Erwin Schrödinger (years of life - 1887-1961) - Austrian physicist, who is known as one of the creators of quantum mechanics. In 1933 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Erwin Schrödinger is the author of the master equation in such a section as non-relativistic quantum mechanics. It is known today as the Schrödinger equation.
Origin, early years
Vienna is the city where many outstanding people were born, including the great physicist Erwin Schrödinger. A brief biography of him in our time is of great interest, and not only in scientific circles. His father was Rudolf Schrödinger, an industrialist and botanist. His mother was the daughter of a professor of chemistry at the local University of Vienna. She was half English. As a child, Erwin Schrödinger, whose photo you will find in this article, learned English, which he knew along with German. His mother was a Lutheran and his father was a Catholic.
B1906-1910, after graduating from the gymnasium, Erwin Schrödinger studied with F. Hasenerl and F. S. Exner. In his youth, he was fond of the work of Schopenhauer. This explains his interest in philosophy, including Eastern philosophy, the theory of color and perception, Vedanta.
Service, marriage, work as a professor
Schrödinger Erwin served as an artillery officer between 1914 and 1918. In 1920 Erwin got married. A. Bertel became his wife. He met his future wife in Seemach in the summer of 1913, when he carried out experiments related to atmospheric electricity. Then, in 1920, he became a student of M. Wien, who worked at the University of Jena. A year later, Schrödinger Erwin began to work in Stuttgart, where he was an associate professor. A little later, in the same 1921, he moved to Breslau, where he was already a full professor. In the summer, Erwin Schrödinger moved to Zurich.
Life in Zurich
Life in this city was very beneficial for the scientist. The fact is that Erwin Schrödinger liked to devote his time not only to science. Interesting facts from the scientist's life include his passion for skiing and mountaineering. And the mountains located nearby provided him with a good opportunity to relax in Zurich. In addition, Schrödinger spoke with his colleagues Paul Scherrer, Peter Debye and Hermann Weyl, who worked at the Zurich Polytechnic. All this contributed to scientific creativity.
Nevertheless, Erwin's time in Zurich was marred by a serious illness in 1921-22. Scientistfell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis, so he spent 9 months in the Swiss Alps, in the resort town of Arosa. Despite this, the Zurich years were creatively the most fruitful for Erwin. It was here that he wrote his works on wave mechanics, which became classics. Weil is known to have helped him immensely in overcoming the mathematical difficulties that Erwin Schrödinger faced.
Schrödinger equation
In 1926, Erwin published a very important article in a scientific journal. It presented an equation known to us as the Schrödinger equation. In this article (Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem) it was used in relation to the hydrogen atom problem. With it, Schrödinger explained its spectrum. This article is one of the most important in physics of the 20th century. In it, Schrodinger laid the foundations for a new direction in science - wave mechanics.
Working at the University of Berlin
The fame that came to the scientist opened his way to the prestigious Berlin University. Erwin became a candidate for the position of professor of theoretical physics. This post was vacated after Max Planck retired. Schrödinger, overcoming doubts, accepted this offer. He took up his duties on October 1, 1927.
In Berlin, Erwin found like-minded people and friends in the person of Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Max von Laue. Communication with them, of course, inspired the scientist. Schrödinger lectured on physics at the University of Berlin, held seminars, a physics colloquium. In addition, he participated in various organizationalevents. On the whole, though, Erwin kept to himself. This is evidenced by the memories of contemporaries, as well as the absence of his students.
Erwin leaves Germany, Nobel Prize
In 1933, when Hitler came to power, Erwin Schrödinger left the University of Berlin. His biography, as you can see, is marked by numerous moves. This time, the scientist simply could not do otherwise. In the summer of 1937, already elderly Schrödinger, who did not want to submit to the new regime, decided to move. It should be noted that Schrödinger never openly expressed his rejection of Nazism. He didn't want to get involved in politics. Nevertheless, in Germany of those years it was almost impossible to remain apolitical.
Just at this time, Frederick Lindemann, a British physicist, visited Germany. He invited Schrödinger to take a job at Oxford University. The scientist, having gone to South Tyrol for a summer vacation, did not return to Berlin. Together with his wife, he arrived in Oxford in October 1933. Shortly after his arrival, Erwin learned that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize (together with P. Dirac).
Working at Oxford
Schrödinger at Oxford was a member of Magdalen College. He had no teaching duties. Together with other emigrants, the scientist received support from the Imperial Chemical Industry. Nevertheless, he could not get used to the unusual environment of this university. One of the reasons is the absence in an educational institution focused mainly ontraditional theological and humanitarian disciplines, interest in modern physics. This made Schrödinger feel that he did not deserve such a high salary and position. Another aspect of the scientist's discomfort was the peculiarities of social life, which was full of formalities and conventions. This fettered Schrödinger's freedom, as he himself admitted. All these and other difficulties, as well as the curtailment of the funding program in 1936, forced Erwin to consider job offers. After Schrödinger visited Edinburgh, he decided to return to his homeland.
Homecoming
In the autumn of 1936, the scientist began working at the University of Graz as a professor of theoretical physics. However, his stay in Austria was short-lived. In March 1938, the country was Anschluss and it became part of Nazi Germany. The scientist, taking advantage of the advice of the rector of the university, wrote a letter of reconciliation, which expressed his readiness to put up with the new government. On March 30, it was published and caused a negative reaction from emigrating colleagues. However, these measures did not help Erwin. Due to political unreliability, he was dismissed from his post. Schrödinger received official notice in August 1938
Rome and Dublin
The scientist went to Rome, since fascist Italy was then the only state that did not require a visa to enter (it might not have been provided to Erwin). By this time, Schrödinger had contacted Eamon de Valera, Prime Minister of Ireland. He was a mathematician by training and decided to create inDublin new educational institution. De Valera procured a transit visa for Erwin and his wife, which opened up passage through Europe. So they arrived in Oxford in the autumn of 1938. While organizational work was underway to open an institute in Dublin, Erwin took a temporary position in Belgian Ghent. This post was funded by the Franchi Foundation.
Here the scientist found World War II. The intervention of de Valera helped Erwin (who after the Anschluss was considered a citizen of Germany, that is, an enemy country) to pass through England. He arrived in the Irish capital on October 7, 1939
Work at the Dublin Institute, last years of life
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Study was officially opened in June 1940. Erwin was the first professor in the Department of Theoretical Physics, one of the first two departments. In addition, he was appointed director of the institute. Other collaborators who appeared later (among them were W. Heitler, L. Janoshi and K. Lanczos, as well as many young physicists) could devote themselves entirely to research work.
Erwin led a seminar, gave lectures, initiated summer schools at the institute, which were attended by the most prominent physicists in Europe. The main scientific interest of Schrödinger in the Irish years was the theory of gravity, as well as issues that lie at the intersection of two sciences - physics and biology. In 1940-45. and from 1949 to 1956 the scientist was the director of the Department of Theoretical Physics. Then he decided to return to his homeland, began working at the University of Vienna as a professor of theoretical physics. After 2 years, the scientist, who at that time was often sick,decided to retire.
Schrödinger spent the last years of his life in Alpbach, a Tyrolean village. The scientist died due to an exacerbation of tuberculosis in a hospital in Vienna. It happened on January 4, 1961. Erwin Schrödinger was buried in Alpbach.
Schrödinger's cat
You've probably already heard about the existence of this phenomenon. However, people far from science usually know little about him. It is worth telling about this, as Erwin Schrödinger made a very important and interesting discovery.
"Schrödinger's Cat" is Erwin's famous thought experiment. The scientist wanted to use it to show that quantum mechanics is incomplete when it moves from subatomic particles to macroscopic systems.
Erwin's article describing this experiment appeared back in 1935. In it, for explanation, the method of comparison is used, one might even say, personification. The scientist writes that there is a cat and a box in which there is a mechanism containing a container with poisonous gas and a radioactive atomic nucleus. In the experiment, the parameters are chosen so that the decay of the nucleus with a probability of 50% will occur in an hour. If it disintegrates, the gas container will open and the cat will die. However, if this does not happen, the animal will live.
Results of the experiment
So, let's leave the animal in the box, wait an hour and ask the question: is the cat alive or not? According to quantum mechanics, the atomic nucleus (and hence the animal) is simultaneously in allstates (quantum superposition). The system "cat - core" before opening the box was with a probability of 50% in the state "the cat is dead, the core has disintegrated" and with a probability of 50% "the cat is alive, the core has not decayed". It turns out that the animal inside is both dead and not at the same time.
According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the cat will still be either alive or dead, with no intermediate states. The decay state of the nucleus is selected not when the box is opened, but when the nucleus hits the detector. After all, the reduction of the wave function in this case is associated not with the observer of the box (human), but with the observer of the nucleus (detector).
Here is an interesting experiment conducted by Erwin Schrödinger. His discoveries gave impetus to the further development of physics. In conclusion, I would like to cite two statements of which he is the author:
- "The present is the only thing that has no end."
- "I'm going against the current, but the direction of the current will change."
This concludes our acquaintance with the great physicist, whose name is Erwin Schrödinger. The quotes above allow you to slightly open his inner world.
