Much Polyphony but Little Harmony: Otto Sackur's Groping for a Quantum Theory of Gases

Massimiliano Badino; Bretislav Friedrich

doi:10.1007/s00016-013-0110-8

Much Polyphony but Little Harmony: Otto Sackur's Groping for a Quantum Theory of Gases

Massimiliano Badino, Bretislav Friedrich

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst's heat theorem, statistical mechanics, and the problem of chemical equilibrium and, on the other hand, by his goal to shed light on classical mechanics from the quantum vantage point. Inspired by the interplay between classical physics and quantum theory, Sackur chanced to expound his personal take on the role of the quantum in the changing landscape of physics in the turbulent 1910s. We tell the story of this enthusiastic practitioner of the old quantum theory and early contributor to quantum statistical mechanics, whose scientific ontogenesis provides a telling clue about the phylogeny of his contemporaries. © 2013 Springer Basel.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	295-319
Journal	Physics in Perspective
Volume	15
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-013-0110-8
Publication status	Published - 1 Sep 2013

Keywords

Affinity
Chemical constant
Entropy
First Solvay Conference
Heat capacity
Heat theorem
Law of mass action
Phase space
Quantization
Quantum statistical mechanics
Quantum theory of gases
Sackur-Tetrode equation
Third law of thermodynamics

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title = "Much Polyphony but Little Harmony: Otto Sackur's Groping for a Quantum Theory of Gases",

abstract = "The endeavor of Otto Sackur (1880-1914) was driven, on the one hand, by his interest in Nernst's heat theorem, statistical mechanics, and the problem of chemical equilibrium and, on the other hand, by his goal to shed light on classical mechanics from the quantum vantage point. Inspired by the interplay between classical physics and quantum theory, Sackur chanced to expound his personal take on the role of the quantum in the changing landscape of physics in the turbulent 1910s. We tell the story of this enthusiastic practitioner of the old quantum theory and early contributor to quantum statistical mechanics, whose scientific ontogenesis provides a telling clue about the phylogeny of his contemporaries. {\textcopyright} 2013 Springer Basel.",

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KW - Affinity

KW - Chemical constant

KW - Entropy

KW - First Solvay Conference

KW - Heat capacity

KW - Heat theorem

KW - Law of mass action

KW - Phase space

KW - Quantization

KW - Quantum statistical mechanics

KW - Quantum theory of gases

KW - Sackur-Tetrode equation

KW - Third law of thermodynamics

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DO - 10.1007/s00016-013-0110-8

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