Tracing the Roots of Nuclear Physics: Experiments by Early Pioneers

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around locating classic papers by early pioneers in nuclear physics, including notable figures such as Rutherford, Joliot-Curie, Fermi, Lawrence, and Hahn. Participants express interest in understanding the experimental setups and conclusions drawn by these scientists.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about sources for classic papers by early nuclear physics experimentalists.
  • Another participant mentions a Russian site that offers translations of early papers and suggests checking the Royal Society journals for Dirac's work, which is available for free until December.
  • A participant provides specific references to Dirac's papers and discusses their significance in quantum mechanics, noting the difficulty of understanding them without prior knowledge of Heisenberg's work.
  • Additional resources are shared, including links to European classics and a reminder of the free access period for the Royal Society's digital archive.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the value of accessing historical papers and share various resources, but there is no consensus on a single source or method for finding these documents.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention limitations in remembering specific links and the challenge of understanding certain papers without foundational knowledge in quantum mechanics.

Azael
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Where can all the classic papers by the experimentalists that layed the foundation for nuclear physics be found?:confused:

Rutherford, joliot-curie, fermi, lawrence, Hahn ect.
Im very interested in reading exactly how they setup there experiments, the conclusions they drew and so on.
 
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there is a russian site having translations (to english) of the earlier papers. You can find Dirac papers in the Royal Society journals, free until december, and surely a bunch of references to experimentalists there. You can find old french and european journals for free in Gallica.

I do not remember the links. You could try the "online" tag in physcomments.org
 
arivero said:
there is a russian site having translations (to english) of the earlier papers. You can find Dirac papers in the Royal Society journals, free until december, and surely a bunch of references to experimentalists there. You can find old french and european journals for free in Gallica.

I do not remember the links. You could try the "online" tag in physcomments.org


Thanks :) Il try there
 
arivero said:
You can find Dirac papers in the Royal Society journals, free until december,
I do not remember the links. You could try the "online" tag in physcomments.org

http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/index.cfm?page=1373

Still the best work to study the Dirac equation are the papers in
which Dirac introduced it:

The Quantum Theory of the Electron.
vol 117, 1 February 1928, pp.610-24
The Quantum Theory of the Electron II
vol 118, 1 March 1928, pp. 351-61

Dirac's start in quantum mechanics is where he, after reading
Heisenberg's paper on Matrix mechanics, introduces the Poisson
brackets from classical dynamics into quantum mechanics:

The fundamental equations of quantum mechanics.
vol 109, 1 December 1925, pp. 642-53

Hard to read without Heisenberg's work though. One might use:
The physical interpretation of the quantum theory:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486601137/?tag=pfamazon01-20
for this, see the appendix (which is half the book) Other famous Dirac papers where published elsewhere:
The lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics:
Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion, vol 3, n0.1, pp 64-72
The theory of magnetic poles:
The Physical Review, vol 74, no.7, 1 October 1948, pp. 817-30Regards, Hans
 
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Classic Papers:

Search here by author for European classics (I've seen papers by Lorentz, Curie, Arrhenius, van der Waals, de Haas, Onnes, Zeeman)
http://www.knaw.nl/cfdata/digital_library/output/proceedings/works.cfm
(thanks to Astronuc for that reference)

For another 18 days, the Royal Society's digital archive is FREE!
http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/(yuvxwsm1u4troaijxznq4x45)/app/home/main.asp?referrer=default

Interviews and citations for PRL's Top Ten
http://www.aps.org/apsnews/topten.cfm

Physical Review gave free access to a collection of classics during their centennial, a couple years ago (Zz linked it in a thread here). I think that access has since been closed down.
 
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