Max Born and the Quantum Theory

Nancy Delaney Cartwright

Jeremy Bernstein

The role of Max Born in the creation of the quantum theory is discussed. Some explanations as to why he received his Nobel Prize so late are offered.

H. Capellmann

J. L. Heilbron, Carlo Rovelli C

We examine evaluations of the contributions of Matrix Mechanics and Max Born to the formulation of quantum mechanics from Heisenberg's Helgoland paper of 1925 to Born's Nobel Prize of 1954. We point out that the process of evaluation is continuing in the light of recent interpretations of the theory that deemphasize the importance of the wave function.

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.

Carl S. Helrich