Riemann hypothesis and Physics
Physics and Mathematics Pólya was hesitant when it came to choosing his career. He said: I thought I was not good enough for physics and I was too good for philosophy. Mathematics is in between. I […]
quantum physics
2020, a great year
I mean for mathematics. I have been reading arXiv entries related to my activity on a daily basis for many years. This year I have noticed an explosion of articles. Confinement has made mathematicians work […]
Mathematics and Atomic Structure II: A Dane in King Arthur’s Court
Atomic structure and the problem of spectra It was an accepted fact in 1913 that the atom consisted of a “heavy” and “dense” nucleus containing all the matter of the atom, and electrons whirling around […]
Mathematics and Atomic Structure I
We have devoted several of our previous posts (see here and here, for example) to explain how the attempt to understand certain natural phenomena led physicists and mathematicians in the early 20th century to propose […]
The great veil is lifted: what if everything is nothing but waves?
Over the course of several posts we have chronicled the birth of quantum theory, the theory that attempts to describe the microscopic world, the micro-world beyond the reach of our sight. Although it was Max […]
Bose, the Indian comet that shone “only” once
In a previous post we examined how the Einsteinian hypothesis that light was made up of quanta of light went from being a mere hypothesis to a fact, especially after Arthur H. Compton’s experiments on […]
And waves became particles
In a previous post we described how Einstein, in order to explain various phenomena including the photoelectric effect, recovered Newton’s idea that light is composed of small particles (today called photons) to which he assigned […]
Einstein and the light quanta
In two previous posts (I and II) we learned how the attempt to explain the radiation emitted by hot bodies led the German physicist Max Planck in the late 1900s to propose a novel idea: […]
Lord Kelvin’s second little cloud II
In this post we will continue the story we started in the previous one: the story of a certain dark cloud shadowing the clear skies of Classical Physics. As we narrated there, it all started […]
Lord Kelvin’s second little cloud
In a previous post we talked about Newton’s Programme, i.e. using mathematics and the scientific method to explain the world around us. There we saw that by the end of the 19th century this programme […]