the statistical interpretation of entropy. James Clerk Maxwell had explained all electromagnetic phenomena, from AC generators/motors to light, with the four Maxwell's equations and three material-dependent constitutive relations. There was serious discussion that physics was on the verge of being “finished” – becoming a closed system of knowledge like classical geometry with only essentially routine tasks left of determining how the known laws could be applied to engineering problems. Yet by 1930 the foundations of mechanics, electromagnetics, and atomic-scale systems had been shaken to the core by the new revolutions in the Theory of Relativity, the photon picture of light, and quantum physics. We are still reaping the benefits of the application of these new scientific paradigms in our technology today, including semiconductor electronic devices, lasers, and GPS systems. But the description of reality that these theories provide is still deeply anti-intuitive and disturbing. Nevertheless, quantum physics is one of the most extensively experimentally verified theories that we know. Even when quantum theory and common sense seem to diverge, quantum theory gives the right answers when tested by experiment. In the next chapter we will develop the framework of quantum theory that has been so successful when people “shut up and calculate,” as one scientist suggested as the way through the philosophical thicket of quantum physics. But in this chapter, we will spend a brief time considering the historical development and continuing paradoxical implications of quantum theory. The photoelectric effect and photons In 1905, Albert Einstein, who was a key figure in the revolution of modern physics, was working as a clerk in the patent office in Zurich, Switzerland. Einstein had finished his studies in physics, but had not obtained a coveted position as a university professor. He was intensely interested in the latest developments in classical physics and was aware of a few of the remaining loose ends that were resisting explanation in the classical model.
Newtonian mechanics is the foundation of Classical Physics. Newton’s mechanics, Thermodynamics, Wave theory of Optics and Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory belong to regime of Classical Physics and can be used to explain a wide range of phenomena in the Universe at macroscopic scale. These theories fail spectacularly when applied to phenomenain the atomic and nuclear regime, for example, proton-atom scattering or the flow of electrons in a semiconductor. Quantum mechanics is the most successful scientific theory that has ever been created and it has completely changed our view of the world. The failure of Classical Physics was highlighted by black body radiation and photoelectric effect. Max Planck and Albert Einstein provided explanations of both phenomena based on quantum hypothesis and are thus considered founders of Quantum Physics. The origin of quantum mechanics goes back to the mid-1920s.It was formulated first as matrix mechanics by Werner Heisenberg, Max Born and Pascual Jordan; then as wave mechanics by Louis de Broglie and Erwin Schrödinger; and later on asquantum statistics of subatomic particles by Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein. Combining relativistic mechanics with quantum mechanics, Dirac formulated his relativistic quantum mechanics during 1930s. Uncertainty Principle is thecornerstone of Quantum Physics. The role of randomness in microscopic physical processes shatters the myth that the universe is deterministic. Quantum world is unpredictable in the classical sense and demolishes the idea of an objective universe. The Copenhagen interpretation remains the quantum mechanical formalism that is currently most widely accepted amongst physicists.Quantum theories support cosmic spirit pervading the cosmos and inter – relationship of individuals in the world society. Quantum philosophy is holistic and is going to revolutionize our world-view.
Science has developed through a variety of investigations more or less over the time scale of human existence. On this scale, quantum mechanics is an extremely young field, existing essentially for only just over a century. Even our understanding of classical mechanics has existed for a comparatively long period—roughly having been formalized with Newton's equations published in his Principia Mathematica , in April 1686 (1687). Up until the very end of the nineteenth century, mechanics in the form of Newton's laws were comfortable, being understood and accepted by all who dealt with the motion of reasonable bodies. With the turn of the new century, however, mechanics would be shaken to its roots. The change began already on December 14, 1900, when Planck (1900) presented his new theory of black-body radiation to the German Physical Society, and this change would affect mechanics in physically small structures (and lead to quantum mechanics). Mechanics of large bodies would similarly be changed in 1905 with the arrival of Albert Einstein's (1905a) relativity theory. In this book, we will deal with only the first of these two great breakthroughs.
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.
Abstract This chapter introduces the book by emphasizing how our perception of the universe is quite different from the actual laws that govern this universe. An attempt to understand the laws that govern our universe goes back to antiquity. The modern scientific revolution took place in the seventeenth century. All the phenomena that we observe in nature seem to follow the laws that were discovered by Newton, Maxwell, and others. Our intuition is based on these laws. The most remarkable developments that took place at the beginning of the twentieth century included Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. These laws, which are presented in this book, are highly counterintuitive and mysterious.
By the end of the nineteenth century, tremendous advances had been made in the understanding of the physical world; and classical physics as developed up to that time provided powerful and coherent models for a wide range of phenomena. In order to suggest the range and power of classical physics, this chapter starts by reviewing briefly some areas of classical physics, and pointing out certain assumptions about the world and about measurement which underlie and are reflected in classical physics. It then outlines, as an extension of classical physics and as part of pre-quantum physics, aspects of the theory of relativity. The remainder of the chapter explains why the reasonable and common-sense views of classical physics had to be discarded; and gives some understanding of the historical development of quantum physics and of the refutations of common-sense views involved.