Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

College Physics

The actual contribution of Born to quantum mechanics

Hou Yu-de

Published Jan 1, 2008• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

There are certain verdict on the contributions of Born and Heisenberg to the process of creating matrix mechanics in many related writings about the history of physics.The basic idea is that Heisenberg was the founder of matrix mechanics,and Born was only a BoLe who was a good judge of Heisenberg's talent,just had some specific mathematical contributions to the establishment of matrix mechanics.But,lots of documents irrefutably show that the fact is not true.After research work for many years,the Gttingen school led by Born had done all the necessary preparatory works for the establishment of quantum mechanics from mathematical tool to mode of thinking.The breakthrough by Heisenberg was a natural extension of these preparations.In this paper,besides necessary analysis,the author puts emphasis on reliable conclusions from authoritative literatures.The author believes that this style of presentation would be more convincing and should change people's prejudices more easily.

Related papers

Analysis of contribution of matrix mechanics on quantum mechanics

Zhi Ren

In this paper the analysis and discussion about the contribution made by matrix mechanics, i.e. the establishment of complex form of quantum mechanics and the proposal of mathematic formalism of uncertainty principle, to the development of quantum mechanics are conducted, thereby to disclose how the complex functions enter the quantum mechanics by accident and turn to be a must of it. The evolution of mathematic formula, which implies the uncertainty principle, is also outlined to reflect the contribution of three founders of matrix mechanics. Also disclosed is the physical meaning of coordinate matrix in matrix mechanics and its connection to propagator in terms of modern quantum mechanics terminology. This analysis underlines the essentials of quantum mechanics in physics: discontinuous and statistical elementary processes which are the current research hotspot.

EPJ Web of Conferences•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations

Research on the origin of observable principle

Yanan Yang

Quantum mechanics is the greatest scientific contrbution in the 20th century,which is also the most influenced scientific theory to human civilization in the century.But,there is confusion in the cognition to the origin of some important thoughts on quantum mechanics.The observable principle is a key way of thinking to establish quantum mechanics.There are sorts of opinions on the origin of the observable principle.Through a comprehensive analysis of reliable materials,we propose the conclusion that the thought what is called Heisenberg's observable principle,directly came from the influence of Max Born and his school,Born had clearly expressed the principle in his paper before what Heienberg did.

College Physics•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations

Born--Jordan Quantization and the Equivalence of Matrix and Wave Mechanics

Maurice A. de Gosson

The aim of the famous Born and Jordan 1925 paper was to put Heisenberg's matrix mechanics on a firm mathematical basis. Born and Jordan showed that if one wants to ensure energy conservation in Heisenberg's theory it is necessary and sufficient to quantize observables following a certain ordering rule. One apparently unnoticed consequence of this fact is that Schrödinger's wave mechanics cannot be equivalent to Heisenberg's more physically motivated matrix mechanics unless its observables are quantized using this rule, and not the more symmetric prescription proposed by Weyl in 1926, which has become the standard procedure in quantum mechanics. This observation confirms the superiority of Born-Jordan quantization, as already suggested by Kauffmann. We also show how to explicitly determine the Born--Jordan quantization of arbitrary classical variables, and discuss the conceptual advantages in using this quantization scheme. We finally suggest that it might be possible to determine the correct quantization scheme by using the results of weak measurement experiments.

arXiv:1405.2519•May 11, 2014•1 citation

Quantum Physics

Suman Seth

This article discusses the history of quantum physics, beginning with an analysis of the process through which a community of quantum theorists and experimentalists came into being. In particular, it traces the roots and fruits of Max Planck’s papers in irreversible processes in nature. It proceeds by exploring the origin and subsequent development of Niels Bohr’s so-called ‘planetary model’ of the atom, focusing on the extension of the model by Arnold Sommerfeld and members of his school as well to Bohr’s use of his principles of correspondence and adiabatic invariance. It also considers the post-war years, as the problems of atomic spectroscopy sparked the development of new methodological approaches to quantum theory. Finally, it offers a history of the two distinct new forms of quantum mechanics put forward in the mid-1920s: Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan’s matrix mechanics, and Erwin Schrödinger’s wave mechanics.

Oxford University Press eBooks•Jul 6, 2017•3 citations

Schrödinger Creates Wave Mechanics (1926)

S. Brandt

Abstract The breakthrough to quantum mechanics was, as we have seen in Episode 37, achieved by Heisenberg in the summer of 1925 and the theory, in the form now known as matrix mechanics, was completed a little later by Born, Heisenberg, and Jordan. From his first days as a student Heisenberg had belonged to groups which worked on quantum theory. He was, so to speak, totally immersed in the field and reached his solution at the age of twenty-three. At the turn of the year 1925/26 quantum mechanics was created again, now clad as wave mechanics [1], by Schrödinger, who did not belong to an active research group in the field and who was then thirty-eight. As soon as it appeared wave mechanics was popular with physicists, because it was based on familiar differential equations and not on matrix formalism which was practically unknown.

•Apr 22, 1992•0 citations

The invention of quantum mechanics—matrix mechanics

Robert Golub, S. K. Lamoreaux

Abstract Driven by the idea that a physical theory should only deal with observable quantities, Werner Heisenberg, a young post-doc working with Max Born in Göttingen, who had earlier done his Ph.D. work under Sommerfeld in Munich, was led to introduce a new type of object which represented the transitions between Bohr-Sommerfeld orbits. Max Born realized and recognized these objects as matrices. Together with Pascual Jordan, another post-doc, they worked out a complete theory, matrix mechanics. They completed this work in a few months. We discuss the role of matrix mechanics in the development of quantum mechanics.

•Feb 28, 2023•0 citations
There are certain verdict on the contributions of Born and Heisenberg to the process of creating matrix mechanics in many related writings about the history of physics.The basic idea is that Heisenberg was the founder of matrix mechanics,and Born was only a BoLe who was a good judge of Heisenberg's talent,just had some specific mathematical contributions to the establishment of matrix mechanics.But,lots of documents irrefutably show that the fact is not true.After research work for many years,the Gttingen school led by Born had done all the necessary preparatory works for the establishment of quantum mechanics from mathematical tool to mode of thinking.The breakthrough by Heisenberg was a natural extension of these preparations.In this paper,besides necessary analysis,the author puts emphasis on reliable conclusions from authoritative literatures.The author believes that this style of presentation would be more convincing and should change people's prejudices more easily.
In this paper the analysis and discussion about the contribution made by matrix mechanics, i.e. the establishment of complex form of quantum mechanics and the proposal of mathematic formalism of uncertainty principle, to the development of quantum mechanics are conducted, thereby to disclose how the complex functions enter the quantum mechanics by accident and turn to be a must of it. The evolution of mathematic formula, which implies the uncertainty principle, is also outlined to reflect the contribution of three founders of matrix mechanics. Also disclosed is the physical meaning of coordinate matrix in matrix mechanics and its connection to propagator in terms of modern quantum mechanics terminology. This analysis underlines the essentials of quantum mechanics in physics: discontinuous and statistical elementary processes which are the current research hotspot.
Quantum mechanics is the greatest scientific contrbution in the 20th century,which is also the most influenced scientific theory to human civilization in the century.But,there is confusion in the cognition to the origin of some important thoughts on quantum mechanics.The observable principle is a key way of thinking to establish quantum mechanics.There are sorts of opinions on the origin of the observable principle.Through a comprehensive analysis of reliable materials,we propose the conclusion that the thought what is called Heisenberg's observable principle,directly came from the influence of Max Born and his school,Born had clearly expressed the principle in his paper before what Heienberg did.
The aim of the famous Born and Jordan 1925 paper was to put Heisenberg's matrix mechanics on a firm mathematical basis. Born and Jordan showed that if one wants to ensure energy conservation in Heisenberg's theory it is necessary and sufficient to quantize observables following a certain ordering rule. One apparently unnoticed consequence of this fact is that Schrödinger's wave mechanics cannot be equivalent to Heisenberg's more physically motivated matrix mechanics unless its observables are quantized using this rule, and not the more symmetric prescription proposed by Weyl in 1926, which has become the standard procedure in quantum mechanics. This observation confirms the superiority of Born-Jordan quantization, as already suggested by Kauffmann. We also show how to explicitly determine the Born--Jordan quantization of arbitrary classical variables, and discuss the conceptual advantages in using this quantization scheme. We finally suggest that it might be possible to determine the correct quantization scheme by using the results of weak measurement experiments.
This article discusses the history of quantum physics, beginning with an analysis of the process through which a community of quantum theorists and experimentalists came into being. In particular, it traces the roots and fruits of Max Planck’s papers in irreversible processes in nature. It proceeds by exploring the origin and subsequent development of Niels Bohr’s so-called ‘planetary model’ of the atom, focusing on the extension of the model by Arnold Sommerfeld and members of his school as well to Bohr’s use of his principles of correspondence and adiabatic invariance. It also considers the post-war years, as the problems of atomic spectroscopy sparked the development of new methodological approaches to quantum theory. Finally, it offers a history of the two distinct new forms of quantum mechanics put forward in the mid-1920s: Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan’s matrix mechanics, and Erwin Schrödinger’s wave mechanics.
Abstract The breakthrough to quantum mechanics was, as we have seen in Episode 37, achieved by Heisenberg in the summer of 1925 and the theory, in the form now known as matrix mechanics, was completed a little later by Born, Heisenberg, and Jordan. From his first days as a student Heisenberg had belonged to groups which worked on quantum theory. He was, so to speak, totally immersed in the field and reached his solution at the age of twenty-three. At the turn of the year 1925/26 quantum mechanics was created again, now clad as wave mechanics [1], by Schrödinger, who did not belong to an active research group in the field and who was then thirty-eight. As soon as it appeared wave mechanics was popular with physicists, because it was based on familiar differential equations and not on matrix formalism which was practically unknown.
Abstract Driven by the idea that a physical theory should only deal with observable quantities, Werner Heisenberg, a young post-doc working with Max Born in Göttingen, who had earlier done his Ph.D. work under Sommerfeld in Munich, was led to introduce a new type of object which represented the transitions between Bohr-Sommerfeld orbits. Max Born realized and recognized these objects as matrices. Together with Pascual Jordan, another post-doc, they worked out a complete theory, matrix mechanics. They completed this work in a few months. We discuss the role of matrix mechanics in the development of quantum mechanics.