Related papers: Julian Schwinger (1918-1994)
Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity was proposed a little over a hundred years back. It remained a bedrock of twentieth century physics right up to Quantum Field Theory. However, the failure over several decades to provide a unified…
In order to commemorate Alfred Land\'e's unriddling of the anomalous Zeeman Effect a century ago, we reconstruct his seminal contribution to atomic physics in light of the atomic models available at the time. Land\'e recognized that the…
Feynman's modification to electrodynamics and its application to the calculation of self-energy of a free spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particle, appearing in his 1948 Physical Review paper, is shown to be applicable for the self-energy calculation of…
Joel Scherk (1946--1980) was an important early contributor to the development of string theory. Together with various collaborators, he made numerous profound and influential contributions to the subject throughout the decade of the 1970s.…
During the period identified as the Rebirth of General Relativity, John Wheeler was instrumental in retrieving the physics of gravity that had become hidden behind the mathematical formalism. For Wheeler himself the change in point of view…
Double-slit diffraction is a corner stone of quantum mechanics. It illustrates key features of quantum mechanics: interference and the particle-wave duality of matter. In 1965, Richard Feynman presented a thought experiment to show these…
The broad debate on foundational issues in quantum mechanics, which took place at the famous 1957 Chapel Hill conference on \textit{The Role of Gravitation in Physics}, is here critically analyzed with an emphasis on Richard Feynman's…
The vacuum of quantum electrodynamics is unstable against the formation of many-body states in the presence of an external electric field, manifesting itself as the creation of electron-positron pairs (Schwinger effect). This effect has…
We explore the different meanings of "quantum uncertainty" contained in Heisenberg's seminal paper from 1927, and also some of the precise definitions that were explored later. We recount the controversy about "Anschaulichkeit",…
It is described how quantum field theory went from a theory for calculating the properties of stationary states, in the mold of quantum mechanics, to the scattering-focused theory we know today. This development is located as originating in…
We review here the main contributions of Einstein to the quantum theory. To put them in perspective we first give an account of Physics as it was before him. It is followed by a brief account of the problem of black body radiation which…
Einstein is usually revered as the father of special and general relativity. In this article I demonstrate that he is also the father of Solid State Physics, or even his broader version known as Condensed Matter Physics (including liquids).…
With the advent of quantum mechanics by Heisenberg in 1925 exactly a century ago, the quantization of the electromagnetic field became an important goal for our founding fathers, whom we are here to celebrate. It was realized very soon that…
In the last 100 years, the most important equations in physics are Maxwell's equations for electrodynamics, Einstein's equation for gravity, Dirac's equation for the electron and Yang-Mills equation for elementary particles. Do these…
Principles of Maxwell, Lorentz, Milne, Dirac and Feynman are combined to unify gravity with electromagnetism.
The life and accomplishments of Grete Hermann are described. During the early twentieth century, she worked in physics, mathematics, philosophy and education. Her most notable accomplishments in physics were in the interpretation of quantum…
At this beginning of the 21st century, the situation of physics is not without analogy with that which prevailed a hundred years ago, with the outset of the double scientific revolution of relativity and quanta. On the one hand, recent…
We suggest that not only quanta may have played a role in Einstein's ideas on relativity, but that they themselves may be related to the dynamical and relativistic behaviour of the electromagnetic field exhibited in a Poincar\'e's 1900…
In 1907, Einstein suggested an experiment with flying atoms for corroborating time dilation. In that paper, the flying atom was conceived as a flying clock: the reference to the Doppler effect was only indirect (the experiments by Stark to…
Wilson was a physicist who changed both the substance and style of theoretical science.