外流影片

In 1925 Werner Heisenberg published a paper (known as the 鈥淯mdeutungs paper鈥�) that introduced matrix mechanics and is generally considered a major step towards a modern formulation of quantum theory. History-of-science folklore has it that the inventor of matrix mechanics knew nothing of matrices when writing the paper, which raises the question: how does one invent matrix mechanics without knowing about matrices? And isn鈥檛 matrix algebra part of every physicist鈥檚 undergraduate education as a matter of course? To answer these questions, we will retrace Heisenberg鈥檚 reasoning and take a look at the history of matrix theory and its adoption in education.

 

Holger Teismann came to Canada almost 30 years ago as a postdoc at the University of Victoria. He has been teaching mathematics ever since and still thoroughly enjoys doing it. His research interests include partial differential equations and their applications, as well as quantum control and information theory.