Lectures on Theoretical Physics: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 03:27, 18 July 2025

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== Background ==

Sommerfeld was a well known German theoretical physicist who played a major role in developing [[old quantum theory]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sommerfeld|first1=A.|last2=Bopp|first2=F.|date=1951-01-26|title=Fifty Years of Quantum Theory|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.113.2926.85|journal=Science|language=en|volume=113|issue=2926|pages=85–92|doi=10.1126/science.113.2926.85|issn=0036-8075|pmid=17808940|bibcode=1951Sci...113...85S|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Born|1952|pages=282–283}}</ref> He was renowned as a great teacher of theoretical physics in the early 20th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Eckert|2013|pp=420, 433|ps="Planck was the authority, Einstein the genius, and Sommerfeld the teacher"}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Born|1952|pages=275, 286,287}}</ref><ref name="PeierlsMulti">{{Cite journal|last=Peierls|first=R. E.|author-link=Rudolf Peierls|date=November 1951|title=Lectures on Theoretical Physics|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=168|issue=4282|pages=887|bibcode=1951Natur.168Q.887P|doi=10.1038/168887a0|issn=1476-4687|s2cid=4154078|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=Hermann /><ref name=Lindsay /> [[Wolfgang Pauli]] wrote in 1951 that Sommerfeld was "the epitome of the scholar and the teacher".<ref>{{harvnb|Eckert|2013|p=420}}</ref> Another physicist, summarizing "the roles of the most important exponents of theoretical physics in its 'golden age'",<ref>{{harvnb|Eckert|2013|p=433}}</ref> wrote that "Planck was the authority, Einstein the genius, and Sommerfeld the teacher" in a 1973 biography of [[Max Planck]].<ref name=Hermann>{{Cite book|last=Hermann|first=Armin|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1073826264|title=Max Planck mit Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten|date=2017|page=56|publisher=Rowohlt |isbn=978-3-499-50198-2|language=German|oclc=1073826264}}</ref> Summarizing public reception of Sommerfeld's teaching style, [[Robert Bruce Lindsay]] wrote in 1954 that it "is generally admitted that as an effective lecturer Sommerfeld has been rarely if ever surpassed."<ref name=Lindsay />

The textbooks, originally published in German, were based on series of his lectures, which were made to be self-consistent within each section, at the [[University of Munich]] that ran over a three-year cycle.<ref name="PeierlsMulti" /> In addition to specialized classes, the set of lectures presented by the book represent Sommerfeld's standard introductory courses in physics that he gave in Munich, with each subject taught over one semester for a total of three years.<ref name="Born286">{{harvnb|Born|1952|pages=286}}</ref> Sommerfeld continued this cycle of lectures for over thirty years at the university, which were very popular and influential.<ref name="Lindsay" />

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== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book|last=Eckert|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Eckert|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/852251854|title=Arnold Sommerfeld : science, life and turbulent times 1868–1951|date=2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-7461-6|___location=New York, NY|oclc=852251854}}

* {{Cite journal|last=Born|first=Max|author-link=Max Born|date=1 November 1952|title=Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld 1868-1951|url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1952.0018|journal=[[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume=8|issue=21|pages=274–296|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1952.0018|jstor=768813|s2cid=161998194|url-access=subscription}}

* {{cite book|last=Pauli|first=Wolfgang|author-link=Wolfgang Pauli|chapter=Arnold Sommerfeld|date=1984|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-88799-3_6|url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-322-88799-3|title=Physik und Erkenntnistheorie|page=42|series=Facetten der Physik|___location=Wiesbaden|publisher=[[Vieweg+Teubner Verlag]]|language=de|doi=10.1007/978-3-322-88799-3_6|isbn=978-3-322-88799-3}}