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Ehrenfest’s adiabatic theory and the old quantum theory, 1916–1918

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An Erratum to this article was published on 29 October 2008

Abstract

I discuss in detail the contents of the adiabatic hypothesis, formulated by Ehrenfest in 1916. I focus especially on the paper he published in 1916 and 1917 in three different journals. I briefly review its precedents and thoroughly analyze its reception until 1918, including Burgers’s developments and Bohr’s assimilation of them into his own theory. I show that until 1918 the adiabatic hypothesis did not play an important role in the development of quantum theory.

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Abbreviations

AHQP:

Archive for history of quantum physics. For the catalogue, see KUHN et al. (1967)

EA:

Ehrenfest archive. In the Rijksarchief voor de Geschiedenis van de Natuurwetenschappen en van Geneeskunde, Leiden. For the catalogue, see WHEATON (1977). I quote from the microfilm version included in the AHQP

HPE:

Huisbibliotheek van Paul Ehrenfest. In the Institut Lorentz, Leiden

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Correspondence to Enric Pérez.

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Communicated by R. Stuewer.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00407-008-0035-9

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Pérez, E. Ehrenfest’s adiabatic theory and the old quantum theory, 1916–1918. Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 63, 81–125 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-008-0030-1

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