THE BIRTH OF QUANTUM MECHANICS: “THE ESSENTIAL FRAMEWORK FOR TWENTIETH-CENTURY PHYSICS”

HEISENBERG, Werner. Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen. BOUND WITH: BORN, Max and JORDAN, Pascual. Zur Quantentheorie aperiodischer Vorgänge. IN: Zeitschrift für Physik. Volume 33; pp. 879-893, 479-505. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1925. WITH: BORN, Max and JORDAN, Pascual. Zur Quantenmechanik. [I]. IN: Zeitschrift für Physik. Volume 34; pp. 858-888. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1925. WITH: BORN, Max, HEISENBERG, Werner and JORDAN, Pascual. Zur Quantenmechanik. II. IN: Zeitschrift für Physik. Volume 35; pp. 557-615. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1926. Three volumes. Octavo, modern half black morocco, marbled boards.    $12,000.

First papers in the field of quantum mechanics, a collection of profound importance featuring Heisenberg’s Über quanteoretische Umdeutung, Born and Jordan’s Zur Quantentheorie, and their Zur Quantenmechanik I-II, the latter co-authored with Heisenberg—revolutionary works that laid “the essential framework for twentieth-century physics.”

By the early 1920’s it became clear that the laws of classical physics could not be applied at the subatomic level. In 1924 Max Born, “one of the most influential theoretical physicists,” coined the term “quantum mechanics” to serve as a correspondence between the old and new physics (Simmons, 156). These landmark volumes, containing the seminal works of three of the most brilliant scientific minds of the age, present the first major successes in understanding subatomic particles. In Zur Quantentheorie aperiodischer Vorgänge, Born and Jordan utilize a method whereby differential operators of classical mechanics were replaced by difference operators “with the goal of overcoming the contradiction between classical field theory and quantum hypothesis in the derivation of Planck’s radiation formula. In the course of this investigation,” Born and Jordan arrived at the startling conclusion “that quantum physics pertained not to individual states but, rather, to pairs of states, to which a ‘transition amplitude’ must be assigned. Building on this foundation, the 24-year-old Heisenberg, who was Born’s assistant, succeeded in cutting the Gordian knot in a manuscript he gave to Born in July 1925 with a view toward publication. Entitled Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen, this paper contains the conceptual foundations of matrix mechanics. Born immediately recognized the work’s far-reaching significance.” Born and Jordan’s own Zur Quantenmechanik [I] supplements Heisenberg’s work in discovering that the application of matrix arithmetic to Heisenberg’s quantum condition leads to the now famous equation: pq - qp = h/2(pi)i. Zur Quantenmechanik II by Born, Jordan and Heisenberg ultimately stands as the definitive summary and study of their discoveries.

With these revolutionary works, “physicists finally had at their disposal the long-sought new method for computing the atom’s stationary states, which had so long resisted an exact mathematical treatment.” (DSB). It was evident that with quantum mechanics, “the essential framework for 20-century physics” had been realized (Simmons, 15). Heisenberg was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize in physics, and Born shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in physics “for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics” (Nobel: the Man and his Prizes, 449). Also containing the early article by Jordan, Zur Quantentheorie aperiodischer Vorgänge. II (Vol.33:506-508). With numerous illustrations, computations and graphs. Library bookstamps. Bookplates. Occasional faint penciled marginalia.

An exceptional collection in fine condition.