Article ID: CBB001451848

How Sommerfeld Extended Bohr's Model of the Atom (1913--1916) (2014)

unapi

Sommerfeld's extension of Bohr's atomic model was motivated by the quest for a theory of the Zeeman and Stark effects. The crucial idea was that a spectral line is made up of coinciding frequencies which are decomposed in an applied field. In October 1914 Johannes Stark had published the results of his experimental investigation on the splitting of spectral lines in hydrogen (Balmer lines) in electric fields, which showed that the frequency of each Balmer line becomes decomposed into a multiplet of frequencies. The number of lines in such a decomposition grows with the index of the line in the Balmer series. Sommerfeld concluded from this observation that the quantization in Bohr's model had to be altered in order to allow for such decompositions. He outlined this idea in a lecture in winter 1914/15, but did not publish it. The First World War further delayed its elaboration. When Bohr published new results in autumn 1915, Sommerfeld finally developed his theory in a provisional form in two memoirs which he presented in December 1915 and January 1916 to the Bavarian Academy of Science. In July 1916 he published the refined version in the Annalen der Physik. The focus here is on the preliminary Academy memoirs whose rudimentary form is better suited for a historical approach to Sommerfeld's atomic theory than the finished Annalen-paper. This introductory essay reconstructs the historical context (mainly based on Sommerfeld's correspondence). It will become clear that the extension of Bohr's model did not emerge in a singular stroke of genius but resulted from an evolving process.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001451848/

Similar Citations

Article Eckert, Michael; (2014)
How Sommerfeld Extended Bohr's Model of the Atom (1913--1916) (/isis/citation/CBB001421692/)

Article Leone, Matteo; Paoletti, Alessandro; Robotti, Nadia; (2004)
A Simultaneous Discovery: The Case of Johannes Stark and Antonino Lo Surdo (/isis/citation/CBB000641774/)

Article Seth, Suman; (2008)
Crafting the Quantum: Arnold Sommerfeld and the Older Quantum Theory (/isis/citation/CBB000931142/)

Article Kragh, Helge; (2011)
Resisting the Bohr Atom: The Early British Opposition (/isis/citation/CBB001036139/)

Article Kragh, Helge; (2011)
Conceptual Objections to the Bohr Atomic Theory---Do Electrons Have a “Free Will”? (/isis/citation/CBB001251949/)

Article Giora Hon; Bernard R. Goldstein; (2015)
How to Conceive the Atom: Imagery vs. Formalism (/isis/citation/CBB046883342/)

Book Einstein, Albert; Buchwald, Diana Kormos; (2012)
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: Writings and Correspondence, January 1922--March 1923 (/isis/citation/CBB001252282/)

Article Weiderkehr, Karl Heinrich; (2006)
Photoeffekte, Einsteins Lichtquanten und die Geschichte ihrer Akzeptanz (/isis/citation/CBB000700756/)

Book Anthony Duncan; Michel Janssen; (2019)
Constructing Quantum Mechanics: Volume 1: The Scaffold: 1900-1923 (/isis/citation/CBB260967807/)

Book Finn Aaserud; Helge Kragh; (2015)
One Hundred Years of the Bohr Atom: Proceedings from a Conference (/isis/citation/CBB722215420/)

Book Kragh, Helge; (2012)
Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom: The Bohr Model of Atomic Structure, 1913--1925 (/isis/citation/CBB001251191/)

Article Seth, Suman; (2008)
Mystik and Technik: Arnold Sommerfeld and Early-Weimar Quantum Theory (/isis/citation/CBB000930036/)

Article Mawhin, Jean; Ronveaux, André; (2010)
Schrödinger and Dirac Equations for the Hydrogen Atom, and Laguerre Polynomials (/isis/citation/CBB001022003/)

Article Schweber, S. S.; (2009)
Weimar Physics: Sommerfeld's Seminar and the Causality Principle (/isis/citation/CBB000932737/)

Book Michael Eckert; (2013)
Arnold Sommerfeld: Science, Life and Turbulent Times 1868-1951 (/isis/citation/CBB490294723/)

Article Ozawa, Takeshi; (2009)
On the Initial Reception of Quantum Mechanics in Japan, 1925--1928 (/isis/citation/CBB000953473/)

Article Alain Ulazia; (2016)
The cognitive nexus between Bohr's analogy for the atom and Pauli's exclusion schema (/isis/citation/CBB864595237/)

Authors & Contributors
Kragh, Helge S.
Seth, Suman
Hon, Giora
Eckert, Michael
Alain Ulazia
Artin, Tom
Concepts
Physics
Quantum mechanics
Atomic structure
Atomic, nuclear, and particle physics
Models and modeling in science
Controversies and disputes
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
Places
Germany
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Weimar Republic (1919-1933)
Japan
Berlin (Germany)
Great Britain
Institutions
University of Tokyo
Kyōto Daigaku (Kyoto University)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment