Abstract
Eugene Paul Wigner was one of the greatest theoretical physicists of the twentieth century. He made fundamental contributions to atomic physics, group theory and quantum mechanics, quantum field theory and the theory of elementary particles, symmetries, nuclear physics, reactor physics, solid state physics, and other aspects of mathematical physics. His collected scientific papers (Volumes I to V) cover all aspects of these fields. In addition, in a series of popular writings, Wigner elaborated upon philosophical questions (the measurement problem, the role of consciousness and the interpretation of quantum mechanics, covered in Volume VI), autobiographical, biographical and historical reflections and syntheses (the topics of this Volume VII), and the socio-political questions and the problems of civil defense (Volume VIII).
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References
Interviews and conversations with Jagdish Mehra during many years since 1966, especially those of 24 February and 7 April 1987; these conversations were intended to sum up and verify many statements made throughout this annotation (unpublished); M. G. Doncel, L. Michel, Jules Six: Interview de Eugene P. Wigner sur sa vie scientifique, Archive Internationales d’Histoire des Science 34, no. 112, 77–217 (1914); The Tennessee Technology Foundation’s Outstanding Scientists and Engineers, combined fragments from various interviews, 31 March 1987–28 November 1988 (unpublished); Session One of Three-Session Interview with Eugene P. Wigner, 21 November 1963 (Conducted by T. S. Kuhn, Sources for the History of Quantum Physics, American Physical Society, Philadelphia, PA); The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner (as told to Andrew Szanton, Plenum Press, New York 1992 ).
H. Mark and E. Wigner: Die Gitterstruktur des Rhombischen Schwefels. Z. Phys. Chem. 111, 398 (1924)
M. Polanyi and E. Wigner: Bildung und Zerfall von Molekülen. Z. Phys. 34, 429 (1925)
M. Born and P. Jordan: Zur Quantenmechanik. Z. Phys. 34, 858 (1925)
M. Born, W. Heisenberg, and P. Jordan, Zur Quantenmechanik II. Z. Phys. 35, 557 (1926)
W. Heisenberg: Uber die quantenmechanische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen. Z. Phys. 33, 879 (1925)
H. Weber: Lehrbuch der Algebra, 1894, 3 vols. ( Reprinted by Chelsea Publishing Company, New York 1961 )
W. Heisenberg: Uber die Spektra von Atomsystemen mit zwei Elektronen. Z. Phys. 39, 499 (1926)
J. von Neumann and E. Wigner: Zur Erklärung einiger Eigenschaften der Spektren aus der Quantenmechanik des Drehelektrons. Z. Phys. 47, 203 (1928)
G. Frobenius and I. Schur: Uber die reellen Darstellungen der endlichen Gruppen. Sitz. preuss. Akad. Wiss. 186 (1906); G. Frobenius and I. Schur: Über die Äquivalenz der Gruppen linearer Substitutionen. Sitz. preuss. Akad. Wiss. 209 (1906)
J. von Neumann and E. Wigner: Zur Erklärung einiger Eigenschaften der Spektren aus der Quantenmechanik des Drehelektrons, II und III, Ref. 9, 49 and 51 (1928)
Akad. Wiss. Berlin 338 (1924)
E. Wigner: On the Unitary Representations of the Inhomogeneous Lorentz Group: Ann. Math. 40, 149 (1939) (Received 22 December 1937, published January 1939 )
E. Wigner: Einige Folgerungen aus der Schrödingerschen Theorie für die Termstrukturen. Z. Phys. 43, 624 (1927)
O. Laporte: Die Struktur des Eisenspektrums. Z. Phys. 23, 135 (1924); 26, 1 (1924)
E. Wigner: Uber die Operation der Zeitumkehr in der Quantenmechanik. Nachr. Gött. Math.-Phys. Klasse, 546 (1932)
See Jagdish Mehra: Einstein, Hilbert, and the Theory of Gravitation. D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht 1974
P. Jordan and E. Wigner: Uber das Paulische Aquivalenzverbot. Z. Phys. 47, 631 (1928)
P. A. M. Dirac: The Quantum Theory of the Emission and Absorption of Radiation. Proc. Roy. Soc. A117, 243 (1927)
P. A. M. Dirac: The Quantum Theory of the Electron. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 117, 610 (1928)
J. von Neumann and E. Wigner: Über das Verhalten von Eigenwerten bei adiabatischen Prozessen. Phys. Zeit. 30, 467 (1929)
J. von Neumann: Mathematische Begründung der Quantenmechanik. Gött. Nachr. 1, Nr. 9, 1 (1927)
L. D. Landau: Das Dampfungsproblem in der Wellenmechanik. Z. Phys. 45, 430 (1927)
V. Weisskopf and E. Wigner: Berechnung der natürlichen Linienbreite auf Grund der Diracschen Lichttheorie. Z. Phys. 63, 54 (1930);
V. Weisskopf and E. Wigner: Über die natürliche Linienbreite in der Strahlung des harmonischen Oszillators. Z. Phys. 65, 18 (1930)
H. Weyl: Gruppentheorie und Quantenmechanik. Leipzig 1928
E. Wigner: Gruppentheorie und ihre Anwendung auf die Quantenmechanik der Atomspektren. Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig 1931; English translation by J. S. Griffin: Group Theory. Academic Press, New York 1959
Cable from Princeton University to Dr. E. Wigner, 9 December 1929, Princeton University Archives
Resolution of the Research Committee, Departments of Physics and Mathematics, 6 March 1930, Princeton University Archives
On June 26 1990, at a dinner in the Nassau Inn at Princeton, Wigner remarked to me: `By now I have been in this country for sixty years and I can understand English, and I can speak English also. I can even swear in English! “Of his swearing in English, I gave him the inimitable example of his politeness mixed with frustration (which I had learned from Willis E. Lamb, Jr.), when he swore at the garage mechanic: ”Go to hell, please!“
With papers like: E. Wigner: Über die Streuung von Neutronen an Protonen, Z. Phys. 83, 253 (1933); On the Saturation of Exchange Forces, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA) 22, 662 (1936)
G. Breit and E. Wigner: Note on Majorana’s Exchange Energy. Phys. Rev. 48, 918 (1935)
G.Breit and E. Wigner: Capture of Slow Neutrons. Phys. Rev. 49, 519 (1936)
G. Breit and E. Wigner: The Beta Spectrum of Li8, Phys. Rev. 50, 1191 (1937); The Disintegration of Li8, Phys. Rev. 51, 593 (1937)
G. Breit and E. Wigner: The Saturation Properties of Nuclear Forces. Phys. Rev. 53, 998 (1938)
E. Wigner: On Unitary Representations of the Inhomogeneous Lorentz Group, Ann. Math 40, 149 (1939). In 1979, Wigner received a telephone call congratulating him that this article of his was one of the 25 most cited mathematical articles, “but I have forgotten who it was - which journal - that called to congratulate me”.
E. Inönü and E.P. Wigner: Representations of the Galilei Group, II Nuovo Cimento 9, 705–718 (1952). See Volume I, pp. 459–472.
E. Wigner: On the Consequences of the Symmetry of the Nuclear Hamiltonian on the Spectrosopy of Nuclei. Phys. Rev. 51, 106 (1937)
O. Hahn and F. Strassmann: Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung der Uranmittel Neutronen entscheidenden Erdalkalimetalle, Naturwiss. 27, 11 (1938); L. Meitner and O. R. Frisch: Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: A New Type of Nuclear Reaction, Nature 55, 103 (1939)
E. Wigner: On the Quantum Correction to Thermodynamic Equilibrium. Phys. Rev. 40, 749 (1932)
E. P. Wigner: Remarks on the Mind-Body Question, in: Symmetries and Reflections, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and London 1967, p. 172
Concise Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy, Interscience, New York 1962, pp. 871–875;
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Physics and Mathematics (Daniel N. Lapedes, Ed.-in-chief), McGraw-Hill, New York 1976; pp. 1057–1058
Concerning Eugene Wigner’s excessive politeness I often remarked to him: “You like to be first in everything, but what stops you is an open door!”, for Wigner always insisted on going through the door last when he was with other people. Edward Teller recounts an anecdote, which is characteristic of Wigner’s polite attitude. `Many years ago, before Hitler came to power, Eugene and a German astronomer, Heckmann, were lying on the lawn near the municipal pool in Göttingen, Heckmann observed that a row of ants was crawling across Eugene’s leg, and he asked Eugene: “Don’t they bite?” The answer was: “Yes, they do.” Question: “Then why don’t you kill them?” Answer by Eugene Wigner: “I don’t know which one it was!” (Quote in: E. Teller: Epilogue, in: Francis S. Wagner: Eugene P. Wigner: Architect of the Atomic Age. Highlights of a Career, Toronto, Râkôszi Foundation, 1981 ).
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Mehra, J. (2001). Historical and Biographical Reflections and Syntheses. In: Mehra, J. (eds) Historical and Biographical Reflections and Syntheses. Historical, Philosophical, and Socio-Political Papers, vol B / 7. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07791-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07791-7_1
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