English Translations of Original QM Sources: Find Textbook & Papers

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding English translations of original quantum mechanics sources, including textbooks and seminal papers by de Broglie, Schrödinger, and Heisenberg. Participants explore the challenges of accessing these materials and the difficulties in understanding them due to historical context and notation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants agree on the value of original sources for clarifying basic concepts in quantum mechanics.
  • One participant notes the difficulty in reading Schrödinger's seminal paper, suggesting that original papers may not be as accessible due to outdated notation and language.
  • A suggestion is made to refer to Wheeler and Zurek's work on quantum theory and measurement.
  • Links to translations of de Broglie's thesis and initial Heisenberg/Born papers are provided, along with a reference to Schrödinger's translated paper in Physical Review.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a shared interest in original sources, but there is no consensus on the accessibility or clarity of these texts, indicating multiple views on their readability and the challenges they present.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight that the original papers were written in a different context, making them potentially difficult to understand for modern readers. There is also mention of the evolution of notation and language over time, which may affect comprehension.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for students and researchers interested in the historical development of quantum mechanics and those seeking original texts for deeper understanding.

phyfor
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Agree with DeepQ on the use of original sources to clarify basic concepts. (See spin thread.) It is hard, though, to find some of them in English. Any suggestions for such an older textbook?
Any suggestions (journals OK) for English translations of de Broglie's thesis, and for Schrödinger's and Heisenberg's seminal papers?
Any suggestions as well for early papers on the measurement problem? Thanks.
 
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Quantum theory and measurement,
Wheeler and Zurek,
Princeton
 
I'd like to point out that Schrödinger's "seminal" paper is exceptionally hard to read. One of the problems with reading original material to understand "basic concepts" is that, when they were first discovered, they were not so basic. Many of the original papers are very difficult to read and understand, partially because the discoverers didn't have the advantage of twenty+ years of research looking at it, and partially because the notation and language used in the 1930s is different from that used even in the 1950s and definitely by the 1960s.

If you're still curious, Schrödinger published an English translated paper in Physical Review 28 in in 1926. That's the extent of my references there.
 
Translated De Broigle thesis
http://www.ensmp.fr/aflb/LDB-oeuvres/De_Broglie_Kracklauer.pdf

The initial Heisenberg/Born papers are translated in:
Sources of quantum mechanics. Edited with a historical introd. by B.L. van der Waerden.

The Schroedinger papers(not sure if the initial one is there) in:
Collected papers on wave mechanics / by E. Schrödinger ; translated from the second German edition.
 
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Thanks.

Thanks. Will keep an eye open for other suggestions.
 

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