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Cambridge University Press eBooks

Modern Physics: From Crisis to Crisis

Jimena Canales

Published Aug 29, 2019• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The first decades of the twentieth century were marked by two revolutionary scientific accomplishments, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, with repercussions still felt today. Relativity theory and quantum mechanics became the two most important branches of “Modern Physics” that emerged as an alternative to “Classical Physics” (a term often used interchangeably with that of “Newtonian” or “Galilean” physics). No field of science (from astronomy to the life sciences), no field of knowledge (from philosophy to sociology), and no artistic practice (from architecture to the fine arts) was left untouched by these investigations into the nature of our physical universe.

DOI
10.1017/9781316160879.004

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The first decades of the twentieth century were marked by two revolutionary scientific accomplishments, the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, with repercussions still felt today. Relativity theory and quantum mechanics became the two most important branches of “Modern Physics” that emerged as an alternative to “Classical Physics” (a term often used interchangeably with that of “Newtonian” or “Galilean” physics). No field of science (from astronomy to the life sciences), no field of knowledge (from philosophy to sociology), and no artistic practice (from architecture to the fine arts) was left untouched by these investigations into the nature of our physical universe.
The mathematician plays a game in which he himself invents the rules, while the physicist plays a game in which the rules are provided by nature, but as time goes on, it becomes increasingly evident that the rules which the mathematician finds interesting are the same as those which nature has chosen. (Paul A. M. Dirac) As described in Chapter 5, classical ( Newtonian ) mechanics is centered around Hamilton's principle and the associated Newton's second law, particularly as applied to statics and dynamics of nondeformable (discrete) and deformable (continuous) bodies. Such systems are typically of O (1) size operating at O (1) speeds. Modern physics generally refers to branches of physics that have arisen since Einstein's relativity theory in the early part of the twentieth century, including special relativity, general relativity, and quantum mechanics, for example. Modern physics addresses physical phenomena that occur at very small sizes, such as atoms, or very large sizes, such as galaxies, and/or very high speeds close to the speed of light. We focus on the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, both of which reduce to the classical mechanics limit that has occupied our considerations thus far. Relativity reduces to classical mechanics when υ ≪ c , where c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and υ is a characteristic velocity of the system; quantum mechanics reduces to classical mechanics when length scales dominant within the system are much larger than Planck's universal constant ħ.
At the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century, deep crisis of the physics promoted itself great revolution, thus the quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity emerged. The establishment of quantum theory, opened the people to know the microcosm, has laid the solid rationale for the physics and even the entire natural sciences development. No one branch of modern physics and correlated peripheral subjects are not based on quantum .Quantum theory are changing modern science and technology profoundly and influencing humanity's thought as well. Reviewing the development of the course, we can feel the far-reaching influence of the quantum theory on the people's epistemology and the world outlook.
The quantum revolution in physics of the 20th century has completely transformed the nature not only of physics and science in general, but also of philosophy and our worldview. Quantum revolution began in the early 19th century with the discovery of ‘quantum’ (plural ‘quanta’) principally by Max Planck, and with theories and discoveries in the field of relativity, linked inseparably with the name of Albert Einstein. Max Planck came across the quanta when he was studying what is known as the ‘blackbody radiation’. In classical physics in particular and the classical world in general, there was no serious problems with objects, objectivity and ontology. In classical physics, particles and fields have an existence independent of the observer. In broader view, everything, the world, exists independent of the observer and of the consciousness. The first quantum-mechanical theories on electron in mid-1920s did not take into account the effect of velocity of light, and were therefore non-relativistic.
The twentieth century has seen two major revolutions in our theories of physics concerning nature, and these have made us change many of our concepts about the terms in which nature can be described. The new theories born in these revolutions are the theory of relativity and of quantum mechanics. The biological sciences had their revolutions in the nineteenth century, and while remarkable progress has been made since, nothing comparable to that upheaval has occurred in this century. Of the two massive changes in the concepts of the physical sciences, we can discuss but one here. [excerpt]
Discoveries in the field of energy and electromagnetism were important theoretical innovations, but they also figured in more metaphysical debates about the nature of reality. The Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century included not least a radical new vision of natural reality. The notion that knowledge of elementary building blocks meant knowledge of reality as such was in essence the ideal of seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy, but in the twentieth century it turned out to have lost none of its power. Research into radiation and the particles it emitted developed rapidly into a fully fledged field of research, for which all kinds of new methods and instruments were invented. To understand phenomena in the depths of space, Newton's theory is in many cases inadequate and the theory of relativity comes into play. For the general public, quantum mechanics was embodied most of all by what is known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.