Hiperinflația germană și ce are de-a face cu un Premiu Nobel – Lumea Fizicii

Hiperinflația germană și ce are de-a face cu un Premiu Nobel – Lumea Fizicii

Marca temporală: 1 octombrie 2023 7:30

Otto Stern în laborator
Jucător vedetă Otto Stern a fost chimist fizician de pregătire, dar a devenit interesat de fizică după ce a fost luat sub aripa lui Albert Einstein la Universitatea Charles-Ferdinand din Praga în 1912. Stern a participat la prelegerile lui Einstein și a urmărit îndeaproape evoluțiile mecanicii cuantice. Cu toate acestea, nu era convins că teoria era corectă și a conceput un test, cunoscut mai târziu sub numele de experimentul Stern-Gerlach, pentru a încerca să o infirme. Cu toate acestea, experimentul a arătat că mecanica cuantică era adevărata afacere, iar Stern a fost forțat să admită că Niels Bohr, unul dintre părinții săi fondatori, avea dreptate. (Cu amabilitatea: Arhivele vizuale AIP Emilio Segrè, Colecția Segrè)

Many of us are feeling the sting of inflation. But did you know that run-away prices could well have prevented Otto Stern from receiving a Nobel Prize?

Stern was a German physicist who is best known for the Stern–Gerlach experiment, which was done in 1922 with fellow German Walther Gerlach. While the experiment was first interpreted as important evidence for quantum mechanics, the theory it was based on turned out to be wrong. However, it was still an astonishing result and today the Stern–Gerlach experiment is regarded as evidence for the intrinsic angular momentum (quantum spin) of particles such as electrons.

But, the experiment may have never happened because in 1922, hyperinflation was rampant in Germany and Stern and Gerlach were struggling to pay for their expensive equipment. Max Born, who Stern worked for, helped out by donating money raised from his public lectures on quantum mechanics. Heeding the advice of a friend, Born also wrote to Henry Goldman, a prominent American banker and son of the founder of Goldman–Sachs. Goldman, who had actually retired from his father’s firm by this time, was a philanthropist and sent Born a cheque for “some hundreds of dollars” (somewhere around £10,000 today) that saved the experiment. Albert Einstein also donated some money to the Stern–Gerlach cause. He had been a mentor of Stern’s.

Thanks to these generous donations, the experiment was a success, but neither Stern nor Gerlach won a Nobel prize for their famous experiment. However, in 1943 Stern received the Nobel Prize for Physics “for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton”. Both achievements came about in part because of his efforts on the Stern–Gerlach experiment.

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