English

The "Sommerfeld Puzzle" and Its Extensions

Quantum Physics 2024-01-17 v1

Abstract

The exact agreement between the Sommerfeld (1916) and Dirac (1928) results for the energy levels of the relativistic hydrogen atom (the so-called "Sommerfeld puzzle") is analyzed and extended. Werner Heisenberg called this coincidence a `miracle' but Erwin Schroedinger described it as a fortuitous computational accident.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2401.07485,
  title  = {The "Sommerfeld Puzzle" and Its Extensions},
  author = {Sergei K. Suslov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.07485},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

18 pages, 34 references. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2012.12467

R2 v1 2026-06-28T14:16:40.946Z