Zur Quantenmechanik II [On Quantum Mechanics II]

Berlin: Julius Springer, 1926. 1st Edition. original wrappers. Very Good. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS of the famous "three-man paper," the first, complete, self-consistent description of quantum mechanics. "In 1925, after an extended visit to Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen, Heisenberg tackled the problem of spectrum intensities of the electron taken as an anharmonic oscillator (a one-dimensional vibrating system). His position that the theory should be based only on observable quantities was central to his paper of July 1925, "Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen" ("Quantum-Theoretical Reinterpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations"). Heisenberg's formalism rested upon noncommutative multiplication; Born, together with his new assistant Pascual Jordan, realized that this could be expressed using matrix algebra, which they used in a paper submitted for publication in September as "Zur Quantenmechanik" ("On Quantum Mechanics"). By November, Born, Heisenberg, and Jordan had completed "Zur Quantenmechanik II" ("On Quantum Mechanics II"), colloquially known as the "three-man paper," which is regarded as the foundational document of a new quantum mechanics" (Britannica's Guide to the Nobel Prizes).

Particle Physics: One Hundred Years of Discoveries: "Development of matrix formalism for the Heisenberg quantum mechanics. Systems with arbitrary many degrees of freedom."

IN: Zeitschrift für Physik, Band 35, February 1926, pp. 557-615. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1926. Octavo, original wrappers. Small chip at base of spine. "Born, Heisenberg 35" in pencil on spine. Volume/issue number written in ink at top of front wrapper.

One of the foundational papers in quantum mechanics, rare in original wrappers.