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Thesis ID: CBB001567264

A Reexamination of Early Debates on the Interpretation of Quantum Theory: Louis De Broglie to David Bohm (2011)

University of Rochester
Bigelow, Nicholas P.
Eberly, J. H
Bigelow, Nicholas P.
Outram, Dorinda
Schroder, Wolf-Udo
Brown, Theodore M.
Eberly, Joseph H.
Bigelow, Nicholas P.
Outram, Dorinda
Lavine, Richard
Schroder, Wolf-Udo
Brown, Theodore M.
Eberly, Joseph H.
Lavine, Richard

ISBN: 9781124957906

Publication Date: 2011
Edition Details: Advisor: Bigelow, Nicholas P., Eberly, J. H; Committee Members: Brown, Theodore M., Eberly, Joseph H., Bigelow, Nicholas P., Outram, Dorinda, Lavine, Richard, Schroder, Wolf-Udo.
Physical Details: 391 pp.
Language: English

Outside Links

Academia.edu

Quantum mechanics Theoretical physics Scientific communities; interprofessional relations 20th century Broglie, Louis Victor Pierre Raymond de Bohm, David Joseph

The following dissertation reexamines the emergence and development of alternate formulations and interpretations of quantum theory from the 1920s to the early 1950s. Specifically, Louis de Broglie's alternate wave mechanical interpretation (1923 - 1927) and David Bohm's hidden variables program (1951 - 1952) are examined within their respective contexts of innovation. By presenting a more balanced and nuanced narrative of these 20 th century physicists, and their work, subtleties within the scientific exchanges between those engaged in early quantum interpretational debates begin to emerge which can serve to dispel some of the myths that have persisted in the overall historical quantum narrative. While de Broglie and Bohm were ultimately interested in restoring determinism to quantum theory, their particular influences, arguments, methodologies, approaches, and receptions were unique to their respective historical periods and each physicist's position within the physics community. Combining a close reading of the two distinct programs of scientific innovation with a representative analysis of the historical context in which they worked allows us to reexamine de Broglie and Bohm in a new light. The following analysis serves to restore these two physicists' agency in carving out their particular places within the physics community and dispels simplistic myths of marginalization. It also sheds light on de Broglie and Bohm's important contributions to the early quantum mechanical interpretation debates, thereby restoring their importance within the larger historical quantum narrative. Some of the topics that will be addressed include the following: who they trained with; where they trained; what their primary influences were; what their motivations were for proposing their particular alternate interpretations; what their particular research programs consisted of; how these evolved; and how each was received within the particular physics community. In order to successfully reconstruct these quantum histories, various methods of analysis have been used, including close readings of published and unpublished scientific papers, personal and professional correspondence, and a meta-data analysis of aggregate biographical data that reveals new insights into the academic networks within their wider socio-political environments.

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Description Cited in Dissertation Abstracts International-A 73/02, Aug 2012. Proquest Document ID: 902517208.

Citation URI

https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001567264/

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