Mechanics is a branch of physics, which studies the general laws of motion of objects. It is the most basic branch of physics and the most basic subject. At the beginning of the 20th century, people gradually realized that the accepted laws of mechanics could not describe the behavior of tiny objects such as atoms and subatomic particles. They are puzzled and uneasy about this, because the accepted laws are perfect when applied to macroscopic objects (that is, objects much larger than a single atom).
After the beginning of World War II, under the threat of Nazi Germany, the great Danish physicist Bohr left his beloved Copenhagen Institute of Theoretical Physics and his colleagues from all over the world for the United States. Many German scientists have also left their homes and are determined not to compromise with Nazi forces. However, an equally outstanding physicist stayed behind and was entrusted with the heavy responsibility by Nazi Germany to lead the technical work of developing atomic bombs. Bohr, who is far away in a foreign land, is angry. He had a sharp contradiction with his former colleagues and formed a lifelong estrangement with him. Interestingly, this scientist who has never been forgiven by Bohr won the Bohr International Medal in 1970 to commend "scientists or engineers who have made great contributions to the peaceful use of atomic energy". History has played a huge joke here, and the protagonist of this joke, like the "uncertainty principle" he discovered, is always confusing and puzzling. He is Heisenberg, the founder of quantum mechanics.
1976 February 1 passed away at the age of 75. At the beginning of the 20th century, theoretical physics based on Einstein's theory of relativity and Bohr's atomic model attracted young researchers. The Danish Institute of Theoretical Physics has become a place that young physicists yearn for. In Munich, Bohr's early theory was widely accepted, and the work of Bohr Institute was based on Bohr-Sommerfeld atomic model. 1924 in July, Heisenberg's paper on the abnormal Zeeman effect passed the examination, which made him a lecturer and qualified to give lectures at any level in German universities. Bohr, obviously having a good impression on this outstanding young man, also wrote to Heisenberg, telling him that he had won a prize of $65,438+0,000 from the International Education Foundation (IEB) funded by Rockefeller Consortium, thus giving him the opportunity to go to Copenhagen to work with Bohr and his colleagues for one year. At that time, theoretical physicists from all over the world gathered in Bohr Institute were trying to use this model to explore spectral lines and their splitting in electric and magnetic fields, thus creating an atomic process theory without logical contradictions. At the same time, Bohr himself believes that only by resolutely deviating from the traditional view can the problem make progress. But the question of where to start has been bothering him. This is a thorny problem because it is related to the transition from traditional classical mechanics to more natural science. The emergence of new things always has to break through many obstacles. What do we do? The whole institute is immersed in meditation and constant experiments. 1925, when all efforts seem to be in vain, people seem to think that physics has reached a dead end.
However, Heisenberg's thought solved Bohr's long-term puzzle. Heisenberg was skeptical about all kinds of atomic models when he was in college. He felt that Bohr's theory could not be proved ideally in the experiment. Because Bohr's theory is based on some quantities that cannot be directly observed or measured, such as the speed and trajectory of electron movement. Heisenberg believes that in experiments, we can't expect to find some atomic characteristics that can't be observed at all, such as the position of electrons in atoms, the speed and trajectory of electrons, but should only explore those values that can be determined by experiments, such as the energy of atoms in a fixed state, the frequency and intensity of atomic radiation, etc. So when calculating a certain value, we only need to use the mutual ratio between the values that can be observed in principle, that is, we can only rely on mathematical abstraction to solve the problem. Therefore, Heisenberg first found sufficient mathematical basis from Bohr's correspondence principle, which changed this principle from empirical principle to scientific method to study the internal process of atoms.
Heisenberg didn't stop there. 1June, 925, he solved another important problem in physics-how to explain the stable energy state of an anharmonic atom, thus laying the foundation for the development of quantum mechanics. A few months later, he published a paper entitled "A New Interpretation of Quantum Theory on the Relationship between Kinematics and Mechanics" in the Journal of Physics, and introduced a new mathematical quantity into the field of physics, thus establishing a quantum theory. Heisenberg's theory is based on observable things or measurable quantities. He believes that we can't always accurately determine the position of an electron in space at a certain moment, nor can we track it in its orbit, so we can't be sure whether Bohr's hypothetical planetary orbit really exists. Therefore, mechanical quantities such as position and velocity need to be expressed by the abstract mathematical system of "matrix" in linear algebra, rather than by ordinary numbers. As a mathematical system, matrix refers to the theory that complex numbers are arranged in a rectangle. The position of each number in the rectangle is represented by two indicators, one is equivalent to a row in the mathematical position, and the other is equivalent to a column in the mathematical position. After the "matrix" was put forward, Born soon noticed the importance of this problem. He cooperated with Iordan to further study the principle of matrix mechanics. 1In September, 925, they published the article Quantum Mechanics together, which developed Heisenberg's thought into a systematic theory of quantum mechanics. In June, 65438 +065438+10, Heisenberg published a paper "Re-interpretation of quantum theory on the relationship between kinematics and mechanics" in cooperation with Born and Iordan, and established a formal system of quantum mechanics-matrix mechanics. Since then, people have discovered the natural laws of atomic microstructure. Einstein commented: "Heisenberg laid a huge quantum egg."
Heisenberg's matrix mechanics is an algebraic method, which starts with the discreteness of observed spectral lines and emphasizes discontinuity. A few months later, at the beginning of 1926, the Austrian physicist Schrodinger adopted the method of solving differential equations, and started with the popularization of classical theories, emphasizing continuity, thus establishing the second theory of quantum mechanics-wave mechanics. Because the founders of the two theories only believe in their own theories and seldom know each other's thoughts, an argument is inevitable, and both of them criticize each other's theories. Later, after carefully studying Heisenberg's matrix mechanics, Schrodinger and Neumann proved the mathematical equivalence between wave mechanics and matrix mechanics. The successful combination of these two theories greatly enriches and expands the quantum theory system. In this way, 1926 formally established a method to solve the task of atomic physics.
Later, when Heisenberg explained the alternation of strong and weak spectral lines in the spectrum of hydrogen molecules, he used matrix mechanics to divide hydrogen molecules into two forms: normal hydrogen and extended hydrogen, that is, allotropic hydrogen was discovered. This is an amazing discovery. 1933, in recognition of his creation of quantum mechanics, especially the discovery of allotrope hydrogen by using the theory of quantum mechanics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics by the Science Award of the Royal Swedish Academy. Fortune befalls the young Heisenberg. Wen Er Karl Heisenberg is a famous German theoretical physicist, philosopher and one of the founders of quantum mechanics. 190165438+February 5th, he was born in Wü rzburg, Germany. His father, dr a Heisenberg, was a famous linguist and historian in eastern Rome. He was a professor of medieval and modern Greek at the University of Munich. Influenced by it, young Heisenberg learned some language knowledge, which his father was proud of.
Before 1920, Heisenberg studied at the famous Maxim School in Munich. Maximilian School has trained many future scientists, such as Planck, the founder of quantum thought, who studied here 40 years ago. In middle school, Heisenberg was fascinated by mathematics and soon mastered differential calculus and integral calculus. At that time, he had been looking forward to becoming a mathematician in the future. However, his later college career changed the young man's fate.
1920 After graduating from high school, Heisenberg was admitted to Munich University and studied physics under the guidance of Sommerfeld and Wayne. Later, under the guidance of Born and Hilbert, he went to the University of G? ttingen to study physics. 1923, Heisenberg wrote a doctoral thesis on fluid mechanics, entitled "On the Stability and Turbulence of Fluid Flow", and studied the approximation of nonlinear theory in detail. At the end of the year, Heisenberg received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Munich.
1923 10 returned to gottingen and was hired as a teaching assistant by Max Born.
1On June 7th, 924, I first met Einstein in G? ttingen.
From 1924 to 1927, he was funded by Rockefeller Foundation and came to work with Bohr in Copenhagen Institute of Theoretical Physics. Since then, Heisenberg has started fruitful academic research in the atmosphere of long-term fierce academic contention.
193365438+February 1 1 won 1932 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Positron theory was put forward on June 2 1, 1934. During World War II, Einstein and other scientists were persecuted by the Nazis. Heisenberg stayed in Germany out of his love for Germany and tried his best to save German science.
194 1 year, he was appointed professor of physics at the University of Berlin and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Royal Institute of Physics. He became Germany's leader in developing atomic bombs and nuclear weapons, and worked with Hahn, one of the discoverers of nuclear fission, to develop nuclear reactors. As the war progressed, Heisenberg soon found himself in a contradiction: he loved his motherland, but he hated Nazi atrocities very much. Therefore, he took practical actions to curb the development of German nuclear weapons.
From 65438 to 0946, Heisenberg and his colleagues rebuilt the Institute of Physics of the University of G? ttingen, engaged in the research of physics and astrophysics, and served as the director.
1948, the institute was renamed Max Planck Institute of Physics. 10 years later, he was hired as a professor of physics at the University of Munich, and the institute moved to Munich with him, and was renamed Max Puck Institute of Physics and Astrophysics.
After World War II, Heisenberg made great contributions to promoting the peaceful application of atomic energy. 1957, he and other German scientists jointly opposed arming the German army with nuclear weapons. He also worked closely with the International Institute of Atomic Physics in Geneva and served as the first committee chairman of the institute.
This talented physicist will never give up his persistent academic efforts. In the 20 years after 1953, Heisenberg turned his attention to the study of elementary particle theory. 1April, 958, he put forward the nonlinear spinor theory. This theory is based on four nonlinear differential equations and their so-called "cosmic formulas" including gravitons. When these equations are applied to nature, they can reflect the basic form of differential systems with universal symmetry and explain the diversity of basic particles produced in high-energy collisions. Heisenberg constantly promoted the development of modern physics with his research.
1 February, 9761day, Heisenberg, an outstanding scientist in the 20th century, died. As the founder of quantum mechanics, people will never forget that he changed people's basic view of the objective world and his great influence on the practical application of modern equipment such as lasers, transistors and electron microscopes. This scientist, who will always follow Columbus's example, opened up a new path in the microscopic world of physics, became one of the founders of quantum mechanics, and made outstanding contributions in the field of microscopic particle kinematics and mechanics.