louis de broglie thesis pdf

Louis de Broglie (1892–1987)

• Published: October 1987
• Volume 17 , pages 967–970, ( 1987 )

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• Georges Lochak 1  

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L. de Broglie, Doctoral Thesis, 1924, p. 33.

L. de Broglie, Doctoral Thesis, 1924, p. 56.

L. de Broglie, Doctoral Thesis, 1924, p. 116.

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Lochak, G. Louis de Broglie (1892–1987). Found Phys 17 , 967–970 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00938006

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Issue Date : October 1987

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00938006

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Quantum Physics

Title: 75 years of matter wave: louis de broglie and renaissance of the causally complete knowledge.

Abstract: A physically real wave associated with any moving particle and travelling in a surrounding material medium was introduced by Louis de Broglie in a series of short notes in 1923 and in a more complete form in his thesis defended in Paris on the 25th November 1924. This result, recognised by the Nobel Prize in 1929, gave rise to a major direction of "new physics" known today as "quantum mechanics". However, although such notions as "de Broglie wavelength" and "wave-particle duality" form the basis of the standard quantum theory, it actually only takes for granted (postulates) the formula for the particle wavelength and totally ignores the underlying causal, realistic and physically transparent picture of wave-particle dynamics outlined by Louis de Broglie in his thesis and further considerably developed in his later works, in the form of "double solution" and "hidden thermodynamics" theory. A price to pay for such rough deviation from the original de Broglian realism and consistency involves fundamental physics domination by purely abstract and mechanistically simplified schemes of formal symbols and rules that have led to a deep knowledge impasse justly described as "the end of science". However, a new, independent approach of "quantum field mechanics" ( quant-ph/9902015 , quant-ph/9902016 , physics/0401164 ) created within the "universal science of complexity" ( physics/9806002 ) provides many-sided confirmation and natural completion of de Broglie's "nonlinear wave mechanics", eliminating all its "difficult points" and reconstituting the causally complete, totally consistent and intrinsically unified picture of the real, complex micro-world dynamics directly extendible to all higher levels of unreduced world complexity.

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Wave mechanics, from Louis de Broglie to Schrödinger: a comparison

2021, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science II

Erwin Schrödinger's work on wave mechanics started in late 1925, stimulated by his study of Louis de Broglie's thesis. It is well known that in his initial attempts to formulate a quantum theory of the atom Schrödinger tried to develop a relativistic theory, following de Broglie's ideas, and only afterwards he looked for a non-relativistic wave equation. It is straightforward to derive the wave equation corresponding to de Broglie's phase waves. both in the relativistic and nonrelativistic realms. In the case of his relativistic attempt, Schrödinger did indeed follow a simple approach, using de Broglie's theory. In the non-relativistic approach, he attempted to produce an independent derivation of the wave equation, following several different lines, instead of using de Broglie's results in the classical limit. This paper analyses Schrödinger's derivations of the wave equation, showing the differences and similarities between his theory and de Broglie's. It will be shown that, although it is formally possible to derive the wave equation from de Broglie's theory, there is an incompatibility between the two theories: it would be impossible to make any sense of de Broglie's ideas in the case of the rigid rotator, for instance. Schrödinger's approach was, in this sense, independent and incompatible with de Broglie's theory, and it could be easily applied to many different physical situations. This heuristic value of Schrödinger's wave equation is another very important distinction between the two theories, since de

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In the 1830s, W. R. Hamilton established a formal analogy between optics and mechanics by constructing a mathematical equivalence between the extremum principles of ray optics (Fermat's principle) and corpuscular mechanics (Maupertuis's principle). Almost a century later, this optical-mechanical analogy played a central role in the development of wave mechanics. Schrödinger was well acquainted with Hamilton's analogy through earlier studies. From Schrödinger's research notebooks, we show how he used the analogy as a heuristic tool to develop de Broglie's ideas about matter waves and how the role of the analogy in his thinking changed from a heuristic tool into a formal constraint on possible wave equations. We argue that Schrödinger only understood the full impact of the optical-mechanical analogy during the preparation of his second communication on wave mechanics: Classical mechanics is an approximation to the new undulatory mechanics, just as ray optics is an approximation to wave optics. This completion of the analogy convinced Schrödinger to stick to a realist interpretation of the wave function, in opposition to the emerging mainstream. The transformations in Schrödinger's use of the optical-mechanical analogy can be traced in his research notebooks, which offer a much more complete picture of the development of wave mechanics than has been previously thought possible.

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This paper explores the assumptions underpinning de Broglie’s concept of a wavepacket and related questions and issues. It also explores how the alternative – the ring current model of an electron (or of matter-particles in general) – relates to Louis de Broglie’s λ = h/p relation and rephrases the theory in terms of the wavefunction as well as the wave equation(s) for an electron in free space.

This paper further explores intuitions we highlighted in previous papers already: 1. The concept of the matter-wave traveling through the vacuum, an atomic lattice or any medium can be equated to the concept of an electric or electromagnetic signal traveling through the same medium. 2. There is no need to model the matter-wave as a wave packet: a single wave – with a precise frequency and a precise wavelength – will do. 3. If we do want to model the matter-wave as a wave packet rather than a single wave with a precisely defined frequency and wavelength, then the uncertainty in such wave packet reflects our own limited knowledge about the momentum and/or the velocity of the particle that we think we are representing. The uncertainty is, therefore, not inherent to Nature, but to our limited knowledge about the initial conditions. 4. The fact that such wave packets usually dissipate very rapidly, reflects that even our limited knowledge about initial conditions tends to become equally rapidly irrelevant. Indeed, as Feynman puts it, “the tiniest irregularities” tend to get magnified very quickly at the micro-scale. In short, as Hendrik Antoon Lorentz noted a few months before his demise, there is no reason whatsoever “to elevate indeterminism to a philosophical principle.”

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The Schrödinger equation is the foundation of quantum mechanics and the starting point for any improvement to the description of submicroscopic physical and chemical systems. Although it cannot be proved or derived strictly, it has associated with it various formulations and 'derivations'. In this work, we study the physical and mathematical evidence that make the Schrödinger equation plausible. First, we make an approach from the historical perspective, and study the methods of the pioneers Schrödinger, Heisenberg, and Dirac. Turning to modern treatments, we review numerous heuristic introductions to quantum mechanics and make a synthesis of the various methods into a coherent and meaningful whole. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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In this paper, we pick some less well-known contributions of great minds to the history of ideas from the proceedings of the Solvay Conferences. We hope to show there was nothing inevitable about the new physics winning out. In fact, we suggest modern-day physicists may usefully go back to some of the old ideas – most notably the idea that elementary particles do have some shape and size – and that they should, perhaps, try somewhat harder to explain intrinsic properties of these particles, such as angular momentum and their magnetic moment, in terms of classical physics. The contributions which we discuss are those of Ernest Rutherford, Joseph Larmor, Hendrik Antoon Lorentz and Louis de Broglie.

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In 1924 atomic physics was a lamentable hodgepodge of experimental regularities, cabbalistic sum-rules, computational recipes, bold conjectures and above all unsolved problems (d'Abro, 1939; Heilbron, 1977; Jammer, 1966, Chap. 5). And then suddenly there were two atomic theories.

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What was the shortest PhD thesis in physics? [closed]

When I took freshman physics in 1983, my professor made an off-handed comment that Louis de Broglie's PhD thesis on the matter wave was only 3 pages long, and that it was the shortest PhD thesis ever in physics.

For some time now I've been trying to find a PhD of the thesis, which I presume is in German. I can't find it.

I have found the proper reference to his doctoral thesis, though. It appears to be:

L. de Broglie, “Recherches sur la théorie des quanta”, Thèse de doctorat soutenue à Paris, le 25 novembre 1924, Annales de Physique (10e série) III (1925) 22. Reproduced in: L. de Broglie, Recherches sur la théorie des quanta (Fondation Louis de Broglie, Paris, 1992).

I've searched online for that document, and I can't find it. I can find another publication with the same title , but it appears to be a book based on the PhD thesis, and not the thesis itself.

So what is the shortest PhD thesis in physics, and if it is de Broglie's, where can I find it?

• soft-question

• 2 $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about publication lengths rather than physics. $\endgroup$ –  Qmechanic ♦ Commented Dec 25, 2019 at 15:04
• 3 $\begingroup$ It does not look like de Broglie's thesis was 3 page long. According to American Journal of Physics 44, 1047 (1976), "De Broglie's thesis was published in its entirety in Ann. Phys. (Paris) 3, 22 ( 1925)." This publication's reprint can be found at tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00006807/document and it is about 80 page long. $\endgroup$ –  akhmeteli Commented Dec 25, 2019 at 15:17
• $\begingroup$ @Qmechanic, this question is about the practice of physics. There is no physics without scientific publications. $\endgroup$ –  vy32 Commented Dec 26, 2019 at 10:50

Not really answering your question but perhaps you'll find this amusing: In 1951, a two-sentence, three-line paper was published in Physical Review by Friedrich Lenz who simply noticed that the (present) proton-electron mass ratio of $1836.12\pm 0.05$ happened to coincide with $6\pi^5=1836.12.$ You can find the article here , or for those without access here is a screenshot .

• 1 $\begingroup$ Thanks for such an informative answer. It has given me so much hope that Physics and Maths aren't just for geniuses. I'm really grateful to you. $\endgroup$ –  user240696 Commented Dec 25, 2019 at 15:05
• $\begingroup$ The Lenz case shows that some physicists, and journal editors, find numerology irresistible. Lens had absolutely no reason for thinking this ratio ought to be that value, and it isn’t. $\endgroup$ –  G. Smith Commented Dec 26, 2019 at 1:15
• $\begingroup$ That is totally cool. Thanks. $\endgroup$ –  vy32 Commented Dec 26, 2019 at 10:50
• $\begingroup$ The Lenz article was fun, but the relationship no longer holds. Alas. $\endgroup$ –  vy32 Commented Dec 27, 2019 at 9:40

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