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Autograph manuscript, 'Zur Auflösung der Gleich[ung] 0 = gik,l – gsk Δsil – gisΔslk' (On the solution of the equation 0 = gik,l – gsk Δsil – gisΔslk), [spring 1946]
細節
Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961)
Autograph manuscript, 'Zur Auflösung der Gleich[ung] 0 = gik,l – gsk Δsil – gisΔslk' (On the solution of the equation 0 = gik,l – gsk Δsil – gisΔslk), [spring 1946]
3½ pages, 270 x 210mm, on two singletons and a bifolium.
Schrödinger vs Einstein: the 'father of quantum mechanics' sends Einstein his calculations for a unified field theory.
In 1943, Schrödinger had begun publishing papers on a pure-affine unified field theory which sought to incorporate the newly-discovered scalar meson fields (relating to subatomic particles). Einstein seems to have been initially unaware of Schrödinger’s working owing to wartime restrictions, but in 1946 their renewed contact led to a burst of correspondence. In January Einstein sent two unpublished papers relating to his own unified field work (involving the torsioning of space), that ‘The attempt depends on an idea that at first seems antiquated and unprofitable, the introduction of a non-symmetrical tensor as the only relevant field quantity’. The present paper, sent to Einstein in May 1946, forms part of Schrödinger’s response.
In this highly technical mathematical paper Schrödinger attempts to provide a solution for a definition of the metric compatibility condition, and he apologises for the imperfect nature of his proposed solution – asking to be excused for any errors of calculation and noting that ‘you [i.e. Einstein and his assistant Ernst Gabor Straus] have certainly simplified it further, although I have been trying for days’. The proposed solution is set out on the last page, where Schrodinger essentially admits defeat in declaring ‘Here I stand, I cannot do any better, God help me!’, before explaining that ‘The misfortune is that a mass of “identities” emerge … And one does not exactly know “in which direction” one should use them …’.
Schrödinger is referred to as ‘the father of quantum mechanics’ for his famous wave equation: describing and predicting the evolution of quantum mechanical systems over time, it is considered the foundational equation of quantum mechanics, and brought him the 1933 Nobel Prize. Schrödinger was an admirer of Einstein, and the two men had a friendly relationship for many years – they were colleagues at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin from 1927. They shared a strong distaste for the probabilistic quality of quantum mechanics, and when Schrödinger began to focus on unified field theory in 1943 this led him to avoid the use of quantum probabilities and seek a classical framework depending entirely on continuous deterministic wave equations. Despite the fact that Einstein (and others) had unsuccessfully attempted to apply affine geometry to unified field theory in the 1920s, Schrödinger chose the affine connection as a fundamental component of his unified field theory.
Early in 1947 Schrödinger found that by adding a cosmological constant to his theory he was able to derive both gravity and electromagnetism using an elegantly simple Lagrangian (with a non-symmetric connection), and he became convinced that he had achieved a true and accurate unified field theory built on strictly classical foundations. Einstein disagreed, and both he and other physicists identified fatal flaws in Schrödinger’s mathematical formalism, with Einstein further criticising the theory for its lack of empirical substantiation. Undeterred, Schrödinger called a press conference where he declared his great ‘breakthrough’ to the world. Einstein was measured in his response, privately telling Schrödinger merely that ‘your theory does not really differ from mine’ and publicly going no further than saying that the theory offered ‘no special advantages over the theoretical possibilities known before, rather the opposite’: but he did not take Schrödinger’s self-aggrandizement well, and broke off their friendship. Schrödinger apologized to Einstein soon after the press conference, but the interruption in their correspondence was to last for more than three years.
The present manuscript is unpublished and formally unstudied. Schrödinger’s manuscripts and private papers are preserved principally at the Austrian Central Library for Physics (at the University of Vienna) and at the Research Institute Brenner-Archives in Innsbruck. Autograph letters and manuscripts by Schrödinger are not common at auction, and this appears to be the most significant scientific manuscript by him to have been offered for sale.
Autograph manuscript, 'Zur Auflösung der Gleich[ung] 0 = gik,l – gsk Δsil – gisΔslk' (On the solution of the equation 0 = gik,l – gsk Δsil – gisΔslk), [spring 1946]
3½ pages, 270 x 210mm, on two singletons and a bifolium.
Schrödinger vs Einstein: the 'father of quantum mechanics' sends Einstein his calculations for a unified field theory.
In 1943, Schrödinger had begun publishing papers on a pure-affine unified field theory which sought to incorporate the newly-discovered scalar meson fields (relating to subatomic particles). Einstein seems to have been initially unaware of Schrödinger’s working owing to wartime restrictions, but in 1946 their renewed contact led to a burst of correspondence. In January Einstein sent two unpublished papers relating to his own unified field work (involving the torsioning of space), that ‘The attempt depends on an idea that at first seems antiquated and unprofitable, the introduction of a non-symmetrical tensor as the only relevant field quantity’. The present paper, sent to Einstein in May 1946, forms part of Schrödinger’s response.
In this highly technical mathematical paper Schrödinger attempts to provide a solution for a definition of the metric compatibility condition, and he apologises for the imperfect nature of his proposed solution – asking to be excused for any errors of calculation and noting that ‘you [i.e. Einstein and his assistant Ernst Gabor Straus] have certainly simplified it further, although I have been trying for days’. The proposed solution is set out on the last page, where Schrodinger essentially admits defeat in declaring ‘Here I stand, I cannot do any better, God help me!’, before explaining that ‘The misfortune is that a mass of “identities” emerge … And one does not exactly know “in which direction” one should use them …’.
Schrödinger is referred to as ‘the father of quantum mechanics’ for his famous wave equation: describing and predicting the evolution of quantum mechanical systems over time, it is considered the foundational equation of quantum mechanics, and brought him the 1933 Nobel Prize. Schrödinger was an admirer of Einstein, and the two men had a friendly relationship for many years – they were colleagues at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin from 1927. They shared a strong distaste for the probabilistic quality of quantum mechanics, and when Schrödinger began to focus on unified field theory in 1943 this led him to avoid the use of quantum probabilities and seek a classical framework depending entirely on continuous deterministic wave equations. Despite the fact that Einstein (and others) had unsuccessfully attempted to apply affine geometry to unified field theory in the 1920s, Schrödinger chose the affine connection as a fundamental component of his unified field theory.
Early in 1947 Schrödinger found that by adding a cosmological constant to his theory he was able to derive both gravity and electromagnetism using an elegantly simple Lagrangian (with a non-symmetric connection), and he became convinced that he had achieved a true and accurate unified field theory built on strictly classical foundations. Einstein disagreed, and both he and other physicists identified fatal flaws in Schrödinger’s mathematical formalism, with Einstein further criticising the theory for its lack of empirical substantiation. Undeterred, Schrödinger called a press conference where he declared his great ‘breakthrough’ to the world. Einstein was measured in his response, privately telling Schrödinger merely that ‘your theory does not really differ from mine’ and publicly going no further than saying that the theory offered ‘no special advantages over the theoretical possibilities known before, rather the opposite’: but he did not take Schrödinger’s self-aggrandizement well, and broke off their friendship. Schrödinger apologized to Einstein soon after the press conference, but the interruption in their correspondence was to last for more than three years.
The present manuscript is unpublished and formally unstudied. Schrödinger’s manuscripts and private papers are preserved principally at the Austrian Central Library for Physics (at the University of Vienna) and at the Research Institute Brenner-Archives in Innsbruck. Autograph letters and manuscripts by Schrödinger are not common at auction, and this appears to be the most significant scientific manuscript by him to have been offered for sale.
榮譽呈獻
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts