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Erwin Schrödinger (1887 - 1961) - Biography - MacTutor History of Mathematics

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no" /> <link rel="icon" href="../../static/img/favicon.gif" /> <title> Erwin Schrödinger (1887 - 1961) - Biography - MacTutor History of Mathematics </title> <!-- Bootstrap CSS --> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/bootstrap.min.css?h=8de02d92" /> <!-- Custom CSS - must be in this order --> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/lato.css?h=cc1e7b16" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/reset.css?h=d363f773" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/custom.css?h=af6c60f9" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/site.css?h=009079dc" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/content.css?h=469c9b2b" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/katex/katex.min.css?h=607b2673" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../static/css/tooltip.css?h=8bb1ae34" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.min.css" /> <!-- Switch design skin --> <link id="new-theme-style" rel="stylesheet" /> <!-- opposite of noscript --> <noscript> <style> .nonoscript { display: none; } </style> </noscript> <!-- opengraph --> <meta property="og:title" content="Erwin Schrödinger - Biography" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Erwin Schrödinger made important contributions to the development of Quantum Mechanics and received a Nobel prize in 1933." /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Maths History" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_GB" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Schrodinger/" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Schrodinger/thumbnail.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:width" content="130" /> <meta property="og:image:height" content="180" /> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/" /> <!-- twitter card --> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="Maths History" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Erwin Schrödinger" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Erwin Schrödinger made important contributions to the development of Quantum Mechanics and received a Nobel prize in 1933." /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Schrodinger/thumbnail.jpg" /> </head> <body> <div class="container"> <!--noindex--> <!-- HEADER --> <header class="site-header py-3 position-relative"> <!-- skip link for accessibility --> <a class="skip-link" href="#main">Skip to content</a> <div class="row flex-nowrap justify-content-between align-items-center"> <div class="col pt-1"> <a class="site-header-name text-decoration-none" href="../../" > <h1 class="site-header-name"> <img height="48" src="../../static/img/logo.png" alt="MacTutor logo" />&nbsp;MacTutor </h1> </a> </div> </div> <!-- <a href="javascript:void()" class="row justify-content-end small pr-4" id="theme-toggler" onclick="toggleTheme()" > <i class="fa" style="width: min-content">&#xf1fc;</i> </a> --> </header> <!-- END HEADER --> <!-- NAVIGATION --> <div class="container nav-bar" role="navigation"> <div class="row nav"> <a class="col-md-auto p-2" href="../../">Home</a> <a class="col-md-auto p-2" href="../">Biographies</a> <a class="col-md-auto p-2" href="../../HistTopics/">History Topics</a> <a class="col-md-auto p-2" href="../../Map/">Map</a> <a class="col-md-auto p-2" href="../../Curves/">Curves</a> <a class="col-md-auto p-2" href="../../Search/">Search</a> </div> </div> <!-- END NAVIGATION --> <!--endnoindex--> <main id="main"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h1>Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger</h1> </div> </div> <hr /> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <h3>Quick Info</h3> <dt>Born</dt> <dd> 12 August 1887 <br /> <a href="../../Map/#Vienna" target="_blank" > Erdberg, Vienna, Austria </a > </dd> <dt>Died</dt> <dd> 4 January 1961 <br /> Vienna, Austria </dd> <hr /> <dt>Summary</dt> <dd><span class="markup"><strong> Erwin Schrödinger</strong> made important contributions to the development of Quantum Mechanics and received a Nobel prize in <span class="non-italic">1933</span>.</span></dd> </div> <div class="col-md-4 biography-thumbnail-container"> <a href="pictdisplay/" target="_blank"> <img class="biography-thumbnail" src="thumbnail.jpg" alt="Thumbnail of Erwin Schrödinger" /> <br /> View fourteen larger pictures</a > </div> </div> <hr /> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h3>Biography</h3> <span class="markup"><strong>Erwin Schrödinger</strong>'s father, Rudolf Schrödinger, ran a small linoleum factory which he had inherited from his own father. Erwin's mother, Emily Bauer, was half English, this side of the family coming from Leamington Spa, and half Austrian with her father coming from Vienna. <br/> <br/> Schrödinger learnt English and German almost at the same time due to the fact that both were spoken in the household. He was not sent to elementary school, but received lessons at home from a private tutor up to the age of ten. He then entered the Akademisches <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/gymnasium/" href="../../Glossary/#gymnasium">Gymnasium</a> in the autumn of <span class="non-italic">1898</span>, rather later than was usual since he spent a long holiday in England around the time he might have entered the school. He wrote later about his time at the Gymnasium:- <blockquote>I was a good student in all subjects, loved mathematics and physics, but also the strict logic of the ancient grammars, hated only memorising incidental dates and facts. Of the German poets, I loved especially the dramatists, but hated the pedantic dissection of their works.</blockquote> In <span><span class="non-italic">[</span><a class="reference" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;A Hermann, Erwin Schrödinger - eine Biographie, &lt;em&gt;Die Wellenmechanik&lt;/em&gt; &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;Stuttgart, &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;1963)&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;173&lt;/span&gt;-&lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;192&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;' href="#reference-16"><span class="non-italic">16</span></a><span class="non-italic">]</span></span> there is the following quotation from a student in Schrödinger's class at school:- <blockquote>Especially in physics and mathematics, Schrödinger had a gift for understanding that allowed him, without any homework, immediately and directly to comprehend all the material during the class hours and to apply it. After the lecture ... it was possible for <span class="non-italic">[</span>our professor<span class="non-italic">]</span> to call Schrödinger immediately to the blackboard and to set him problems, which he solved with playful facility.</blockquote> Schrödinger graduated from the Akademisches Gymnasium in <span class="non-italic">1906</span> and, in that year, entered the University of Vienna. In theoretical physics he studied analytical mechanics, applications of <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/partial_diff_equation/" href="../../Glossary/#partial_diff_equation">partial differential equations</a> to dynamics, <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/eigenvalue/" href="../../Glossary/#eigenvalue">eigenvalue</a> problems, <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Maxwell/popup/" href="../Maxwell/">Maxwell</a>'s equations and electromagnetic theory, optics, thermodynamics, and <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/statistical_mechanics/" href="../../Glossary/#statistical_mechanics">statistical mechanics</a>. It was Fritz Hasenöhrl's lectures on theoretical physics which had the greatest influence on Schrödinger. In mathematics he was taught calculus and algebra by <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Mertens/popup/" href="../Mertens/">Franz Mertens</a>, function theory, <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/differential_equation/" href="../../Glossary/#differential_equation">differential equations</a> and mathematical statistics by <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Wirtinger/popup/" href="../Wirtinger/">Wilhelm Wirtinger</a> <span class="non-italic">(</span>whom he found uninspiring as a lecturer<span class="non-italic">)</span>. He also studied <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/projective_geometry/" href="../../Glossary/#projective_geometry">projective geometry</a>, algebraic curves and <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/topological_group/" href="../../Glossary/#topological_group">continuous groups</a> in lectures given by Gustav Kohn. <br/> <br/> On <span class="non-italic">20</span> May <span class="non-italic">1910</span>, Schrödinger was awarded his doctorate for the dissertation <em>On the conduction of electricity on the surface of insulators in moist air</em>. After this he undertook voluntary military service in the fortress artillery. Then he was appointed to an assistantship at Vienna but, rather surprisingly, in experimental physics rather than theoretical physics. He later said that his experiences conducting experiments proved an invaluable asset to his theoretical work since it gave him a practical philosophical framework in which to set his theoretical ideas. <br/> <br/> Having completed the work for his <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/habilitation/" href="../../Glossary/#habilitation">habilitation</a>, he was awarded the degree on <span class="non-italic">1</span> September <span class="non-italic">1914</span>. That it was not an outstanding piece of work is shown by the fact that the committee was not unanimous in recommending him for the degree. As Moore writes in <span><span class="non-italic">[</span><a class="reference" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;W J Moore, &lt;em&gt;Schrödinger : Life and Thought&lt;/em&gt; &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;New York, &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;1989)&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;' href="#reference-8"><span class="non-italic">8</span></a><span class="non-italic">]</span></span>:- <blockquote>Schrödinger's early scientific work was inhibited by the absence of a group of first-class theoreticians in Vienna, against whom he could sharpen his skills by daily argument and mutual criticism.</blockquote> In <span class="non-italic">1914</span> Schrödinger's first important paper was published developing ideas of <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Boltzmann/popup/" href="../Boltzmann/">Boltzmann</a>. However, with the outbreak of World War I, Schrödinger received orders to take up duty on the Italian border. His time of active service was not wasted as far as research was concerned, however, for he continued his theoretical work, submitting another paper from his position on the Italian front. In <span class="non-italic">1915</span> he was transferred to duty in Hungary and from there he submitted further papers for publication. After being sent back to the Italian front, Schrödinger received a citation for outstanding service commanding a battery during a battle. <br/> <br/> In the spring of <span class="non-italic">1917</span> Schrödinger was sent back to Vienna and assigned to teach a course in meteorology. He was able to continue research and it was at this time that he published his first results on <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/quantum_mechanics/" href="../../Glossary/#quantum_mechanics">quantum theory</a>. After the end of the war he continued working at Vienna. From <span class="non-italic">1918</span> to <span class="non-italic">1920</span> he made substantial contributions to the theory of colour vision. <br/> <br/> Schrödinger had worked at Vienna on radioactivity, proving the statistical nature of radioactive decay. He had also made important contributions to the kinetic theory of solids, studying the dynamics of crystal lattices. On the strength of his work he was offered an associate professorship at Vienna in January <span class="non-italic">1920</span> but by this time he wished to marry Anny Bertel. They had become engaged in <span class="non-italic">1919</span> and Anny had come to work as a secretary in Vienna on a monthly salary which was more than Schrödinger's annual income. Then he was offered an associate professorship, still not at a salary large enough to support a non-working wife, so he declined. <br/> <br/> Schrödinger accepted instead an assistantship in Jena and this allowed him to marry Anny on <span class="non-italic">24</span> March <span class="non-italic">1920</span>. After only a short time there, he moved to a chair in Stuttgart where he became friendly with <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Reichenbach/popup/" href="../Reichenbach/">Hans Reichenbach</a>. He then moved to a chair at Breslau, his third move in eighteen months. Soon however he was to move yet again, accepting the chair of theoretical physics in Zürich in late <span class="non-italic">1921</span>. During these years of changing from one place to another, Schrödinger studied physiological optics, in particular he continued his work on the theory of colour vision. <br/> <br/> <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Weyl/popup/" href="../Weyl/">Weyl</a> was Schrödinger's closest colleague in his first years in Zürich and he was to provide the deep mathematical knowledge which would prove so helpful to Schrödinger in his work. The intellectual atmosphere in Zürich suited Schrödinger and Zürich was to be the place where he made his most important contributions. From <span class="non-italic">1921</span> he studied atomic structure, then in <span class="non-italic">1924</span> he began to study quantum statistics. Soon after this he read <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Broglie/popup/" href="../Broglie/">de Broglie</a>'s thesis which became a turning point in the direction of his research and had a major influence on his thinking. On <span class="non-italic">3</span> November <span class="non-italic">1925</span> Schrödinger wrote to <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a>:- <blockquote>A few days ago I read with great interest the ingenious thesis of <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Broglie/popup/" href="../Broglie/">Louis de Broglie</a>, which I finally got hold of...</blockquote> On <span class="non-italic">16</span> November, in another letter, Schrödinger wrote:- <blockquote>I have been intensely concerned these days with <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Broglie/popup/" href="../Broglie/">Louis de Broglie</a>'s ingenious theory. It is extraordinarily exciting, but still has some very grave difficulties.</blockquote> One week later Schrödinger gave a seminar on <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Broglie/popup/" href="../Broglie/">de Broglie</a>'s work and a member of the audience, a student of <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Sommerfeld/popup/" href="../Sommerfeld/">Sommerfeld</a>'s, suggested that there should be a wave equation. Within a few weeks Schrödinger had found his wave equation. <br/> <br/> Schrödinger published his revolutionary work relating to wave mechanics and the general theory of relativity in a series of six papers in <span class="non-italic">1926</span>. In its most general form, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation describes the time evolution of closed quantum physical systems as <div class="indent-paragraph"><span class="math"><span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>i</mi><mi mathvariant="normal">ℏ</mi><mstyle mathsize="1.44em"><mfrac><mi mathvariant="normal">∂</mi><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">∂</mi><mi>t</mi></mrow></mfrac><mstyle mathsize="1em"><mi>ψ</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mtext mathvariant="bold">r</mtext><mo separator="true">,</mo><mi>t</mi><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>=</mo><mover accent="true"><mi>H</mi><mo>^</mo></mover><mi>ψ</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mtext mathvariant="bold">r</mtext><mo separator="true">,</mo><mi>t</mi><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></mstyle></mstyle></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">i \hbar \Large\frac{\partial }{\partial t}\normalsize \psi(\textbf {r}, t) = \hat {H} \psi(\textbf {r}, t)</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1.7585999999999997em;vertical-align:-0.49679999999999996em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault">i</span><span class="mord">ℏ</span><span class="mord sizing reset-size6 size8"><span class="mopen nulldelimiter sizing reset-size8 size6"></span><span class="mfrac"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.87625em;"><span style="top:-2.6550000000000002em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size8 size6 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight" style="margin-right:0.05556em;">∂</span><span class="mord mathdefault mtight">t</span></span></span></span><span style="top:-3.23em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="frac-line" style="border-bottom-width:0.04em;"></span></span><span style="top:-3.394em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size8 size6 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight" style="margin-right:0.05556em;">∂</span></span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s">​</span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.345em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mclose nulldelimiter sizing reset-size8 size6"></span></span><span class="mord mathdefault sizing reset-size6 size6" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">ψ</span><span class="mopen sizing reset-size6 size6">(</span><span class="mord text sizing reset-size6 size6"><span class="mord textbf">r</span></span><span class="mpunct sizing reset-size6 size6">,</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.16666666666666666em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault sizing reset-size6 size6">t</span><span class="mclose sizing reset-size6 size6">)</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2777777777777778em;"></span><span class="mrel sizing reset-size6 size6">=</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2777777777777778em;"></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1.19677em;vertical-align:-0.24999999999999997em;"></span><span class="mord accent sizing reset-size6 size6"><span class="vlist-t"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.9467699999999999em;"><span style="top:-3em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="mord"><span class="mord mathdefault" style="margin-right:0.08125em;">H</span></span></span><span style="top:-3.25233em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="accent-body" style="left:-0.19444em;"><span class="mord">^</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mord mathdefault sizing reset-size6 size6" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">ψ</span><span class="mopen sizing reset-size6 size6">(</span><span class="mord text sizing reset-size6 size6"><span class="mord textbf">r</span></span><span class="mpunct sizing reset-size6 size6">,</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.16666666666666666em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault sizing reset-size6 size6">t</span><span class="mclose sizing reset-size6 size6">)</span></span></span></span></span></div> where <span class="math"><span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>i</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">i</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.65952em;vertical-align:0em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault">i</span></span></span></span></span> is the imaginary unit, <span class="math"><span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mstyle mathsize="1.44em"><mfrac><mi mathvariant="normal">∂</mi><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">∂</mi><mi>t</mi></mrow></mfrac><mstyle mathsize="1em"></mstyle></mstyle></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">\Large\frac{\partial }{\partial t}\normalsize</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1.7585999999999997em;vertical-align:-0.49679999999999996em;"></span><span class="mord sizing reset-size6 size8"><span class="mopen nulldelimiter sizing reset-size8 size6"></span><span class="mfrac"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.87625em;"><span style="top:-2.6550000000000002em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size8 size6 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight" style="margin-right:0.05556em;">∂</span><span class="mord mathdefault mtight">t</span></span></span></span><span style="top:-3.23em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="frac-line" style="border-bottom-width:0.04em;"></span></span><span style="top:-3.394em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size8 size6 mtight"><span class="mord mtight"><span class="mord mtight" style="margin-right:0.05556em;">∂</span></span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s">​</span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.345em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mclose nulldelimiter sizing reset-size8 size6"></span></span></span></span></span></span> is partial differentiation with respect to time <span class="math"><span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>t</mi><mo separator="true">,</mo><mi>ψ</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">t, \psi</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8888799999999999em;vertical-align:-0.19444em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault">t</span><span class="mpunct">,</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.16666666666666666em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">ψ</span></span></span></span></span> is the wave function of the quantum system, <strong>r</strong> and <span class="math"><span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>t</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">t</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.61508em;vertical-align:0em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault">t</span></span></span></span></span> are the position vector and time respectively, and <span class="math"><span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mover accent="true"><mi>H</mi><mo>^</mo></mover></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">Ĥ</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.9467699999999999em;vertical-align:0em;"></span><span class="mord accent"><span class="vlist-t"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.9467699999999999em;"><span style="top:-3em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="mord mathdefault" style="margin-right:0.08125em;">H</span></span><span style="top:-3.25233em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:3em;"></span><span class="accent-body" style="left:-0.19444em;"><span class="mord">^</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> is the Hamiltonian operator characterizing the total energy of the quantum system. <br/> <br/> Wave mechanics, as proposed by Schrödinger in these papers, was the second formulation of quantum theory, the first being <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/matrix/" href="../../Glossary/#matrix">matrix</a> mechanics due to <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Heisenberg/popup/" href="../Heisenberg/">Heisenberg</a>. The relation between the two formulations of wave mechanics and matrix mechanics was understood by Schrödinger immediately as this quotation from one of his <span class="non-italic">1926</span> papers shows:- <blockquote>To each function of the position- and momentum- coordinates in wave mechanics there may be related a matrix in such a way that these matrices, in every case satisfy the formal calculation rules of <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Born/popup/" href="../Born/">Born</a> and <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Heisenberg/popup/" href="../Heisenberg/">Heisenberg</a>. ... The solution of the natural <a class="gllink" data-popup="../../Glossary/boundary_value_problem/" href="../../Glossary/#boundary_value_problem">boundary value problem</a> of this differential equation in wave mechanics is completely equivalent to the solution of <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Heisenberg/popup/" href="../Heisenberg/">Heisenberg</a>'s algebraic problem.</blockquote> The work was indeed received with great acclaim. <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Planck/popup/" href="../Planck/">Planck</a> described it as:- <blockquote>... epoch-making work.</blockquote> <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a> wrote:- <blockquote>... the idea of your work springs from true genius...</blockquote> Then, ten days later <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a> wrote again:- <blockquote>I am convinced that you have made a decisive advance with your formulation of the quantum condition...</blockquote> <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Ehrenfest/popup/" href="../Ehrenfest/">Ehrenfest</a> wrote:- <blockquote>I am simply fascinated by your <span class="non-italic">[</span>wave equation<span class="non-italic">]</span> theory and the wonderful new viewpoint it brings. Every day for the past two weeks our little group has been standing for hours at a time in front of the blackboard in order to train itself in all the splendid ramifications.</blockquote> The author of Schrödinger's obituary in <em>The Times</em> wrote <span><span class="non-italic">[</span><a class="reference" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;Obituary in &lt;em&gt;The Times&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br/&gt; &lt;br&gt; See &lt;a href="../../TimesObituaries/Schrodinger.html"&gt;THIS LINK&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;' href="#reference-3"><span class="non-italic">3</span></a><span class="non-italic">]</span></span>:- <blockquote>The introduction of wave mechanics stands ... as Schrödinger's monument and a worthy one.</blockquote> Schrödinger accepted an invitation to lecture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, leaving in December <span class="non-italic">1926</span> to give his lectures in January and February <span class="non-italic">1927</span>. Before he left he was told he was the leading candidate for <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Planck/popup/" href="../Planck/">Planck</a>'s chair in Berlin. After giving a brilliant series of lectures in Madison he was offered a permanent professorship there but <span><span class="non-italic">[</span><a class="reference" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;W J Moore, &lt;em&gt;Schrödinger : Life and Thought&lt;/em&gt; &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;New York, &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;1989)&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;' href="#reference-8"><span class="non-italic">8</span></a><span class="non-italic">]</span></span>:- <blockquote>... he was not at all tempted by an American position, and he declined on the basis of a possible commitment to Berlin.</blockquote> The list of candidates to succeed <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Planck/popup/" href="../Planck/">Planck</a> in the chair of theoretical physics at Berlin was impressive. <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Sommerfeld/popup/" href="../Sommerfeld/">Sommerfeld</a> was ranked in first place, followed by Schrödinger, with <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Born/popup/" href="../Born/">Born</a> as the third choice. When <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Sommerfeld/popup/" href="../Sommerfeld/">Sommerfeld</a> decided not to leave Munich, the offer was made to Schrödinger. He went to Berlin, taking up the post on <span class="non-italic">1</span> October <span class="non-italic">1927</span> and there he became a colleague of <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a>'s. <br/> <br/> Although he was a Catholic, Schrödinger decided in <span class="non-italic">1933</span> that he could not live in a country in which persecution of Jews had become a national policy. Alexander Lindemann, the head of physics at Oxford University, visited Germany in the spring of <span class="non-italic">1933</span> to try to arrange positions in England for some young Jewish scientists from Germany. He spoke to Schrödinger about posts for one of his assistants and was surprised to discover that Schrödinger himself was interested in leaving Germany. Schrödinger asked for a colleague, Arthur March, to be offered a post as his assistant. <br/> <br/> To understand Schrödinger's request for March we must digress a little and comment on Schrödinger's liking for women. His relations with his wife had never been good and he had had many lovers with his wife's knowledge. Anny had her own lover for many years, Schrödinger's friend <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Weyl/popup/" href="../Weyl/">Weyl</a>. Schrödinger's request for March to be his assistant was because, at that time, he was in love with Arthur March's wife Hilde. <br/> <br/> Many of the scientists who had left Germany spent the summer of <span class="non-italic">1933</span> in the South Tyrol. Here Hilde became pregnant with Schrödinger's child. On <span class="non-italic">4</span> November <span class="non-italic">1933</span> Schrödinger, his wife and Hilde March arrived in Oxford. Schrödinger had been elected a fellow of Magdalen College. Soon after they arrived in Oxford, Schrödinger heard that, for his work on wave mechanics, he had been awarded the Nobel prize. <br/> <br/> In the spring of <span class="non-italic">1934</span> Schrödinger was invited to lecture at Princeton and while there he was made an offer of a permanent position. On his return to Oxford he negotiated about salary and pension conditions at Princeton but in the end he did not accept. It is thought that the fact that he wished to live at Princeton with Anny and Hilde both sharing the upbringing of his child was not found acceptable. The fact that Schrödinger openly had two wives, even if one of them was married to another man, did not go down too well in Oxford either, but his daughter Ruth Georgie Erica was born there on <span class="non-italic">30</span> May <span class="non-italic">1934</span>. <br/> <br/> In <span class="non-italic">1935</span> Schrödinger published a three-part essay on <em>The present situation in quantum mechanics</em> in which his famous Schrödinger's cat paradox appears. This was a thought experiment where a cat in a closed box either lived or died according to whether a quantum event occurred. The paradox was that both universes, one with a dead cat and one with a live one, seemed to exist in parallel until an observer opened the box. <br/> <br/> In <span class="non-italic">1936</span> Schrödinger was offered the chair of physics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He may have accepted that post but for a long delay in obtaining a work permit from the Home Office. While he was waiting he received an offer from the University of Graz and he went to Austria and spent the years <span class="non-italic">1936</span>-<span class="non-italic">1938</span> in Graz. <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Born/popup/" href="../Born/">Born</a> was then offered the Edinburgh post which he quickly accepted. <br/> <br/> However the advancing Nazi threat caught up with Schrödinger again in Austria. After the Anschluss the Germans occupied Graz and renamed the university Adolf Hitler University. Schrödinger wrote a letter to the University Senate, on the advice on the new Nazi rector, saying that he had:- <blockquote>... misjudged up to the last the true will and the true destiny of my country. I make this confession willingly and joyfully...</blockquote> It was a letter he was to regret for the rest of his life. He explained the reason to <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a> in a letter written about a year later:- <blockquote>I wanted to remain free - and could not do so without great duplicity.</blockquote> The Nazis could not forget the insult he had caused them when he fled from Berlin in <span class="non-italic">1933</span> and on <span class="non-italic">26</span> August <span class="non-italic">1938</span> he was dismissed from his post for 'political unreliability'. He went to consult an official in Vienna who told him that he must get a job in industry and that he would not be allowed to go to a foreign country. He fled quickly with Anny, this time to Rome from where he wrote to <a class="mlink" data-popup="../De_Valera/popup/" href="../De_Valera/">de Valera</a> as President of the League of Nations. <a class="mlink" data-popup="../De_Valera/popup/" href="../De_Valera/">De Valera</a> offered to arrange a job for him in Dublin in the new Institute for Advanced Studies he was trying to set up. From Rome, Schrödinger went back to Oxford, and there he received an offer of a one year visiting professorship at the University of Gent. <br/> <br/> After his time in Gent, Schrödinger went to Dublin in the autumn of <span class="non-italic">1939</span>. There he studied electromagnetic theory and relativity and began to publish on a unified field theory. His first paper on this topic was written in <span class="non-italic">1943</span>. In <span class="non-italic">1946</span> he renewed his correspondence with <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a> on this topic. In January <span class="non-italic">1947</span> he believed he had made a major breakthrough <span><span class="non-italic">[</span><a class="reference" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;W J Moore, &lt;em&gt;Schrödinger : Life and Thought&lt;/em&gt; &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;New York, &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;1989)&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;' href="#reference-8"><span class="non-italic">8</span></a><span class="non-italic">]</span></span>:- <blockquote>Schrödinger was so entranced by his new theory that he threw caution to the winds, abandoned any pretence of critical analysis, and even though his new theory was scarcely hatched, he presented it to the Academy and to the Irish press as an epoch-making advance.</blockquote> The <em>Irish Times</em> carried an interview with Schrödinger the next day in which he said:- <blockquote>This is the generalisation. Now the <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a> Theory becomes simply a special case... I believe I am right, I shall look an awful fool if I am wrong.</blockquote> <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a>, however, realised immediately that there was nothing of merit in Schrödinger's 'new theory' <span><span class="non-italic">[</span><a class="reference" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;W J Moore, &lt;em&gt;Schrödinger : Life and Thought&lt;/em&gt; &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;(&lt;/span&gt;New York, &lt;span class="non-italic"&gt;1989)&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;' href="#reference-8"><span class="non-italic">8</span></a><span class="non-italic">]</span></span>:- <blockquote><span class="non-italic">[</span>Schrödinger<span class="non-italic">]</span> was even thinking of the possibility of receiving a second Nobel prize. In any case, the entire episode reveals a lapse in judgment, and when he actually read <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a>'s comment, he was devastated.</blockquote> <a class="mlink" data-popup="../Einstein/popup/" href="../Einstein/">Einstein</a> wrote immediately saying that he was breaking off their correspondence on unified field theory. Unified field theory was, however, not the only topic to interest him during his time at the Institute for Advanced Study in Dublin. His study of Greek science and philosophy is summarised in <em>Nature and the Greeks</em> <span class="non-italic">(1954)</span> which he wrote while in Dublin. Another important book written during this period was <em>What is life?</em> <span class="non-italic">(1944)</span> which led to progress in biology. <br/> <br/> On the personal side Schrödinger had two further daughters while in Dublin, to two different Irish women. He remained in Dublin until he retired in <span class="non-italic">1956</span> when he returned to Vienna and wrote his last book <em>Meine Weltansicht</em> <span><a class="translation nonoscript non-italic" data-popup='&lt;span class="markup"&gt;My world view&lt;/span&gt;'>Ⓣ</a><noscript><span class="non-italic">(</span><span class="markup">My world view</span><span class="non-italic">)</span></noscript></span> <span class="non-italic">(1961)</span> expressing his own metaphysical outlook. <br/> <br/> During his last few years Schrödinger remained interested in mathematical physics and continued to work on general relativity, unified field theory and meson physics. <br/> </span> </div> </div> <hr /> <div class="row mt-2"> <div class="col-md-12"> <a href="quotations/" >Quotations by Erwin Schrödinger</a > <br /> <a href="../../Countries/Austria/" >Other Mathematicians born in Austria</a > <br /> <a href="poster/lived/" >A Poster of Erwin Schrödinger</a > </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h3>References <span class="nonoscript">(<a href="#" id="references-toggle">show</a>)</span></h3> </div> </div> <div class="row" id="references-list"> <div class="col-md-12"> <ol name="references"> <li id="reference-1"><span class="markup">A Hermann, Biography in <em>Dictionary of Scientific Biography</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>New York <span class="non-italic">1970</span>-<span class="non-italic">1990)</span>. <br/> See <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Erwin_Schrodinger.aspx">THIS LINK</a>.</span></li> <li id="reference-2"><span class="markup">Biography in <em>Encyclopaedia Britannica.</em> <br/> <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Schrodinger">http://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Schrodinger</a></span></li> <li id="reference-3"><span class="markup">Obituary in <em>The Times</em> <br/> See <a href="../../TimesObituaries/Schrodinger.html">THIS LINK</a></span></li> <li id="reference-4"><span class="markup">J Gotschl <span class="non-italic">(</span>ed.<span class="non-italic">)</span>, <em>Erwin Schrödinger's world view : the dynamics of knowledge and reality</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Dordrecht, <span class="non-italic">1992)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-5"><span class="markup">D Hoffman, <em>Erwin Schrödinger</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Leipzig, <span class="non-italic">1984)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-6"><span class="markup">C W Kilmister <span class="non-italic">(</span>ed.<span class="non-italic">)</span>, <em>Schrödinger : Centenary celebrations of a polymath</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Cambridge, <span class="non-italic">1987)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-7"><span class="markup">J Mehra and H Rechenberg, <em>The historical development of quantum theory Vol.<span class="non-italic">5</span>: Erwin Schrödinger and the rise of wave mechanics</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>New York, <span class="non-italic">1987)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-8"><span class="markup">W J Moore, <em>Schrödinger : Life and Thought</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>New York, <span class="non-italic">1989)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-9"><span class="markup">W J Moore, <em>A life of Erwin Schrödinger</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Cambridge, <span class="non-italic">1994)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-10"><span class="markup">W T Scott, <em>Erwin Schrödinger : an introduction to his writings</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Amherst, <span class="non-italic">1967)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-11"><span class="markup">M Bitbol, Erwin Schrödinger : un philosophe chez les physiciens, <em>La Recherche</em> <strong><span class="non-italic">21</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(1990)</span>, <span class="non-italic">1392</span>-<span class="non-italic">1399</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-12"><span class="markup">M Born, Erwin Schrödinger, <em>Phys. Bl.</em> <strong><span class="non-italic">17</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(1961)</span>, <span class="non-italic">85</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-13"><span class="markup">F Cap, Erwin Schrödinger and Tirol, <em>Jahrbuch Überlicke Math</em> <span class="non-italic">(1986)</span>, <span class="non-italic">211</span>-<span class="non-italic">216</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-14"><span class="markup">L Flamm, Erwin Schrödinger, <em>Almanach Osterr. Akad. Wiss. Wien</em> <strong><span class="non-italic">194</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(1961)</span>, <span class="non-italic">402</span>-<span class="non-italic">411</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-15"><span class="markup">P A Hanle, The Coming of Age of Erwin Schrödinger : His Quantum Statistics of Ideal Gases, <em>Archive for History of Exact Science</em> <strong><span class="non-italic">17</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(1977)</span>, <span class="non-italic">165</span>-.</span></li> <li id="reference-16"><span class="markup">A Hermann, Erwin Schrödinger - eine Biographie, <em>Die Wellenmechanik</em> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Stuttgart, <span class="non-italic">1963)</span>, <span class="non-italic">173</span>-<span class="non-italic">192</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-17"><span class="markup">H Kragh, On the history of early wave mechanics, <em>Centaurus</em> <strong><span class="non-italic">26</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(1982)</span>, <span class="non-italic">154</span>-<span class="non-italic">197</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-18"><span class="markup">J W N Sullivan, Interview with Erwin Schrödinger, <em>The Observer</em> <span class="non-italic">(11</span> January, <span class="non-italic">1931)</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-19"><span class="markup">N Symonds, What is life? : Schrodinger's influence on biology, <em>The Quarterly review of biology</em> <strong><span class="non-italic">61</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(1986)</span>, <span class="non-italic">221</span>-<span class="non-italic">226</span>.</span></li> <li id="reference-20"><span class="markup">H Thirring, Erwin Schrödinger, in <em>Neue Österreichische Biographie ab <span class="non-italic">1815</span></em> <strong><span class="non-italic">18</span></strong> <span class="non-italic">(</span>Vienna, <span class="non-italic">1972)</span>, <span class="non-italic">63</span>-<span class="non-italic">68</span>.</span></li> </ol> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h3>Additional Resources <span class="nonoscript">(<a href="#" id="additional-toggle">show</a>)</span></h3> </div> </div> <div class="row" id="additional-list"> <div class="col-md-6"> <p>Other pages about Erwin Schrödinger:</p> <ol name="additional"> <li><a href="../../Ledermann/chapter-4/"><span class="markup">Walter Ledermann's memoir</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Extras/Schrodinger_Thermodynamics/"><span class="markup">Schrödinger: <em>Statistical Thermodynamics</em></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../TimesObituaries/Schrodinger.html"><span class="markup">Times obituary</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Diagrams/Schrodinger_grave.jpeg"><span class="markup">Schrödinger's grave at Alpbach in Austria <span class="non-italic">(</span>Note the wave equation!<span class="non-italic">)</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Gaz/Dublin/"><span class="markup">An entry in <em>The Mathematical Gazetteer of the British Isles</em>,</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Miller/stamps/#Schrodinger"><span class="markup">Miller's postage stamps</span></a></li> </ol> </div> <div class="col-md-6"> <p>Other websites about Erwin Schrödinger:</p> <ol name="otherweb"> <li><a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Erwin_Schrodinger.aspx" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Dictionary of Scientific Biography</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Schrodinger" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/picture/2017/dec/23/berger-wyse-on-schrodingers-cat-cartoon" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Berger & Wyse cartoon</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.nndb.com/people/308/000072092/" target="_blank"><span class="markup">NNDB</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/schrodinger-1" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Plus Magazine</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1933/schrodinger-bio.html" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Nobel prizes site <span class="non-italic">(</span>A biography of Schrödinger and his Nobel prize presentation speech<span class="non-italic">)</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.google.com/doodles/erwin-schrodingers-126th-birthday" target="_blank"><span class="markup">A Google doodle </span></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.lindahall.org/about/news/scientist-of-the-day/erwin-schrodinger/" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Linda Hall</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=53005" target="_blank"><span class="markup">Mathematical Genealogy Project</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/MRAuthorID/157010" target="_blank"><span class="markup">MathSciNet Author profile</span></a></li> <li><a href="https://zbmath.org/authors/?s=0&amp;q=Schrödinger%2C+Erwin" target="_blank"><span class="markup">zbMATH entry</span></a></li> </ol> </div> </div> <hr /> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h3> Honours <span class="nonoscript">(<a href="#" id="honours-toggle">show</a>)</span> </h3> </div> </div> <div class="row" id="honours-list"> <div class="col-md-12"> <p>Honours awarded to Erwin Schrödinger</p> <ol name="honours"> <li><a href="../../Honours/LunarFeatures0/"><span class="markup">Lunar features <strong>Crater Schrodinger</strong></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Miscellaneous/Popular/"><span class="markup">Popular biographies list Number <span class="non-italic">86</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Honours/Nobel/"><span class="markup">Nobel Prize <span class="non-italic">1933</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Honours/FRS/"><span class="markup">Fellow of the Royal Society <span class="non-italic">1949</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Honours/Schrodinger_prize/"><span class="markup">Erwin Schrödinger Prize <span class="non-italic">1956</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Honours/google_doodle/"><span class="markup">Google doodle <span class="non-italic">2013</span></span></a></li> </ol> </div> </div> <hr /> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> <h3> Cross-references <span class="nonoscript">(<a href="#" id="xrefs-toggle">show</a>)</span> </h3> </div> </div> <div class="row" id="xrefs-list"> <div class="col-md-12"> <ol name="xrefs"> <li><a href="../../HistTopics/The_Quantum_age_begins/">History Topics: <span class="markup">A history of Quantum Mechanics</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../HistTopics/African_men_2/">History Topics: <span class="markup">African men with a doctorate in mathematics <span class="non-italic">2</span></span></a></li> <li><a href="../../HistTopics/Ledermann_interview/">History Topics: <span class="markup">Ledermann's St Andrews interview</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../HistTopics/Light_2/">History Topics: <span class="markup">Light through the ages: Relativity and quantum era</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../HistTopics/Wave_matrix/">History Topics: <span class="markup">Wave versus matrix mechanics</span></a></li> <li><a href="../../Societies/Austrian_Academy/">Societies: Austrian Academy of Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="../../Societies/Irish_Academy/">Societies: Irish Royal Academy</a></li> <li><a href="../../Societies/Lincei/">Societies: Lincei Accademia</a></li> <li><a href="../../Societies/Pontifical_Academy/">Societies: Pontifical Academy of Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="../../Miscellaneous/Popular_2009/">Other: 2009 Most popular biographies</a></li> <li><a href="../../Gaz/Cambridge_professorships/">Other: Cambridge professorships</a></li> <li><a href="../../Miller/mathword/e/">Other: Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics (E)</a></li> <li><a href="../../Miller/stamps/">Other: Jeff Miller's postage stamps</a></li> <li><a href="../../Miscellaneous/Popular/">Other: Most popular biographies – 2024</a></li> <li><a href="../../Miscellaneous/Popular_2018/">Other: Popular biographies 2018</a></li> </ol> </div> </div> <hr /> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12"> Written by <span class="markup">J J O'Connor and E F Robertson</span> <br /> Last Update October 2003 </div> </div> <!-- END MAIN BODY --> </main> <!--noindex--> <footer class="site-footer mt-3 pb-3 pt-3 pt-md-0"> <div class="row"> <div class="cr-footer col-md-4"> DJF/JOC/EFR<br /> <a href="../../Miscellaneous/copyright/" >Copyright information</a ><br /> <a href="../../Miscellaneous/accessibility/" >Accessibility statement</a > </div> <div class="links-footer col-md-6"> <a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/mathematics-statistics/" target="_blank" >School of Mathematics and Statistics</a > <br /> <a href="http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/" target="_blank" >University of St Andrews, Scotland</a > </div> <div class="col-md-2"> <img src="../../static/img/st-andrews-logo.png?h=e46f195e" alt="University of St. Andrews logo" /> </div> 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