20.4. Origin of matrix mechanics#

Experiences:

  • Quantization in light-matter interaction:

    • 1900, Planck radiation law: \(h\) as a mathematical trick to fit experimental data of black-body radiation; thermodynamics model followed

    • 1905, Einstein work on photoelectric effect: \(h\) is not a mathematical trick

  • Light dispersion, as a light-matter interaction process:

    • 1900, Lorentz-Drude model for classical dispersion

    • 1913, Bohr atomic model

    • 1917, Einstein derived Planck law from thermodynamic equilibrium between atoms and radiation

    • 1914-24, Ladenburg work on quantization of dispersion law, matching Lorentz-Drude (classical model) and Bohr-Einstein (quantum model) in the classical limit

  • Heisenberg matrix mechanics