Baggott J. The Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments
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the quantum story
410
from something that ought to be there to something that really is there,
and no doubt prompting the Swedish Academy to award a Nobel Prize
for the Higgs mechanism.
It is also hoped that the LHC may have some light to shed on the exist-
ence, or otherwise, of supersymmetric partners for the particles of the
Standard Model. It may also have something to say about dark matter
and dark energy, thought to account for the mass ‘missing’ from the
observable universe, but required to explain its large-scale structure and
behaviour.
But the real hope is that the LHC will reveal something unexpected,
something that doesn’t fi t quite so neatly into what physicists already
know about the quantum world. Even a negative result might provide a
rallying cry, a call to arms to theoretical physicists for too long numbed
by the comfort of the Standard Model.
‘I think it will be much more exciting if we don’t fi nd the Higgs,’ said
Hawking. ‘That will show something is wrong, and we need to think
again.
‘I have a bet of $100 that we won’t fi nd the Higgs.’
Hawking’s confi dence stems from his belief that evidence for the Higgs
boson will be obscured by the creation of virtual black holes. Higgs is not
convinced.
‘It was a bit of a cheek,’ he said. ‘I am very doubtful about his
calculations.’
411
NOTES AND SOURCES
Prologue: Stormclouds
2 ‘Hitherto we have explain’d . . .’ Isaac Newton, The Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy, Book II (1729 English translation), p. 392. The Latin ‘hypoth-
eses non fi ngo’ can also be translated as ‘I feign no hypotheses’.
2 ‘Destitute of every species of merit,’ attributed to Lord Brougham, Edinburgh
Review. Quoted in Hecht and Zajac, p. 5.
4 ‘There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now,’ attributed to Lord
Kelvin. Quoted in Isaacson, p. 90, but see also the footnote on p. 575.
1: The Most Strenuous Work of My Life
7 ‘Dangerous enemy of progress’, Max Planck, letter to Wilhelm Ostwald, 1 July
1893. Quoted in Heilbron, p. 15.
7 ‘Have to be abandoned in favour of the assumption of continuous matter’,
Max Planck, Physikalische Abhandlungen und Vorträge, Volume 1, Vieweg, Braun-
schweig, 1958, p. 163. Quoted in Heilbron, p. 14.
12 ‘The possibility of establishing units of length, mass, time and tempera-
ture . . .’, Max Planck, Physikalische Abhandlungen und Vorträge, Volume 1, Vieweg,
Braunschweig, 1958, p. 666. Quoted in Hermann, p. 11.
13 ‘I therefore feel justifi ed in directing attention . . .’, Max Planck, Verhandl. Der
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, 2, 1900, p. 202. Quoted in Kuhn, p. 97.
13 ‘Completely satisfactory agreement in all cases’, Max Planck, Physikalische
Abhandlungen und Vorträge, Volume 3, Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1958, p. 263.
Quoted in Hermann, p. 15.
13 ‘Some weeks of the most strenuous work of my life’. Max Planck, Nobel
Lecture, 2 June 1920, in Nobel Lectures: Physics 1901–1921, Elsevier, Amster-
dam 1967. See http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1918/
planck-lecture. html
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412
14 ‘I busied myself, from then on, that is, from the day of its establishment . . .’,
Max Planck, Nobel Lecture, 2 June 1920, in Nobel Lectures: Physics 1901–1921,
Elsevier, Amsterdam 1967. See http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/
laureates/1918/ planck-lecture.html
15 ‘Briefl y summarised, what I did can be described as simply an act of despera-
tion’, Max Planck, letter to Robert Williams Wood, 7 October 1931. Quoted in
Hermann, p. 21.
15 ‘We therefore regard . . .’, Max Planck, lecture to the Berlin Physical Society, 14
December 1900. Quoted in Isaacson, p. 96.
15 ‘. . . since it has the dimensions of a product of energy and time’, Max Planck,
Physikalische Abhandlungen und Vorträge, Volume 3, Vieweg, Braunschweig,
1958, p. 266. Quoted in Hermann, p. 19.
16 ‘Felt that he had possibly made a discovery of the fi rst rank’, Heisenberg, Phys-
ics and Philosophy, p. 19.
2: Annus Mirabilis
19 ‘I promise you four papers in return . . .’, Albert Einstein, letter to Conrad
Habicht, 18 or 25 May 1905. Quoted in Isaacson, p. 93.
21 ‘A profound formal difference exists . . .’, Albert Einstein, Annalen der Physik, 17,
1905, p. 132. This quote is from the English translation published in Stachel,
p. 177.
22 ‘If monochromatic radiation . . .’, Albert Einstein, Annalen der Physik, 17, 1905,
pp. 143–144. English translation quoted in Stachel, p. 191.
22 ‘. . . in the propagation of a light ray . . .’, Albert Einstein, Annalen der Physik. 17,
1905, p. 133. English translation quoted in Stachel, p. 178.
24 ‘That he may sometimes have missed the target in his speculations . . .’, Pais,
Subtle is the Lord, p. 382.
3: A Little Bit of Reality
25 ‘This Einstein must be a clever fellow . . .’, attributed to George von Hevesy.
Quoted in Kuhn, p. 215.
27 ‘This is wrong’, Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 120.
28 ‘The whole thing was very interesting in Cambridge . . .’, Pais, Niels Bohr’s
Times, p. 121.
29 ‘This seems to be nothing else than what was to be expected . . .’, Pais, Niels
Bohr’s Times, p. 137.
notes and sources
413
29 ‘Perhaps I have found out a little about the structure of atoms . . .’, Niels Bohr,
letter to Harald Bohr, 19 June 1912, quoted in French and Kennedy, p. 76.
32 ‘. . . the dynamical equilibrium of the systems in the [stable orbits] can be dis-
cussed . . .’, Niels Bohr, Philosophical Magazine, 26, 1913, p 7. This paper is repro-
duced in French and Kennedy, p. 83.
32 ‘I do not know if you appreciate the fact that long papers have a way of fright-
ening readers’, quoted in French and Kennedy, p. 77.
4: la Comédie Française
36 ‘All movements of bodies were supposed to be relative to the light-carrying
ether . . .’, Albert Einstein, letter to Maurice Solovine (undated), quoted in
Isaacson, p. 131.
36 ‘. . . its mass decreases by [E/c
2
] . . .’, Albert Einstein, Annalen der Physik, 18, 1905,
p. 641. From the English translation in Stachel, p. 164.
37 ‘The notion of a quantum makes little sense, seemingly, if energy is to be
continuously distributed through space . . .’, de Broglie, p. 8.
37 ‘After long refl ection in solitude and meditation . . .’, Louis de Broglie, from
the 1963 re-edited version of his PhD thesis. Quoted in Pais, Subtle is the Lord,
p. 436.
38 ‘An electron is for us the archetype of [an] isolated parcel of energy . . .’, de
Broglie, p. 8.
38 ‘Represents a spatial distribution of phase, that is to say, it is a “Phase wave” ’,
de Broglie, p. 10.
40 ‘Thus, the resonance condition can be identifi ed with the stability condition
from quantum theory’, de Broglie, p. 29.
41 ‘He [de Broglie] has lifted a corner of the great veil’, Albert Einstein, letter to
Paul Langevin, 16 December 1924. Quoted in Moore, p. 187.
41 ‘. . . de Broglie has undertaken a very interesting attempt . . .’, Albert Einstein,
letter to Hendrik Lorentz, 16 December 1924. Quoted in Pais, Subtle is the Lord,
p. 436.
41 ‘Some wit, in fact, dubbed de Broglie’s theory “la Comédie Française” ’,
Gamow, Thirty Years that Shook Physics, p. 81.
42 ‘From this we see why certain orbits are stable; but, we have ignored passage
from one to another stable orbit . . .’, de Broglie, p. 29.
42 ‘Would be very unhappy to renounce complete causality’, Albert Einstein,
letter to Max Born, 27 January 1920. Quoted in Pais, Subtle is the Lord, p. 412.
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414
5: A Strangely Beautiful Interior
44 ‘Honourable funeral’, Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 238.
44 ‘. . . as soon as it became clear that I was about to work in Professor Bohr’s
Institute . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 45.
45 ‘He looked like a simple peasant boy . . .’, Max Born, quoted in van der Waer-
den, p. 19.
45 ‘A large number of brilliant young men from every part of the world . . .’,
Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 45.
46 ‘But now and then our papers also tell us about more ominous, anti-Semitic,
trends in Germany . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 55.
47 ‘These models have been deduced, or if your prefer guessed, from experi-
ments . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 41.
48 ‘When the fi rst terms seemed to accord with the energy principle, I became
rather excited . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 61.
49 ‘He had written a crazy paper and did not dare send it in for publication . . .’,
Max Born, quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 278.
50 ‘Only much later did I learn from Born that it was simply a matter here of mul-
tiplying matrices . . .’, Werner Heisenberg, manuscript of a lecture intended
for delivery in Göttingen, May 1975. Subsequently published in Heisenberg,
Encounters with Einstein, p. 45.
50 ‘. . . on the one hand, your results, especially concerning the general defi nition
of the differential quotient . . .’, Werner Heisenberg, letter to Paul Dirac, 20
November 1925. Quoted in Kragh, Dirac: A Scientifi c Biography, p. 20.
6: The Self-rotating Electron
51 ‘How can one look happy when he is thinking about the anomalous Zeeman
effect?’, quoted in Enz, p. 92.
52 ‘Whoever studies this mature and grandly conceived work . . .’, Albert Ein-
stein, quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 200.
53 ‘In the classifi cation adopted, the remarkable feature emerges that the
number of electrons in each completed level . . .’, Edmund Stoner, quoted in
Enz, p. 122.
54 ‘There can never be two or more equivalent electrons in the atom . . .’, Wolf-
gang Pauli, quoted in Enz, p. 122.
54 ‘Offer itself automatically in a natural way’, Wolfgang Pauli, quoted in Enz,
p. 122.
notes and sources
415
55 ‘I am the one who rejoices most about it . . .’, Werner Heisenberg, postcard to
Wolfgang Pauli, 15 December 1924. Quoted in Enz, p. 124.
57 ‘For some reason I had imagined him [Pauli] as being much older and as hav-
ing a beard . . .’, Ralph de Laer Kronig, quoted by Enz, p. 111.
58 ‘A new Copenhagen heresy’, Wolfgang Pauli, quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times,
p. 243.
58 ‘I should not have mentioned the matter [to Kramers] at all . . .’, Ralph de Laer
Kronig, letter to Niels Bohr, 8 April 1926. Quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times,
p. 244.
7: A Late Erotic Outburst
60 ‘Heisenberg’s form of quantum theory completely avoids a mechanical-
kinematic visualization of the motions of electrons . . .’, Wolfgang Pauli,
Zeitschrift für Physik, 36, 1926, p. 336. An English translation is available in
van der Waerden, p. 387.
61 ‘You know it would be easier to live with a canary than a racehorse . . .’, Arthur
I. Miller, in Farmelo, p. 117.
62 ‘A very notable contribution’, Albert Einstein, quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s
Times, p. 241.
63 ‘Naturally de Broglie’s consideration in the framework of his comprehen-
sive theory is altogether of far greater value . . .’, Erwin Schrödinger, letter to
Albert Einstein, 3 November 1925. Quoted in Moore, p. 192.
63 ‘So in one of the next colloquia, Schrödinger gave a beautifully clear
account . . .’, Felix Bloch, Physics Today, 29, 1976, p. 23.
65 ‘At the moment I am struggling with a new atomic theory . . .’, Erwin Schrödinger,
letter to Wilhelm Wien, 27 December 1925. Quoted in Moore, p. 196.
66 ‘In the same natural way as the integers specifying the number of nodes
in a vibrating string’, Erwin Schrödinger, Annalen der Physik. 79, 1926, p. 361.
Quoted in Moore, p. 202.
66 ‘Late, erotic outburst in his life’, Hermann Weyl, quoted in Moore, p. 191.
67 ‘I was absolutely unaware of any generic relationship with Heisenberg . . .’,
Erwin Schrödinger, Annalen der Physik. 79, 1926, p. 735. English translation
quoted in Moore, p. 211.
67 ‘The more I think about the physical portion of the Schrödinger theory . . .’,
Werner Heisenberg, letter to Wolfgang Pauli, 8 June
1926. Quoted in Cassidy,
p. 215.
the quantum story
416
8: Ghost Field
73 ‘Only a further extension of the theory; which in all likelihood will be very
laborious . . .’, Max Born, Problems of Atomic Dynamics, MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1926. Quoted in Beller, p. 31. Born’s book was the fi rst to
present the new quantum mechanics.
74 ‘. . . only one interpretation is possible, [the wavefunction] gives the probabil-
ity for the electron . . .’, Max Born, Zeitschrift für Physik. 37, 1926, p. 863–867. An
English translation is available in Wheeler and Zurek, pp. 52–55. The quota-
tions (and associated footnote) appear on p. 54.
75 ‘Schrödinger’s quantum mechanics therefore gives quite a defi nite answer to
the question of the effect of the collision . . .’, Max Born, Zeitschrift für Physik.
37, 1926, p. 863–867. See Wheeler and Zurek, p. 54.
77 ‘In classical dynamics the knowledge of the state of a closed system . . .’, Max
Born, Nature, 119, 1927, pp. 354–357. Reproduced in Born, pp. 6–12. This quo-
tation appears on p. 6.
77 ‘The classical theory introduced the microscopic coordinates which deter-
mine the individual process . . .’, Born, p. 10.
78 ‘From an offprint of Born’s last work in the Zeitsch. f. Phys. I know more or
less how he thinks of things . . .’, Erwin Schrödinger, letter to Wilhelm Wien,
26 August 1926. Quoted in Moore, p. 225.
78 ‘Quantum mechanics is very impressive. But an inner voice tells me that it
is not yet the real thing . . .’, Albert Einstein, letter to Max Born, 4 December
1926. Quoted in Pais, Subtle is the Lord, p.
443.
9: All This Damned Quantum Jumping
79 ‘Deepest formulation of the quantum laws’, Max Born, Zeitschrift für Physik.
37, 1926, p. 863–867. See Wheeler and Zurek, p. 52.
80 ‘. . . told me rather sharply that while he understood my regrets . . .’, Heisen-
berg, Physics and Beyond, p. 73.
81 ‘Surely you realise that the whole idea of quantum jumps is bound to end
in nonsense . . .’, This, and the subsequent dialogue, is adapted from Heisen-
berg’s reconstruction of the debate, which appears in Heisenberg, Physics and
Beyond, pp. 73–76.
84 ‘Bohr’s . . . approach to atomic problems . . . is really remarkable . . .’, Erwin
Schrödinger, letter to Wilhelm Wien, 21 October 1926. Quoted in Moore, p. 228.
86 ‘I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very
late at night . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, p. 30.
notes and sources
417
86 ‘. . . where I could think about these hopelessly complicated problems undis-
turbed’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 77.
10: The Uncertainty Principle
87 ‘It would have been beautiful if you were right . . .’, Max Born, letter to Erwin
Schrödinger, 6 November 1926. Quoted in Beller, p. 36.
87 ‘Schrödinger’s achievement reduces itself to something purely mathematical;
his physics is quite wretched’, Max Born, letter to Albert Einstein, 30 Novem-
ber 1926. Quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 288.
88 ‘. . . was witnessing the fertility of the particle concept every day . . .’, Max Born,
My Life and Views, Scribner’s, New York, 1968, p. 55. Quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s
Times, p. 288.
89 ‘I am now however, convinced with all the fervour of my heart . . .’, Wolfgang
Pauli, letter to Werner Heisenberg, 19 October 1926. Quoted in Cassidy, p. 232.
The emphasis is Pauli’s.
89 ‘One may view the world with the p-eye and one may view it with the q-eye . . .’,
Wolfgang Pauli, letter to Werner Heisenberg, 19 October 1926. Quoted in Enz,
p. 141.
90 ‘. . . when I realised fairly soon that the obstacles before me were insurmount-
able . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 77.
90 ‘But you don’t seriously believe that none but observable magnitudes must
go into a physical theory?’, This, and subsequent dialogue, is taken from
Heisenberg’s reconstruction: Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 63.
91 ‘Can quantum mechanics represent the fact that an electron fi nds itself
approximately in a given place . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 78.
92 ‘Thus, the more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the
momentum is known, and conversely . . .’, Werner Heisenberg, Zeitschrift für
Physik, 43, 1927, pp. 172–198. An English translation is provided in Wheeler
and Zurek, pp.
62–84. This and the subsequent quote appear on pp. 64–65.
93
‘ “When we know the present precisely, we can predict the future,” is not the
conclusion but the assumption . . .’, Werner Heisenberg, Zeitschrift für Physik,
43, 1927, pp. 172–198. See Wheeler and Zurek, p. 83. According to Beller (see
pp. 99–101), in reaching this conclusion Heisenberg was infl uenced by a paper
published by physicist H.A. Sentfl eben in 1923.
94 ‘I wanted to get Pauli’s reactions before Bohr was back . . .’, Werner Heisen-
berg, interview by Thomas Kuhn, 19 February 1963, Niels Bohr Archive.
Quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 304.
the quantum story
418
11: The ‘Kopenhagener Geist’
97 ‘Then Niels Bohr returned from his skiing holiday and we had a fresh round
of diffi cult discussions’, Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 79.
100 ‘I remember that it ended with my breaking out in tears because I just
couldn’t stand this pressure from Bohr’, Werner Heisenberg, interview by
Thomas Kuhn, 25 February 1963, Archive for the History of Quantum Physics.
Quoted in Jammer, p. 65.
101 ‘Well, we have a consistent mathematical scheme and this consistent math-
ematical scheme tells us everything which can be observed . . .’, This, and
subsequent quotes, are taken from Werner Heisenberg, interview by Tho-
mas Kuhn, 25 February 1963, Archive for the History of Quantum Physics. Quoted
in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 310.
101 ‘Naturally, if one starts with [wave–particle duality], one can do everything
without fear of contradiction . . .’, Werner Heisenberg, letter to Wolfgang
Pauli, 16 May 1927. Quoted in Cassidy, p. 238.
102 ‘In this connection Bohr has brought to my attention that I have overlooked
essential points in the course of several discussions in this paper . . .’, This,
and the subsequent quote, are taken from Werner Heisenberg, Zeitschrift für
Physik, 43, 1927, pp. 172–198. See Wheeler and Zurek, pp. 83–84.
102 ‘Kopenhagener Geist der Quantentheorie’, Heisenberg, The Physical Principles
of the Quantum Theory, preface.
12: There is No Quantum World
104 ‘Bohr dictated and the next day all he had dictated was discarded and we
began anew’, Oskar Klein, interview with Léon Rosenfeld and J. Kalckar, 7
November 1968, Niels Bohr Archive. Quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s Times, p. 311.
104 ‘. . . I shall try, by making use only of simple considerations and without
going into any details of technical mathematical character . . .’ Niels Bohr,
Nature, 121, 1928, pp. 580–590. This article was reprinted in Niels Bohr,
Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature, Cambridge University Press, 1934,
pp. 52–91. This was reproduced again in Wheeler and Zurek, pp. 87–126.
This quote appears in Wheeler and Zurek, p. 87.
105 ‘On one hand, the defi nition of the state of a physical system, as ordinarily under-
stood, claims the elimination of all external disturbances . . .’, Niels Bohr, Nature,
121, 1928, pp. 580–590. This quote appears in Wheeler and Zurek, pp. 89–90.
105 ‘This lecture will not induce any one of us to change his own [opinion]
about quantum mechanics’, Léon Rosenfeld, interview by Thomas Kuhn
notes and sources
419
and John Heilbron, 1 July 1963, Niels Bohr Archive. Quoted in Pais, Niels Bohr’s
Times, p. 315.
106 ‘The quantum theory is characterised by the acknowledgement of a funda-
mental limitation in the classical physical ideas when applied to atomic phe-
nomena . . .’, Niels Bohr, Nature, 121, 1928, pp. 580–590. This quote appears in
Wheeler and Zurek, p. 90.
106 ‘The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory starts from a para-
dox . . .’, Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, p. 32.
109 ‘Our actual situation in research work in atomic physics is usually this . . .’,
Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, pp. 45–46.
110 ‘There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical
description . . .’, Aage Petersen, in French and Kennedy, p. 305.
110 ‘The originality of the logical positivists lay in their making the impossibil-
ity of metaphysics depend not upon the nature of what could be known but
upon the nature of what could be said’, A.J. Ayer (ed.), Logical Positivism. The
Library of Philosophical Movements. The Free Press of Glencoe, 1959, p. 11.
111 ‘Accordingly, an independent reality in the ordinary physical sense can
neither be ascribed to the phenomena nor to the agencies of observation’,
Niels Bohr, Nature, 121, 1928, pp. 580–590. This quote appears in Wheeler
and Zurek, p. 89.
13: The Debate Commences
115 ‘. . . several of us came to the conference with great anticipations to learn his
[Einstein’s] reaction . . .’, Niels Bohr, in Schilpp, pp. 211–212.
117 ‘The wave y then appears as both a pilot wave (Führungsfeld of Mr Born)
and a probability wave . . .’, Louis de Broglie, ‘The New Dynamics of Quanta’,
Proceedings of the Fifth Solvay Congress, 1928. This quote is from an English
translation published in Bacciagaluppi and Valentini, p. 383.
117 ‘After much refl ection back and forth, I come to the conclusion that I am
not competent [to give] such a report . . .’, Albert Einstein, letter to Hendrik
Lorentz, 17 June 1927. Quoted in Pais, Subtle is the Lord, pp. 431–432.
117 ‘. . . we consider quantum mechanics to be a closed theory . . .’, Max Born and
Werner Heisenberg, ‘Quantum Mechanics’, Proceedings of the Fifth Solvay Con-
gress, 1928. English translation from Bacciagaluppi and Valentini, p. 437.
117 ‘I see nothing in Mr Schrödinger’s calculations that would justify this hope’,
Werner Heisenberg, Proceedings of the Fifth Solvay Congress, 1928. English trans-
lation from Bacciagaluppi and Valentini, p. 472.