Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled Quantum Randomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics

321 Pages·2015·2.9 MB·English

by  Paul Halpern

Einstein’s Dice Schrödinger’s
and
Cat
Einstein’s Dice and
Schrödinger’s Cat
How Two Great Minds Battled Quantum
Randomness to Create a Unified Theory of
Physics
Paul Halpern, PhD
A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York
Copyright © 2015 by Paul Halpern Published by Basic Books,A Member of the
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Designed by Pauline Brown Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Halpern, Paul, 1961– Einstein’s dice and Schrödinger’s cat : how two great
minds battled quantum randomness to create a unified theory of physics / Paul
Halpern, PhD.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-46504065-0 (e-book) 1. Quantum chaos. 2. Quantum theory—
Philosophy. 3. Physics—Philosophy. 4. Unified field theories. 5. Einstein,
Albert, 1879–1955. 6. Schrödinger, Erwin, 1887–1961. I. Title.
QC174.17.C45H35 2015
530.13'3—dc23
2014041325
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to the memory of Max Dresden, my PhD
advisor, whose passion for the history of twentieth-
century physics was truly inspiring
Well who am I? (This question is meant in general, the “I” not referring just to the
present writer.) The Image of God, gifted with power of thought to try and understand
His world. However naive my attempt at this may be, I do have to value it higher than
scrutinizing Nature for the purpose of inventing a device to . . . say, avoid splashing my
spectacles in eating a grapefruit, or other very handy conveniences of life.
—ERWIN SCHRÖDINGER, “The New Field Theory”
Contents
Acknowledgments
Allies and Adversaries
INTRODUCTION
The Clockwork Universe
CHAPTER ONE
The Crucible of Gravity
CHAPTER TWO
Matter Waves and Quantum Jumps
CHAPTER THREE
The Quest for Unification
CHAPTER FOUR
Spooky Connections and Zombie Cats
CHAPTER FIVE
Luck of the Irish
CHAPTER SIX
Physics by Public Relations
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Last Waltz: Einstein’s and Schrödinger’s
CHAPTER EIGHT
Final Years
Beyond Einstein and Schrödinger: The Ongoing
CONCLUSION
Search for Unity
Further Reading
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the outstanding support of my family, friends, and
colleagues in helping me see this project to completion. Thanks to the faculty
and staff of the University of the Sciences, including Helen Giles-Gee, Heidi
Anderson, Suzanne Murphy, Elia Eschenazi, Kevin Murphy, Brian Kirschner,
and Jim Cummings, and to my colleagues in the Department of Math, Physics,
and Statistics and the Department of Humanities, for supporting my research and
writing. I am grateful for the camaraderie of the history of science community,
including the APS Forum on the History of Physics, the Philadelphia Area
Center for History of Science, and the AIP Center for History of Physics. The
warm support of the Philadelphia Science Writers Association, including Greg
Lester, Michal Mayer, Faye Flam, Dave Goldberg, Mark Wolverton, Brian
Siano, and Neil Gussman, is most appreciated. Thanks to historians of science
David C. Cassidy, Diana Buchwald, Tilman Sauer, Daniel Siegel, Catherine
Westfall, Robert Crease, and Peter Pesic for useful suggestions and to Don
Howard for offering helpful references. I greatly appreciate the help of
Schrödinger’s family, including Leonhard, Arnulf, and Ruth Braunizer, in
addressing questions about his life and work. I’m grateful to musician Roland
Orzabal and philosopher Hilary Putnam for kindly answering questions about
their work. Thanks to science writer Michael Gross for his friendly advice on
German culture and language. I appreciate the encouragement of David Zitarelli,
Robert Jantzen, Linda Dalrymple Henderson, Roger Stuewer, Lisa Tenzin-
Dolma, Jen Govey, Cheryl Stringall, Tony Lowe, Michael LaBossiere, Peter D.
Smith, Antony Ryan, David Bood, Michael Erlich, Fred Schuepfer, Pam Quick,
Carolyn Brodbeck, Marlon Fuentes, Simone Zelitch, Doug Buchholz, Linda
Holtzman, Mark Singer, Jeff Shuben, Jude Kuchinsky, Kris Olson, Meg and
Woody Carsky-Wilson, Carie Nguyen, Lindsey Poole, Greg Smith, Joseph
Maguire, Doug DiCarlo, Patrick Pham, and Vance Lehmkuhl. I offer my sincere
appreciation to Ronan and Joe Mehigan for their photographs of Schrödinger