Related papers: Ludwig Boltzmann -- A Pioneer of Modern Physics
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Ludwig Boltzmann explained how irreversible macroscopic laws, in particular the second law of thermodynamics, originate in the time-reversible laws of microscopic physics. Boltzmann's analysis,…
In this manuscript we present a brief life history of Ludwig Edward Boltzmann and his achivements. Particularly, we discuss his H-theorem, his work on entropy and statistical interpretation of second-law of thermodynamics. We point out his…
Stefan-Boltzmann law was empirically deduced by Stefan in 1874 by fitting existing experiments and theoretically validated by Boltzmann in 1884 on the basis of a classical model involving thermodynamics principles and the Maxwell equations.…
Ludwig Boltzmann had a hunch that irreversibility exhibited by a macroscopic system arises from the reversible dynamics of its microscopic constituents. He derived a nonlinear integro-differential equation - now called the Boltzmann…
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…
In 1916 Einstein introduced the first rules for a quantum theory of electromagnetic radiation, and he applied them to a model of matter in thermal equilibrium with radiation to derive Planck's black-body formula. Einstein's treatment is…
In the year 1900 Max Planck was led by experimental observations to propose a strange formula for the intensity as a function of frequency for light emitted by a cavity. It relied on peculiar properties to be obeyed by the emitters and…
In 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose's pioneering work laid the foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics, which describes particles with integral spins. His derivation of Planck's law for blackbody radiation bypassed classical assumptions, relying…
Boltzmann's Principle S = k ln W was repeatedly criticized by Einstein since it lacked a proper dynamical foundation in view of the thermal motion of the particles, out of which a physical system consists. This suggests, in particular, that…
Bohmian mechanics, also known as pilot-wave theory or de Broglie-Bohm theory, is a formulation of quantum mechanics whose fundamental axioms are not about what observers will see if they perform an experiment but about what happens in…
This paper explores the historical development of the theory of quantum mechanics between 1900 and 1927 by chronological examination of the foundational papers and ideas. Beginning with Planck's introduction of energy quantisation in…
Boltzmann's struggle with a derivation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is sketched. So is his first derivation of the connection between entropy and probability in 1877. Planck's derivation and quantum mechanical modifications of…
Planck's law for black-body radiation marks the origin of quantum theory and is discussed in all introductory (or advanced) courses on this subject. However, the question whether Planck really implied quantisation is debated among…
Through the H theorem, Bolzmann attempted to validate the foundations of statistical mechanics. However, it is incompatible with the fundamental laws of mechanics because its deduction requires the introduction of probability. In this paper…
A history and drama of the development of quantum probability theory is outlined starting from the discovery of the Plank's constant exactly a 100 years ago. It is shown that before the rise of quantum mechanics 75 years ago, the quantum…
A brief account of the world view of classical physics is given first. We then recapitulate as to why the Copenhagen interpretation of the quantum mechanics had to renounce most of the attractive features of the clasical world view such as…
On December 14. 1900, Max Planck communicated his derivation of his radiation formula, which he later called ``an act of desperation''. This date is widely recognized as birthday of quantum theory. For Planck it meant the end of his…
The Stefan-Boltzmann (SB) law relates the emissivity $q$, given in $Wm^{-2}$, of an ideal black-body cavity at thermal equilibrium to the fourth power of the absolute temperature $T$ as $q=\sigma T^4$, with $\sigma = 5.67 \times 10^{-8} \ W…
I will argue, pace a great many of my contemporaries, that there's something right about Boltzmann's attempt to ground the second law of thermodynamics in a suitably amended deterministic time-reversal invariant classical dynamics, and that…
J. Willard Gibbs published a book in 1902 on statistical mechanics that quickly received significant attention from his contemporaries because of the reputation that he had secured with his prior work on thermodynamics. People reading…