Grand Schools of Physics

Series Consultant: Dr Peter Kennedy

Physics in Gottingen-with Franck,

Born and Pohl
Friedrich Hundt, Heinz Maier-Leibnitz* and Erich Mollwo’
f Charlottenburger Strasse 19, D-3400 Gottingen. FRG
$ Pienzenauer Strasse 110. D-8000 Munich. FRG
5 Rathsberger Strasse 63. D-8530 Erlangen. FRG

Abstract This article discusses the major contribution
made h) Gottingen University t o the creation of
q u a n t u m mechanics. t o the investigation o f the role o f
the clectron in physical o r chemical procews and t o the
f o u n d a t i o n o f solid-state physics.
Zusammenfassung Z u r Schaffung der
Quantenmechanik. zur Erforschung der Rolle des
Elektrons bei physikalischen oder chemischen Prozcssen
und z u r Grundlegung der Festkiirperphysik hat
Giittingen bedeutsame Beitrage gegehen.

1. Introduction ( F Hund)
Afterthe
First
World Warthe
University of theoreticalphysicsaspart of thecurriculumat
Giittingen was a n outstanding and highly esteemed Gottingen.
placeforresearchandthestudy o f physics.This The years around 1900 saw in Germany a measure
reputation rested
particularly o n threenames: of prosperity and a developing cooperation between
JamesFranck.MaxBornandRobertPohl(later industry.
the
state
government and
scientific
k n o u n a s Robert Wichart Pohl). research. The University of Gbttingen was able t o
The University was already well preparedfor such benefit
fromthis,
especiallyhelped by Klein‘s
fortunatedevelopments. In mathematicsthehigh talents for organisation. Private sources o f money.
standardhadbeenestablishedwithCarlFriedrich collected by the ’Gottinger Vereinigung’(The
Gauss. andcontinuedatthebeginning o f the GottingenAssociation for PromotingApplied
present century with the unique triumvirate o f Felix Physics andMathematics).dulysupported by the
Klein. David Hilbert and Hermann Minkowski. All far-sightedpolicy of thePrussianGovernment.
three of these outstanding mathematicians also con- became widely available to various institutions for
tributed to the progress o f physics. I n physics itself. appliedandpurephysics.TheGiittingenPhysics
withEduardRieckeandWoldemarVoigt.two Institute,
built in 1905, hadgoodexperimental
traditions converged: Riecke brought the heritageo f equipment and so became a sought-after place for
Wilhelm Weber:Voigt.
coming
from
Franz advancedstudy in physics.PaulDrude.Arnold
Neumann in Khigsberg. brought the new tield of Sommerfeld. Johannes Stark.
MaxBorn
and
theoreticalphysics.Voigt.alreadywellknown for Theodorvon
Kbrmin here 2111 students in
hisresearchonproperties o f crystals.established Gdttingen.
Phy.sic.s i n Giirtingcw I89

Money for inviting renowned lecturers was avail-

able and in 1913 a congress on the kinetic theory of
matter took place in Gottingen. Among the
speakers. one young physicist received special atten-
tion. Hilbert is reported to have said 'this outstand-
ing young man we must keep for Gottingen'. An
additional chair for theoretical physics was
requested. was granted by thegovernment,and
Peter Debye (the outstanding young man!) came to
Gottingen a s a member of the faculty. I t was with
Debye that the University gained. in physics a s well
a s in mathematics, a front-rank position comparable
with that of Berlin. The coming of war threwa
shadow over Debye's activities, although he was still
able to developthe Debye-Scherrrer method for
exploring crystal structure by x-rays.
The deathsof Riecke and Voigt and the departure
of Debye for Zurich meant that three chairs in pure
physics became .vacantandthat Pohl. Born and
Franck could be recruited. They were of nearly the
same age and were friends. but they had different
styles of research. tutoring and lecturing. I t was they
who attracted. from throughoutthe whole world,
gifted young people for advanced study and inter-
ested physicists for shorter or longer visits.
Advanced students, assistants. professors and visit-
ors formed a close-knit. inspired and happy
community.
Theother disciplines of science complemented
physics in Gottingen in a very fortunate manner.
Hilbert maintained his interest in physics, a s did his
successor Hermann Weyl; Richard Courant's math-
ematical work was accessible and useful to physicists Figure 1 I<ollcrl Po111 111 111c l'J.;(l\.
and Carl Runge. the representative of applied math-
ematics. was also a spectroscopist. In addition. Emil
Wiechert. founder o f geophysics in Germany. had his publications, could have guessed that he would
begun as a physicist; Hans Kienle transformed the be seen later a s one of the founders of solid-state
observatory into an astrophysical laboratory.and physics. In his doctoral thesis in 1906 he had dealt
Ludwig Prandtl, the
representative of applied with gas discharges and 'then he turned (together
mechanics and Gustau Herglotz, who became with Peter Pringsheim) to numerous investigations
Runge's successor, were interested in fundamental into the emission of electrons into vacuum from
physics. Victor Monitz Goldschmidt explored metals irradiated with light.
crystals from the physical viewpoint andArnold In Giittingen, although the laboratories were
Eucken researched the connection between physics adequate theexperimentalequipment was out-
and chemistry. dated. High-vacuum pumps did not exist. !iquid air
During those nineteen-twenties teachers and was not obtainable and therc was no hope that, in a
pupils of physics atGottingen took part in an period ofhigh inflation. these conditions could be
important step in the history o f science: thinking altered. Pohl therefore decided on ;I newfield of
abouttheatomic background o f the visible and research. He returned to work on electron emission
touchable phenomena afforded new concepts and a by irradiation but he intended replacing the vacuum
new way of speaking. Such an adventure cannot be by a crystal in order t o investigate the liberation and
experienced in every era. the motion of electrons within the crystal. I t seems
Sadly in 1933 the happy times and the splendour possible that the doctoral thesis of his first co-worker
came to an end and Franck. Born, Courant, Weyl in Gottingen. Bernhard Gudden, led him in this
and Goldschmidt left Germany. direction. The theme o f this thesis had been sug-
gested by Riecke and considered the discoloration
of CaF2 crystals by irradiation from radioactive
2. The Pohl School (EMollwo) inclusions. Afterthe death of Riecke in 1916.
When. in 1916, R Pohl in Berlin received the call to Gudden continued this work under the direction of
the University atGiittingen. nobody. considering Pohl, until its completion in 1919.
 ImmediatelyafterGudden'sgraduation,Pohl doctorate work. He was a passionate physicist and
worked together with him and began to be active in an excellent experimenter who lifted the level of the
the new field of research. Twenty-eight papers were experimentalinvestigationsconsiderably.Among
published in rapidsequence,practicallywithout theotherco-workers of nearlythesameagehe
exception concerning the photoelectric conductivity playedaleadingpartandafter 1028 Pohlusually
of crystals. This series was ended when Gudden left published together with Hilsch.
for the University of Erlangen in 1926. The follow- On the whole it was in the period 1925-30 that the
ingweresome of theimportantresults of these first generation o f the'PohlSchool'grewup. All
investigations: ( i ) freeelectronsareabletomove members of the school. on average I(L12 people.
evenininsulatingcrystals:(ii)freeelectronsare had close contact with each other and the problems
obtainable(oneelectronperlightquantum)in of private life and o f scientific work were
crystals (with small refractive index) by light absorp- discussed-often in the absence of the 'chief'. But it
tion in foreign admixtures: (iii) electric currents with was Pohl who determined the atmosphere. the collo-
charge carriers which originate only from the inter- quial language and. above a l l . the general direction
ior of the crystal are to be distinguished from cur- of the research. All the publications were controlled
rents with charge carriers penetrating the electrodes and most literally formulated with high accurac) by
('Primar-andSekundiirstrom'). All theessential Pohl himself.
results are published in the papers of Gudden and Afterabout 1030 one of theprojects.already
Pohl. To confirm them was the assignment of their touched on earlier. became o f increasinginterest.
few co-workers. Thiswasthedetailedinvestigation o f thecentres
I n 1926. whenGuddenleftGiittingen.asignifi- producingthediscoloration of alkalihalides. as
cant change occurred both in research themes and in mentioned above. On the evidence from measure-
the staff of theinstitute.Hitherto.onlynatural ments o f photoconductivity in alkali halides. i t was
crystals.fromdiamondup to cinnabar,hadbeen supposedthatthecentreswouldbeneutralalkali
investigatedwith
respect
photoconductivity.
to atomsbound to thecrystallatticeandsupplling
Now.beginningwiththegrowth of alkalihalide electrons by irradiation. In a n investigation
crystals from the melt. crystals much purer than the especially devoted to the optical properties o f the
natural variety became available. As another experi- 'colour-centres'. it was found that the positiono f the
mental project. ultraviolet spectrophotometry using absorptionbands in thespectrumcouldbecalcu-
vacuumphotocellswasdevelopedtoahighlevel. lated by a simple relationship between the frequency
The interest in photoconductivity decreased consi- of maximal absorption. v,,,,, and the lattice constant
derably and the majority of the investigations were d o f the crystal: v,,,,,, ti' =constant. The conclusion
instead devoted to optical properties. especially the alreadydrawn a t the
time (lY31) wa5 thatan
absorption spectra of pure crystals and those doped F-centre ( F from'Farbe'-colour)shouldbean
with heavy metals (Pb. TI. A g , C u ) . Their lumines- electron in an anion vacancy. That means a n elec-
cence became of some importance later for scintilla- t r o n in a potential box with its characteristic energy
tion measurements in nuclear physics. The discolo- levels.
ration o f the alkali halides by irradiation with highly Therethenfollowedsomeinvestigationswith
energetic light was also investigated and led to work F-centres. which did not originate from irradiation
on photochemical processes in crystals. including in but by heating the crystal in alkali vapour. F-centres
silverhalides.
Thedevelopment o f a n optical obtained bq thisprocessarestableeven a t high
method for measuring the concentration o f absorb- temperatures.Especiallystrikingandimpressive
ing centres was essential in this connection. was the observation that the discoloration. at high
Alongthesamelines lay opticalnieasurements temperatures and flowing current. could be moved
which contributed to the great success of the chemi- like a cloudthroughoutthecrystal by anelectric
cal work o n vitamins by Adolf Windnus (uho won field. This 'visible electron migration'. demonstrated
the Nobel Prize in 1928) and were the beginning o f in many lectures by Pohl. aroused in man! people a n
absorptionspectral analysis in organicchemistry. interest in explainingthemechanisms o f electric
Anotherdiscovery o f greatimportance was the conductivity.photoconductibityatIontempera-
determination of the narrow absorption bands in the tures.cr>staldopingandexperimentsforsteering
ultraviolet intrinsic region o f the alkali halides using electroncurrents in crystals.Numerousworks in
direct measurements in thin evaporated layers. connection with
F-centre5
were
published in
Unlike in the period 1920-25 Pohl \vas n o w asso- Giittingen on. for instance.ionicconductivity ancl
cixtedwithseveraldistinguishedco-workerswho electron-replacement conductivity('Elektronen-
produced some remarkable publications. I n addition ersatzleitung').
tothegraduatestudentstherewereusuallysome In 1938 Pohl summarised the results o f the
foreign guests present. One of the two assistants was G6ttingeninvestigations of alkalihalides a t the
Rudolf Hilsch. like Pohl born in Hamburg. who had international conference on 'electric conductivity i n
begunhisstudiesattheTechnicalUniversity of crystals' in Bristol.Fromthattimeonwardsthe
Stuttgartandwhocame t o Pohl in l925 forhis 'PohlSchool' a s aconceptbecameaccepted bq
I'l1ysic.v irl Gii//ingen 19 I

physicists-promoted especially by Frederic Seitz in Goldschmidt andthe young crystallographer Fritz

America and by Neville Mott in England. Hitherto.
because of the distinct field of activity. the excellent
communication within the Institute and Pohl's habit
of publishing preferentially in the rather inaccessible
Nuchrichrcw der Gii//in<cyr Akadernic. tlcv
Wi.s.se,nchufie,l, there had arisen a kind o f isolation.
Pohl continued in his customary manner o f research
with considerable success but unfortunately a collab-
oration with Walter Schottky could not be arranged.
although he for his part was very interested in the
F-centres research.
During the nineteen-thirties. despite the political
revolution in 1933. thc character of theInstitute
changed scarcely at all. Pohl remained the authorita-
tive and acknowledged 'chief', without any con-
cession to political conditions. Presumably his
behaviour became more careful and reserved but he
always took a paternal and active interest in the
destiny o f his co-workers. I-lis special interests were
the general experimentallecture courses andthe
textbooks which grew from them and ran to many
editions. Another great pleasure to Pohl was the
presentation of his co-workers a t any physics meet-
ing - for instance, at the Stuttgart conference ofthe
German Physical Society in 1935 (Pohl's
'Hengstparade'-literally. 'parade of stallions').
With thc beginning of the Second World War this
harmoniousand fruitful cooperation came to an
end. However. nearly a l l the activities then current
in the Pohl Institute were continued after the war by
members o f the Pohl School: Rudolf Hilsch (low
temperatures). Ostap Stasiw (photochemistry in
crystals), Erich Mollwo (electronic semiconduc-
tors).Ileinz Pick (F-centres). Fritz Stiickmann
(photoconductivity) and Karl Hecht (physics cduca-
tion).
Laves, the physical chemist Eucken and his younger
colleagues. and often pcoplc from the already
famous aerodynamics institute of Prandtl.
I t was here, I think, that Franck's role became
most visible. l Ie always found connections between
the speaker's work ancl other fields. I le tried t o
understand. withhis characteristic modesty. at the
same time insisting on what he was trying t o learn.
Franck's aims were a t thesame time modest :tnd
widc. He wantcd t o understand a s much ;IS possible
about what the new quantum mechanics (and its
predecessors ;IS formulated by Niels Bohr) would
mean in fieldswhich wcrc not easily accessible t o
calculation. both in physics and i n fundamcntal
problems of chemistry. In his thinking there was a
strong vein of theory butnot of mathematical
description. WC might say that he was trying to find
a language for everyday physicswhich included
quantum mechanics and which could lead to ;I new
A~Isc/uwI~rI,g a . habit of thinking which could ;~llow
the prediction or qualitative explanation of pheno-
mena wherc classical physics would not suffice.
lle was full of curiosity and full of ideas about
what should be investigated. I suspect that this was
the reason why he accepted s o many doctorate
students and foreign guests. When I was there.
Figure 2 Jamcs Franck in IO?^.

3. The role of .JamesFranck (HMaier-Leibnilz)

What made Giittingen :I great place in the twenties,
a Mecca for young scientists. especially in physics'? I
saw the last years o f its great period. A student
would know that there were eminent professors. He
would enjoy excellent lectures in mathematics and.
of course. Pohl's famous physics course. very
intense and original classes in theoretical physics by
Max Born. and courses by the I'ril,cr/dozerl/erl. But
soon the picture would widen. There was. for
instance. 21 seminar on astrophysics by Born. Franck
and the astronomer Kienle. Here we could see the
professors notonly teaching. but trying to under-
stand, discussing the subject with each other.
There were other seminars. and student labora-
tories and exercises where we could discuss topics
with ourseniors. A major cvcnt was the weekly
physics colloquium which was regularly attended by
some seventy persons. among them nearly a l l of the
physics professors but also mathematicians.astro-
nomers. geophysicists, great the geochemist
192

abouttwentyphysicistswereworkingexperimen- ground state and for excited states of a molecule. I t

tally on most varied subjects. This was considered culminated in
the
formulation of thefamous
an exorbitant number at the time, and the harvest Franck-Condon principle which says that an electro-
could not be expected soon; there was too much t o nic transition. being very fast. can be considered as
learn in each subject. if theatomsremainedatrestforitsduration.
An incomplete list of publications from Franck’s Molecular physics has seen a tremendous develop-
Institutebetween 1922 and 1934 showssome 200 ment from there.
papers. The general subject might be defined thus: AmongFranck’s
co-workrrs
were Otto
how i s excitation produced in atoms and molecules. Oldenberg. WalterGrotrian.
Hertha
Sponer.
in gases and sometimes on surfaces. and what effects Patrick Blackett.
Walter
Elsasser.
Gerhard
does it produce’? This whole field had to be written Herzberg, Giinther
Cario.
Hans
Kopfermann
anew because Franck and Gustav Hertz had been Wilhelm Hanle. Arthur v o n Hippel. Heinrich Kuhn.
the first to observe experimentally the production of Gerhard Rathenau.
Eugen
Rabinowitsch and
excitedstatesbyelectrons.Theexperimentswere Werner Kroebel.
usually done by younger physicists. Franck. some- In l933 Franck’sschoolbrokedownwithinless
times with Born, sometimes with the experimenters. than a year. What remained was the memory o f him
wouldpublishexplanationsandpredictionsthat as a great person who refused to continue his work
could be drawn from such experiments. We give a in a country which would notallow him to choose his
few examples. co-aorkersaccording t o scientific
standards.
Inatomicspectroscopy.theenergies of excited LeavingGermany was veryhard.’Germnn! will
states above the ground state are determined. even alwaysremain my country’hetoldme.Afterthe
if the energy is above the accessible range of optical war. he often came back and helped us enormousl!
spectroscopy or if an
opticaltransition i s not I n 1Y35. Georg Joos became Franck’s successor.
allowed.Sometimesmetastablestatesareformed and he tried to do good physics in Franck’s spirit but
which cannot lead to the emission of light but may after some years he gave up and w)entt o industry. In
ionise other atoms. 1942. Hans Kopfermann took over. He had done his
The probability of excitation by electrons may be doctoral thesis in Franck’s Institute. a n d then
measured. At highelectronenergies. it canbe started his own field. hypertine structure, in Berlin.
calculated by the so called Born approximation. For andafterthewarhecreated.togetherwith his
slow electrons.theapproximation will fail. T h e students and co-\vorkers. a spirit in which he ga\e
electrons may for a time belong to the electron cloud everything to others just as Franck had done. creat-
of the atom and even be captured to form a negativeing the most important ‘school’ of fruitful physicists
ion. in the country.
Fromsuchdata.themotion of electronsand
energy transfer in gases under the influence of elec- 4. Theory (F Hund)
tric fields may be calculated. The knowledge of the Thetheoreticalresearchwork of Debyeand his
processes in gas discharges. including lightning. has collaboratorswasconcernedwith his method o f
thus been put on a new basis. exploringcrystalstructure,withmolecularforces
Fluorescence.especiallyresonancefluorescence, and Lvith electrolytes.ErichHuckelandHertha
is a sensitive indicator for the fateof excited states as Sponer were two of his pupils.
they are influenced by like atoms at various pres- Max Born, his successor. spent his student period
sures. or by other atoms
and
molecules. in Giittingen in close contact with Hilbert. but for
Observations of polarisation under a magnetic field hisdoctoralthesisheappliedmathematics t o ;I
are a great help. This touches upon the wide fieldo f problem o f elasticity. I n Giittingen again some years
photochemical reactions which later was to become later. he worked on relativity and then began work
Franck’s main field of interest. on crystalstructure,calculatingthespecificheat
Energy transfer between colliding atoms, with or connected n.ith their vibrations. before in :I compre-
withouttheinfluence of ;I thirdpartner,became hensive manner connecting the propertieso f crystals
another rich field which is still alive today. One of withtheforces o f theirlattices.Histalentswere
many examples is theinfluence of chlorine on the n.idelyrecognisedandhebecameinsuccession.
resonance lines o f sodium. The capture of electrons Professor at Berlin. then a t Frankfurt and. in 1921.
by positive atoms is a related phenomenon. at Gbttingen.
Molecules proved t o be a fascinating subject. One Now his researches turned to more fundamental
resultwasthatlow-energyelectronsexcitedvib- questions but he did not stop his tutoring work in
rations with astonishingly high probability. The pro- crystalproperties.HispupilCarlHermannlater
ximity of the electron produces something like a new became known for his work in collecting and
molecule with an atomic distance which is different improving results on crystal lattice structures.
from that o f the normal molecule. and so vibration Niels Bohr had a great influence on the scientific
sets in. This was the beginning o f more thinking on atmosphere in Giittingenandthelecturesheheld
vibrationenergiesandatomicdistancesforthe during two weeks in the summer of 1Y22 were ;In
P l y i c s in Gii~tir~~qet~ I93

nent. To treat atoms with more than one electron.

the methods used by astronomersfor systems o f
many bodies had to be adapted to the special con-
ditions within the atom. This was done by Born and
Pauli. I n the next step thc failure of theearlier
assumptions used in calculations on the helium atom
was to be confirmed by Born together with
Heisenberg.
The question o f how far earlier assumptions could
really be extended was explored in Born's lecture
course in 1923-24 and in the resulting book Aron~
Mechrrnics I . Finally the correct mechanics for the
atom had to be found. Born sought it by suitable
alterations of single steps in the approximation cal-
culus and he nearly succeeded. But Heisenberg in
1925 found :I more direct and convincing solution by
altering classical mechanics to such an extent that
the combination principle of spectra w a s included; it
was an implementation and exhaustion of Bohr's
correspondence principle.
Born recognised that Heisenberg's multiplication
rule was identical to that for multiplication o f
matrices and that the decisive quantum relation was
the Commutation relation i(p4 - 4 p ) = hl2x for
momentum p and local coordinate q . Pastual
Jordan's sagacity contributed improvements and at
last the 'three man paper' of Born. Heisenberg and
Jordan gave a consistent scheme for the new quan-
t u m mechanics. Heisenbergsometimes character-
ised it a s a consequence of three influences:
Sommerfeld's pragmatic approach to problems.
Bohr's philosophical attitude and Born's demand for
consistency.

Figure3 A l a \ l l o r n 111 l U 3 . l o u r !c.;tr\ ;iltc,r Ill\ , I I I I \ . I I AI

( i o t l l n p m . (I'lrocognrplr corrrtc~.\~~ .\rc~tlc~r.c~.\ccc.lr\r\(~lr(, Figure4 WcrncrHciscnhcrg.in 1027 a t thc ngc o f 26.
Sccccrts- rrrltl U t r ; r ~ c ~ r . ~ ; t i i t s - f ~ r (t k~jlt ;t ~
i t )r /, lq~w~. )~ ~

important event. Many experts in quantum theory

gathered in Giittingen to hear Bohr: amongst them
Arnold Sommerfeld. Paul Ehrenfest. Alfred Land6
and Wolfgang Pauli. On that occasion Bohr and
Born became acquainted with the young Werner
Heisenberg. During these lecturesthe Giittingen
physicists learned of Bohr's particular approach to
the quantum theory of atoms and. perhaps earlier
than at other places. they gradually understood the
deeper meaning o f the Correspondence principle.
The principle statedthatthe then incompletely
known quantum theory o f the atom must converge
into the well known classical physics when the atom
(e.g. by excitation) gets larger and larger and that
the laws of atomic spectra give hints about how this
convergence takes place. In the following years
Bohr often made short visits to Giittingen. Franck
admired him and his unbounded contidence in
Bohr's infallibility complemented Born's more scep-
tical attitude.
Born's research programme now became promi-
 Gottingenquantum mechanicswas
rather
a of his circle (apart from those already mentioned.
formal theory and its physical interpretation was still such as
Hermann, Pauli,
Heisenberg. Jordan.
unclear.However.theunderstandingwas soon t o Nordheim and
Wigner) in
the
early
nineteen-
come.ErwinSchrodinger‘swaveequationstarted twentiestherewereEnricoFermi.ErichHuckel.
from a quite different viewpoint but was mathemati- Friedrich Hund, Jakob Frenkel and Vladimir Fock
cally
equivalentand it was more
practicable. and. later. Walter Heitler. Julius R Oppenheimer.
especially for non-periodic systems. Born used it for MariaGoppert,LeonRosenfeld.MaxDelbriick.
treatingcollisions of electronswithatomsandhe EduardTeller.ViktorWeisskopfandSiegfried
demonstratedthatsomequantities of thescheme Fliigge.
could be interpreted as probabilities of aphysical The theorists gained much from Franck‘s habito f
situation.ThenJordan(contemporaneouslywith clearing his ideas by conversation. and his habit of
Paul Dirac) invented a general theory based on the thinkinginpictureswithoutneglectingtheirlimi-
concept of probabilityamplitude.whichincluded tations complemented Born’s insistence on mathe-
Heisenberg’s and Schrodinger’s theories as special matical consistency.
cases. A lecture course given by Hilbert (1926). with Born gave his lecture courses. covering all partso f
the assistance of Johann von Neumann and Lothar theoretical physics. with great care. but he warned
Nordheim, connected theory
with
the
‘Hilbert hisassistantswhentheybecamelecturersnot to
space . invest too mucheffortintothistask-research
Ultimatelythe
physical
meaning of thenew always should have priority.
theory was established in 1927 by Heisenberg (then The economic crisis of the early nineteen-thirties
in Copenhagen) and
Bohr.
Jordan. first in hindered scientific life with Born himself engaged in
Copenhagen with
Oskar
Klein
and
then in securing financial help for younger physicists but the
Giittingen with Eugen Wigner. was able to demon- year 1933 set a sudden endto Born‘s leadership. He
strate that quantum mechanics was a quantised field and his assistants left Germany. In Gottingen there
theory of matter. By this time he had also found the followed a rather barren period but there began ;I
anticommutation rules for fermions. hopeful revival of theoretical physics when Richard
Following the invention of the first exact version Becker was appointed to the chair.He did not come
of quantum mechanics and Born’svisit to the United quitevoluntarilybutundersomepressurefrom
States (1925-26). a flood o f visitors invaded Berlin. Becker did respected workin magnetism a n d
Giittingen. Born suffered from exhaustion. but he after the war played a meritorious part in the resto-
recovered and under his inspiring guidance further ration of scientific life the at
University of
important research was done. Among the members Gottingen.