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Bohr and the Photon

  • John Stachel
Chapter
Part of the The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science book series (WONS, volume 73)

Contrary to legend, in his quantum theory of the hydrogen atom Bohr did not utilize the photon concept. In fact, he rejected the concept vehemently until the mid-1920s, when experiments forced a change in his outlook. Exchanges with Einstein during this period contributed to the development of Bohr's concept of complementarity and subsequently, he recognized the role of the photon concept in describing one of the complementary aspects of electromagnetic phenomena: energy and momentum exchanges with ponderable matter. Yet, in accord with his interpretation of the correspondence principle, he still denied equal status to the wave and particle pictures, stressing the primacy of the classical wave picture of light and of the classical particle picture of the electron. Curiously enough, Einstein agreed.

Keywords

Quantum Theory Correspondence Principle Light Quantum Bohr Theory Classical Electromagnetic Theory 
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