Abstract
The question how far Democritean atomism provides the conceptual background for quantum physics is examined. First, Schrodinger’s profound studies of this philosophy and the relation of its concepts to quantum atomism and to statistical physics is reviewed. Then the contradiction is brought out between a relativity theory in which Democritean atoms are inconceivable and a quantum theory which implies their existence; as a result, paradoxes still plague quantum field theory. Schrodinger’s and Heisenberg’s way out of the difficulty leads, via Plato’s ideal structures, to taking universal constants as the fundamental building blocks of physics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Today this problem has become that of the relation between Hausdorff dimensions and fractals
Max Planck explained this point in his response to SchrOdinger’s lecture (in Physiker aber Physiker, vol. II, ed. C. Kirsten).
None of the ingenious attempts at such derivations, from Eddington to Heisenberg, nave achieved any success.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this paper
Cite this paper
Treder>, HJ. (1989). Concerning SchrÖdinger’s Question: Is Democritus or Planck the Founder of Quantum Theory?. In: Bitsakis, E.I., Nicolaides, C.A. (eds) The Concept of Probability. Fundamental Theories of Physics, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1175-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1175-8_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7023-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1175-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive