Über eine Abänderung der formalen Regeln der Quantentheorie beim Problem der anomalen Zeemaneffekte, pp. 291-307 in Zeitschrift fur Physik Bd 26, Heft 4/5, 14 August 1924

HEISENBERG, Werner

Verlag: Braunschweig: Vieweg & Berlin: Springer, 1924

First edition, journal issue in the original printed wrappers, of Heisenberg's first attempt to explain the anomalous Zeeman effect on the basis of quantum theory. Although the fully correct explanation had to wait until Heisenberg's invention of matrix mechanics in 1925, this paper is significant for its attribution of two angular momentum quantum numbers to each quantum state of the atom, an idea that prefigures the discovery of electron spin later in the same year. "In the autumn of 1923 [Heisenberg] went again to Gottingen, at the invitation of Max Born . . . there followed a period of further work on the open questions of quantum theory . . . While some of the applications of the theory gave satisfactory answers, the conviction was growing that change was needed. This was brought about by an attempt, with A. Lande, to deal with the higher multiplicities in the Ne spectrum. Heisenberg decided to try a modification of the quantum rules in treating the anomalous Zeeman effect. It was not known then, of course that the source of the trouble in that case was less in the limitations of the general theory than in the lack of knowledge of the electron spin. The proposed modification of the rules involved attributing to each quantum state of the atom two values of the angular momentum quantum number, namely J + 1/2 and J - 1/2 if the angular momentum is Jh. The need for such an assumption arose from the difficulty of accounting for the number of levels in an atom consisting of a core of known angular momentum and an outer electron; it was later superseded by the inclusion of spin. However, the boldness of the step of talking about pairs of quantum numbers foreshadows some of the thinking that led later to the introduction of matrices. The paper showed a deep insight into the problems of atomic theory, and it was, at Born's suggestion, submitted, and accepted, as a 'Habilitationsschrift' to gain the 'venia legendi', the authorty to lecture, in the University of Gottingen. To acquire this status at the age of 22, and barely one year after the doctorate, was very unusual" (Mott & Peierls, 'Werner Heisenberg, 5 December 1901 - 1 February 1976,' Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 23 (1977), pp. 218-9). 8vo, pp. 223-342. Original printed wrappers (very light browning to edges of wrappers). Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers ABE-1542216036166

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Über eine Abänderung der formalen Regeln der...
Verlag: Braunschweig: Vieweg & Berlin: Springer
Erscheinungsdatum: 1924
Einband: Soft cover
Zustand: Near Fine
Auflage: 1st Edition