Schrodinger Erwin: interesting facts from life, biography, discoveries, photos, quotes. Shroedinger `s cat

Erwin Schrödinger (years of life - 1887-1961) is an Austrian physicist who is known as one of the creators of quantum mechanics. In 1933 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Schrödinger Erwin is the author of the main equation in a section such as nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. It is known today as the Schrödinger equation.

Origin, early years

Vienna is a city in which many outstanding people were born, including the great physicist Erwin Schrodinger. A brief biography of him and in our time is of great interest, and not only in scientific circles. His father was Rudolf Schroedinger, industrialist and botanist. His mother was the daughter of a chemistry professor at the local University of Vienna. She was half English. As a child, Erwin Schroedinger, 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.

In 1906-1910, after graduation from the gymnasium, Schrödinger Erwin was trained by F. Gazenerly and F. S. Exner. In his younger years, he was addicted to the work of Schopenhauer. This explains his interest in philosophy, including the Eastern, the theory of color and perception, Vedanta.

Service, marriage, work as a professor

Schrödinger Erwin served as an artillery officer from 1914 to 1918. In 1920, Erwin married. His wife was A. Bertel. With his future wife, he met in Zeemach in the summer of 1913, when he carried out experiments related to atmospheric electricity. Then, in 1920, he became a student of M. Wine, who worked at the University of Jena. A year later, Schrödinger Erwin began working in Stuttgart, where he was an associate professor. A little later, in the same year of 1921, he moved to Breslau, where he was already a full professor. In the summer, Erwin Schroedinger moved to Zurich.

Life in Zurich

Life in this city was very beneficial for the scientist. The fact is that not only did Erwin Schrödinger like to devote his time to science. Interesting facts from the life of the scientist include his passion for skiing and mountaineering. And the mountains, located nearby, provided him with a good opportunity to relax in Zurich. In addition, Schroedinger communicated with his colleagues Paul Sherrer, Peter Debye and Herman Weil, who worked at the Zurich Polytechnic. All this contributed to scientific creativity.

Nevertheless, the time Erwin spent in Zurich was overshadowed by a serious illness in 1921-22. The scientist fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis, therefore spent 9 months in the Swiss Alps, in the resort town of Arosa. Despite this, the Zurich years in creative terms have become the most fruitful for Erwin. It was here that he wrote his works on wave mechanics, which became classical. It is known that Weil helped him a lot in overcoming the mathematical difficulties Erwin Schrödinger faced.

The Schrodinger equation

In 1926 Erwin published a very important article in one scientific journal. In it, the equation known to us as the Schrödinger equation was presented. In this article (Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem) it was used in relation to the problem of the hydrogen atom. With his help, Schroedinger explained his spectrum. This article is one of the most important in 20th century physics. In it, Schrodinger laid the foundations of a new direction in science - wave mechanics.

Work at the University of Berlin

The fame that came to the scientist opened the way to the prestigious Berlin University. Erwin became a candidate for the post of professor of theoretical physics. This post was released after Max Planck retired. Schroedinger, overcoming doubts, accepted this proposal. 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 at the University of Berlin conducted lectures in physics, conducted seminars, a physical colloquium. In addition, he participated in various organizational events. Nevertheless, in general, Erwin kept apart. This is evidenced by the memories of contemporaries, as well as the lack of students.

Erwin leaves Germany, the Nobel Prize

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, Erwin Schrödinger left Berlin University. His biography, as you can see, is marked by numerous crossings. This time the scientist simply could not do otherwise. In the summer of 1937, the elderly Schrodinger, who did not want to obey the new regime, decided to move. It should be noted that Schrödinger never expressed his dislike of Nazism openly. He did not want to interfere in politics. Nevertheless, it was almost impossible to keep apoliticalness in Germany in those years.

Just at this time, Frederick Lindeman, a British physicist, visited Germany. He invited Schrödinger to get a job at Oxford University. The scientist, going to South Tyrol for summer vacation, no longer returned to Berlin. Together with his wife, he arrived in Oxford in October 1933. Shortly after his arrival, Erwin learned about the award of the Nobel Prize (in conjunction with P. Dirac).

Jobs in Oxford

Schrodinger in Oxford was a member of the Magdalene College. He did not have any teaching duties. Together with other emigrants, the scientist was provided with security from Imperial Chemical Industry . Nevertheless, he could not get used to the unfamiliar situation of this university. One of the reasons is the lack of interest in modern physics in an educational institution focused mainly on traditional theological and humanitarian disciplines. This made Schrodinger feel that he did not deserve such a high salary and position. Another aspect of the scientist's discomfort was the features of public life, which was full of formalities and conventions. This shackled the freedom of Schrödinger, as he himself admitted. All these and other difficulties, as well as the curtailment of the financing program in 1936, forced Erwin to consider proposals for work. After Schroedinger visited Edinburgh, he decided to return to his homeland.

Homecoming

In the autumn of 1936 the scientist began to work at the University of Graz as a professor of theoretical physics. However, his stay in Austria was short. In March 1938 there was an anschluss of the country, and it became part of Nazi Germany. The scientist, using the advice of the rector of the university, wrote a letter of reconciliation expressing his readiness to put up with the new power. March 30, it was published and caused a negative reaction from the emigrated colleagues. However, these measures did not help Erwin. Because of political unreliability, he was dismissed from his post. Schrödinger received the official notification in August 1938.

Rome and Dublin

The scientist went to Rome, since the fascist Italy was then the only state, the entry into which did not require a visa (it might not have been given to Erwin). By this time, Schrodinger had contacted Imone de Valera, Prime Minister of Ireland. He was a mathematician by education and decided to create a new educational institution in Dublin. De Valera obtained a transit visa for Erwin and his wife, which opened the passage through Europe. So they arrived in Oxford in the autumn of 1938. While there was organizational work to open the institute in Dublin, Erwin took a temporary position in the Belgian Ghent. This post was financed from the funds of the Franks Foundation.

Here, the scientist found the Second World War. Intervention de Valera helped Erwin (who after the Anschluss was considered a German citizen, that is, an enemy country) to cross through England. He arrived in the capital of Ireland on October 7, 1939.

Work at the Dublin Institute, the last years of life

The Dublin Institute of Higher Studies was officially opened in June 1940. Erwin was the first professor of the department of theoretical physics - one of the first two branches. In addition, he was appointed director of the institute. Other employees who appeared later (among them were V. Heitler, L. Janosi and K. Lanczos, as well as many young physicists), could fully devote themselves to research work.

Erwin led the seminar, gave lectures, initiated the 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 the issues that lie at the intersection of the two sciences - physics and biology. In the 1940-45's. 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 to work 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.

Schroedinger spent the last years of his life in Alpbach, a Tyrolean village. The scientist died because of the exacerbation of tuberculosis in a hospital in the city of Vienna. This happened on January 4, 1961 Erwin Schrodinger was buried in Alpbach.

Shroedinger `s cat

You probably already heard about the existence of this phenomenon. However, people who are far from science usually do not know much about it. It is worth mentioning this, since a very important and interesting discovery was made by Erwin Schrodinger.

"Schrodinger's cat" is the famous thought experiment that Ervin conducted. The scientist with his help wanted to show that quantum mechanics is incomplete when from subatomic particles passes to macroscopic systems.

Erwin's article describing this experiment appeared back in 1935. It uses the method of comparison, you can even say, personification for explanation. The scientist writes that there is a cat and a box in which there is a mechanism containing a container with a 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% occurs in an hour. If it decays, the gas container opens and the cat dies. 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 put the question: is the cat alive or not? According to quantum mechanics, the atomic nucleus (and hence the animal) is simultaneously in all states (quantum superposition). The "cat-core" system before the box was opened was 50% likely in the state of "the cat is dead, the nucleus has disintegrated" and with a probability of 50% "the cat is alive, the nucleus has not decayed." It turns out that the animal inside is both dead and not.

According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the cat will still either be alive or dead, without intermediate states. The decay state of the kernel is chosen 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 not related to the box's observer (the person), but to the kernel observer (detector).

This is an interesting experiment conducted by Erwin Schrodinger. His discoveries gave impetus to the further development of physics. In conclusion, I would like to quote two statements, of which he is the author:

• "The present is the only thing that does not have an end."
• "I'm going against the current, but the direction of the flow will change."

This concludes our acquaintance with the great physicist, whose name is Erwin Schrodinger. The quotes given above allow us to slightly reveal his inner world.