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Comptes Rendus Physique

The birth of wave mechanics (1923–1926)

Alain Aspect, Jacques Villain

Published Oct 25, 2017• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In 1923, in three articles published in the Comptes Rendus of the Académie des Sciences , Louis de Broglie proposed the concept of wave–particle duality. Physicists from many countries seized upon this idea. In particular, Schrödinger developed de Broglie's qualitative idea by writing down the equation that the wave must satisfy in the non-relativistic approximation. A relativistic version of this equation was proposed in 1926 by several scientists, and other ones found a solution to the Schrödinger equation as an expansion in powers of the Planck constant.

DOI
10.1016/j.crhy.2017.10.007

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In 1923, in three articles published in the Comptes Rendus of the Académie des Sciences , Louis de Broglie proposed the concept of wave–particle duality. Physicists from many countries seized upon this idea. In particular, Schrödinger developed de Broglie's qualitative idea by writing down the equation that the wave must satisfy in the non-relativistic approximation. A relativistic version of this equation was proposed in 1926 by several scientists, and other ones found a solution to the Schrödinger equation as an expansion in powers of the Planck constant.
Louis de Broglie put forward the idea of wave-particle duality in 1923-24, less than two years before the advent of Quantum Mechanics. This last theory assumes that duality, but in a more abstract and counter-intuitive manner than de Broglie did. In this article the wave behavior of matter is presented in a didactic way following de Broglie´s ideas. This kind of presentation may (hopefully) be helpful to better understand the quantum features in a more intuitive way. It is shown that this wave mechanics, in the framework of the theory of relativity, is compatible with Planck´s quantum and explains as well the particle´s dynamics, provided the uncertainty relations are properly incorporated. The main difficulty with this view lies in its interpreting the wave as a non-local entity
Louis-Victor de Broglie secured his place in the history of quantum physics by proposing the existence of matter waves. Following the concept accepted early in the twentieth century that light waves could display properties characteristic of particles (photons), de Broglie suggested the complementary principle that particles could display properties characteristic of waves. Within a few years, this far-reaching proposal was experimentally verified. The well-known formula for the wavelength λ of the wave associated with a particle of momentum p, namely λ=h/p, does not appear in de Broglie’s original paper, which was published in this journal in 1924. What is derived from the starting assumption that the frequency of the wave is the rest energy of the particle divided by Planck’s constant h, is the wave's velocity, which turns out to be c2/v, where v is the particle’s velocity. This velocity, being superluminal, means that the wave cannot transport energy. De Broglie called it a phase wave and postulated a group of such waves having virtually, but not exactly, the same velocity and wavelength. The group velocity of such a large number of almost identical phase waves is then shown, very satisfactorily, to be equal to the velocity of the particle. The proposal by de Broglie inspired Schrödinger to develop the mathematical foundations of wave mechanics. Whereas in conventional quantum theory, phase waves are considered fictional, de Broglie considered them to have a certain physical reality, renaming them pilot or guiding waves – a concept developed later by Bohm in 1952.
Till 1925 the idea of what the quantum theory would be was unknown. During 1925 three different but equivalent versions of quantum theory were proposed – Schrödinger-proposed wave mechanics; Heisenberg-developed matrix mechanics and Dirac-introduced operator theory. Considering the de Broglie’s matter waves Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian physicist, argued that if a particle like an electron behaves as a wave then the equation of wave motion could be successfully applied to it. He postulated a function varying in both space and time in a wave-like manner (hence called wave function and denoted it as ψ). This function is generally complex and assumed to contain information about a system. Schrödinger set up a linear and time-dependent wave-like equation, called Schrödinger wave equation, to describe the wave aspect of a particle taking account of de Broglie’s relation for wavelength. Physically, |ψ(X, t)|2, where ψ(X, t) is the solution of the Schrödinger equation, is interpreted as position probability density. That is, |ψ(X, t)|2 is the probability density of observing a particle at position X at time t. ψ does not give exact outcomes of observations but helps us to know all possible events and their probabilities . Further, the probability interpretation allows us to find the average or expected result of a set of measurements on a quantum system.
Copenhagen physicists said; The electronics that we use today-radio, televisions, computers, lasers, MRI machines GPS-communications- depend on calculations using Schrodinger’s equation plus a lot of other Mathematics and Measurements, our idea of “shut up and calculate” has worked very well for us technologically. My comment’s these technological achievements do not justify that the equation itself as (I will try show) has any true scientific basis. In 1925, Erwin Schrodinger wrote excitingly to Einstein. “I have been intensely concerned these days with Louis de Broglie’s theory [1]. It is extraordinary, exciting, but still has some very grave difficulties”. So regardless of you are consider Schrodinger’s equation is a fundamental equation (has no derivation from simples forms) or derived one, you cannot deny first that Schrodinger’s equation is a wave equation and second it is shows how (de Broglie hypothesis of) matter wave change with time. i.e. Schrodinger equation describe the evaluation of the physical system in which the quantum effects, the “Wave-particle” duality are significant.
During 1925 three different but equivalent versions of quantum theory were proposed, Schrodinger proposed wave mechanics; Heisenberg developed matrix mechanics and Dirac-introduced operator theory. Considering the de Broglie's matter waves Erwin Schrödinger, an Austrian physicist, argued that if a particle like an electron behaves as a wave then the equation of wave motion could be successfully applied to it. He postulated a function varying in both space and time in a wave-like manner. Schrodinger set up a linear and time-dependent wave-like equation, called Schrodinger wave equation, to describe the wave aspect of a particle taking account of de Broglie's relation for wavelength. This chapter discusses the Schrodinger equation and explores the general properties of the solution of the Schrodinger equation. It verifies the Ehrenfest's theorem in certain interesting systems and solves equation for linear harmonic oscillator and shows that their solutions are identical to the solutions of classical equation of motion.
Abstract We now leave the period of the old quantum theory and turn to the time of transition, during which matter waves were being discussed by a tiny group of physicists at a time when matter wave mechanics had not yet been discovered. This period begins in September 1923 with two brief communications by Louis de Broglie to the French Academy of Sciences [Bl, B2]. It ends in January 1926 with Schroedinger’s first paper on wave mechanics [S1). The main purpose of this chapter is to stress Einstein’s key role in these developments, his influence on de Broglie, de Broglie’s subsequent influence on him, and, finally, the influence of both on Schroedinger. Neither directly nor indirectly did Einstein contribute to an equally fundamental development that preceded Schroedinger’s discovery of wave mechanics: the discovery of matrix mechanics by Heisenberg [H1]. Therefore, I shall have no occasion in this book to comment in any detail on Heisenberg’s major achievements.