Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger ForMemRS[2] MRIA (UK: /ˈʃrɜːdɪŋə, ˈʃroʊdɪŋə/, US: /ˈʃroʊdɪŋər/;[3] German: [ˈɛɐ̯vɪn ˈʃʁøːdɪŋɐ]; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as Schroedinger or Schrodinger, was a Nobel Prize–winning Austrian and naturalized Irish physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum theory. In particular, he is recognized for postulating the Schrödinger equation, an equation that provides a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes dynamically in time. He coined the term "quantum entanglement",[4][5][6] and was the earliest to discuss it, doing so in 1932.[7]
"Schrödinger" redirects here. For other uses, see Schrödinger (disambiguation).
Erwin Schrödinger
4 January 1961 (aged 73)
- Austria
- Ireland (from 1948)
University of Vienna (PhD, 1910; Dr. habil., 1914)
- Schrödinger equation
- Schrödinger's cat
- Cat state
- Schrödinger method
- Schrödinger functional
- Schrödinger group
- Schrödinger picture
- Schrödinger field
- Rayleigh-Schrödinger perturbation
- Robertson–Schrödinger uncertainty relations
- Schrödinger–HJW theorem
- Schrödinger's pure-affine theory
- Coherent states
- Energy level
- Entropy and life
- Negentropy
- Interpretations of quantum mechanics
- Qualia
- Quantum biology
- Quantum entanglement
- Quantum superposition
- Quantum steering
- Zitterbewegung
- Haitinger Prize (1920)
- Matteucci Medal (1927)
- Nobel Prize in Physics (1933)
- Max Planck Medal (1937)
- ForMemRS (1949)
- Erwin Schrödinger Prize (1956)
In addition, he wrote many works on various aspects of physics: statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, physics of dielectrics, colour theory, electrodynamics, general relativity, and cosmology, and he made several attempts to construct a unified field theory. In his book What Is Life? Schrödinger addressed the problems of genetics, looking at the phenomenon of life from the point of view of physics. He also paid great attention to the philosophical aspects of science, ancient, and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion.[8] He also wrote on philosophy and theoretical biology. In popular culture, he is best known for his "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment.[9][10]
Spending most of his life as an academic with positions at various universities, Schrödinger, along with Paul Dirac, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 for his work on quantum mechanics, the same year he left Germany due to his opposition to Nazism. In his personal life, he lived with both his wife and his mistress which may have led to problems causing him to leave his position at Oxford. Subsequently, until 1938, he had a position in Graz, Austria, until the Nazi takeover when he fled, finally finding a long-term arrangement in Dublin, Ireland, where he remained until retirement in 1955, and where he pursued several sexual relationships with minors.
Biography
Early years
Schrödinger was born in Erdberg, Vienna, Austria, on 12 August 1887, to Rudolf Schrödinger (cerecloth producer, botanist[11]) [12] and Georgine Emilia Brenda Schrödinger (née Bauer) (daughter of Alexander Bauer , professor of chemistry, TU Wien).[13] He was their only child.
His mother was of half Austrian and half English descent; his father was Catholic and his mother was Lutheran. He himself was an atheist.[14] However, he had strong interests in Eastern religions and pantheism, and he used religious symbolism in his works.[15] He also believed his scientific work was an approach to Divinity in an intellectual sense.[16]
He was also able to learn English outside school, as his maternal grandmother was British.[17] Between 1906 and 1910 (the year he earned his doctorate) Schrödinger studied at the University of Vienna under the physicists Franz S. Exner (1849–1926) and Friedrich Hasenöhrl (1874–1915). He received his doctorate at Vienna under Hasenöhrl. He also conducted experimental work with Karl Wilhelm Friedrich "Fritz" Kohlrausch. In 1911, Schrödinger became an assistant to Exner.[12]
Legacy
The philosophical issues raised by Schrödinger's cat are still debated today and remain his most enduring legacy in popular science, while Schrödinger's equation is his most enduring legacy at a more technical level. Schrödinger is one of several individuals who have been called "the father of quantum mechanics". The large crater Schrödinger,[73] on the far side of the Moon, is named after him. The Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics was founded in Vienna in 1992.[74]
Schrödinger's portrait was the main feature of the design of the 1983–97 Austrian 1000-schilling banknote, the second-highest denomination.[75]
A building is named after him at the University of Limerick, in Limerick, Ireland,[76] as is the 'Erwin Schrödinger Zentrum' at Adlershof in Berlin[77] and the Route Schrödinger at CERN, Prévessin, France.
Schrödinger's 126th birthday anniversary in 2013 was celebrated with a Google Doodle.[78][79]