Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (/ˈpɔːli/;[6] German: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ ˈpaʊli]; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein,[7] Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or Pauli principle". The discovery involved spin theory, which is the basis of a theory of the structure of matter.
This article is about the Austrian physicist. For the German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in 1989, see Wolfgang Paul.
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli
15 December 1958 (aged 58)
Austria
United States
Switzerland
- Pauli exclusion principle
- Pauli matrices
- Pauli effect
- Pauli equation
- Pauli group
- Pauli repulsion
- Pauli paramagnetism
- Pauli's conjecture
- Pauli–Jordan function
- Pauli–Jung conjecture
- Pauli–Lubanski pseudovector
- Pauli–Villars regularization
- Pauli–Zeldovich cancellation
- Fierz–Pauli–Kofink identities
- Lüders–Pauli theorem
- Aufbau principle
- Massive gravity
- Neutrino
- Quantum field theory
Wolfgang Joseph Pauli (father)
Hertha Pauli (sister)
- Lorentz Medal (1931)
- Nobel Prize in Physics (1945)
- Franklin Medal (1952)
- ForMemRS (1953)[1]
- Matteucci Medal (1956)
- Max Planck Medal (1958)
About the Hydrogen Molecular Ion Model[2] (1921)
Early life[edit]
Pauli was born in Vienna to a chemist, Wolfgang Joseph Pauli (né Wolf Pascheles, 1869–1955), and his wife, Bertha Camilla Schütz; his sister was Hertha Pauli, a writer and actress. Pauli's middle name was given in honor of his godfather, physicist Ernst Mach. Pauli's paternal grandparents were from prominent Jewish families of Prague; his great-grandfather was the Jewish publisher Wolf Pascheles.[8] Pauli's mother, Bertha Schütz, was raised in her mother's Roman Catholic religion; her father was Jewish writer Friedrich Schütz. Pauli was raised as a Roman Catholic.[9]
Pauli attended the Döblinger-Gymnasium in Vienna, graduating with distinction in 1918. Two months later, he published his first paper, on Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. He attended the University of Munich, working under Arnold Sommerfeld,[1] where he received his PhD in July 1921 for his thesis on the quantum theory of ionized diatomic hydrogen (H+
2).[2][10]
Philosophy[edit]
In his discussions with Carl Jung, Pauli developed an ontological theory that has been dubbed the "Pauli–Jung Conjecture" and has been seen as a kind of dual-aspect theory. The theory holds that there is "a psychophysically neutral reality" and that mental and physical aspects are derivative of this reality.[31] Pauli thought that elements of quantum physics pointed to a deeper reality that might explain the mind/matter gap and wrote, "we must postulate a cosmic order of nature beyond our control to which both the outward material objects and the inward images are subject."[32]
Pauli and Jung held that this reality was governed by common principles ("archetypes") that appear as psychological phenomena or as physical events.[33] They also held that synchronicities might reveal some of this underlying reality's workings.[33][32]
Beliefs[edit]
He is considered to have been a deist and a mystic. In No Time to Be Brief: A Scientific Biography of Wolfgang Pauli he is quoted as writing to science historian Shmuel Sambursky, "In opposition to the monotheist religions – but in unison with the mysticism of all peoples, including the Jewish mysticism – I believe that the ultimate reality is not personal."[34][35]