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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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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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-008-0030-1