WOLFGANG PAULI

Wolfgang Pauli

Scientific career

Pauli made many important contributions in his career as a physicist, primarily in the subject of quantum mechanics. He seldom published papers, preferring lengthy correspondences with colleagues (such as Bohr and Heisenberg, with whom he had close friendships.) Many of his ideas and results were never published and appeared only in his letters, which were often copied and circulated by their recipients. Pauli was apparently unconcerned that much of his work thus went uncredited. The following are the most important results for which he has been credited:

In 1924, Pauli proposed a new quantum degree of freedom to resolve inconsistencies between observed molecular spectra and the developing theory of quantum mechanics. He formulated the Pauli exclusion principle, perhaps his most important work, which stated that no two electrons could exist in the same quantum state. The idea of spin had originated with Ralph Kronig. Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit one year later identified this degree of freedom as electron spin.

In 1926, shortly after Heisenberg published the matrix theory of modern quantum mechanics, Pauli used it to derive the observed spectrum of the hydrogen atom. This result was important in securing credibility for Heisenberg's theory.

In 1927, he introduced the Pauli matrices as a basis of spin operators, thus solving the nonrelativistic theory of spin. This work influenced Dirac in his discovery of the Dirac equation for the relativistic electron.

In 1930, Pauli observed a decaying radioactive atomic nucleus. In [letter of Dec 4 to the „Dear radioactive ladies and gentlemen" (Lise Meitner et al.)], he proposed the existence of a hitherto unobserved neutral particle with a small mass (no greater than 1% the mass of a proton), in order to explain the continuous spectrum of beta decay. In 1934, Fermi incorporated the particle, which he called a neutrino, into his theory of radioactive decay. The neutrino was first observed experimentally in 1959.

In 1940, he proved the spin-statistics theorem, a critical result of quantum field theory which states that particles with half-integer spin are fermions, while particles with integer spin are bosons.

Personality and reputation

The Pauli effect was named after his bizarre ability to break experimental equipment simply by being in the vicinity. Pauli himself was aware of his reputation, and delighted whenever the Pauli effect manifested.

Regarding physics, Pauli was famously perfectionist. This extended not just to his own work, but also to the work of his colleagues. As a result, he became known within the physics community as the "conscience of physics", the critic to whom his colleagues were accountable. He could be scathing in his dismissal of any theory he found lacking, often labelling it ganz falsch, utterly false. Famously, he once said of one such paper: "It is not even wrong."

A well known joke about Pauli in the physics community goes as follows: After his death, Pauli was granted an audience with God. Pauli asked God why the fine structure constant has the value 1/(137.036...). God nodded, went to a blackboard, and began scribbling equations at a furious pace. Pauli watched Him with great satisfaction, but soon began shaking his head violently...

Modern pop culture

Pauli was referenced in an episode of the animated television series Futurama, where several varieties of beer from the 30th century were featured, including "St. Pauli's Exclusion Principle Beer", a take-off on the "St. Pauli Girl Beer" brand.

Related publications

• Enz, Charles, P. (2002): No Time to be Brief, A scientific biography of Wolfgang Pauli, Oxford Univ. Press.
• Enz, Charles, P. (1995): "Rationales und Irrationales im Leben Wolfgang Paulis", in: Atmanspacher, H. et al (1995): Der Pauli-Jung-Dialog, Springer, Berlin.
• Jung, C.G. (1980): Psychology and Alchemy, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
• Pauli, W., Jung, C.G. (1955): The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche, Random House
• Pauli, W., Jung, C.G. (2001): Atom and Archetype, The Pauli/Jung Letters, 1932-1958, ed. C.A. Meier, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
• Lindorff, David (1994): Pauli and Jung: The Meeting of Two Great Minds, Quest Books.
• Keve, Tom (2000): Triad: the physicists, the analysts, the kabbalists, Rosenberger & Krausz, London (historical fiction)
• Pais, Abraham (2000): "The Genius of Science", Oxford Press, Oxford.
• Gieser, Suzanne (2005), "The Innermost Kernel. Depth Psychology and Quantum Physics. Wolfgang Pauli's Dialogue with C.G. Jung", Springer Verlag.
• List of Austrian scientists
• List of Swiss
• Ralph Kronig Correspondence with Pauli
• Pauli exclusion principle
• Pauli effect

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Wolfgang Pauli

• Wolfgang Pauli at the official Nobel Prize site
• Pauli bio at the University of St Andrews, Scotland
• Wolfgang Pauli bio at "Nobel Prize Winners"
• Wolfgang Pauli, Carl Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz
• Photos of Pauli at the American Institute of Physics
• Virtual walk-through exhibition of the life and times of Pauli
• Annotated bibliography for Wolfgang Pauli from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
• Pauli Archives at CERN Document Server
• [1] virtual exhibition at ETH-Bibliothek, Zürich

129.132.181.41 09:26, 24 August 2006 (UTC)