Berlin 2014 – scientific programme

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 4: Quantum-Classical Divide II

AGPhil 4.2: Talk

Thursday, March 20, 2014, 14:45–15:15, SPA SR22

Umdeutung: The Development of Quantum Mechanics as a Process of Reinterpretation. — •Christoph Lehner — Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin

In 1925, Werner Heisenberg famously entitled his first paper on what was soon to be known as matrix mechanics "On the quantum theoretical reinterpretation (Umdeutung) of kinematic and mechanical relations." In my talk, I will analyze the centrality of this reinterpretation for the development of the new theory and for understanding the relation of matrix to classical mechanics. I will also consider the development of wave mechanics by Erwin Schrödinger in 1926 and analyze it as a parallel process of reinterpretation.

I will argue that this model offers a more realistic picture of the change of foundational theories than Kuhn’s model of paradigm change.