DIRAC, P.A.M. - THE ALGEBRA OF QUANTUM MECHANICS.

The Elimination of the Nodes in Quantum Mechanics. (+) Relativity Quantum Mechanics with an Application to Compton Scattering. (2 papers).

London, Roayl Society, 1926. Royal 8vo. Full cloth. Gilt lettering to spine. In: "Proceedings of the Royal Society". Series A, Vol. 111. V,753,LIII pp., textillustr. and plates. (Entire volume offered).

First appearance of these papers constituting Dirac's own theory of quantum mechanics.

"Dirac wanted to establish an algebra for quantum variables, or, as he now termed them, q-numbers... He wanted his q-number algebra to be a general and purely mathematical theory that could then be applied to problem of physics. Although it soon turned out that q-number algebra was equivalent to matrix mechanics, in 1926 Dirac's theory was developed as an original alternative to both wave mechanics and matric mechanics. It was very much Dirac's own theory, and he stuck to it without paying much attention to what went on inmatrix mechanics... In the summer of 1926, Dirac published a new and very general version of q-number algebra, this timepresented as a purely mathematical theory. In this paper (offered here) he did not refer to physics at all... The work had little impact on the physics community but seems to have been appreciated by those who cultivated the mathematical aspects of quantum physics. Most of the results obtained by Dirac in his paper "The Elimination of the Nodes in Quantum Mechanics" had been found earlier by the German theorists using a method of matric mechanics, but Dirac was able to improve on some of the results and deduce them from his own system of quantum mechanics."(Helge Kragh).

Order-nr.: 46991