
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger ( ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was an Austrian-Irish
theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in
quantum theory. In particular, he is recognized for postulating the
Schrödinger equation
The Schrödinger equation is a partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a non-relativistic quantum-mechanical system. Its discovery was a significant landmark in the development of quantum mechanics. It is named after E ...
, an equation that provides a way to calculate the
wave function
In quantum physics, a wave function (or wavefunction) is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system. The most common symbols for a wave function are the Greek letters and (lower-case and capital psi (letter) ...
of a system and how it changes dynamically in time. Schrödinger coined the term "
quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon where the quantum state of each Subatomic particle, particle in a group cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the particles are separated by a large distance. The topic o ...
" in 1935.
In addition, he wrote many works on various aspects of
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
:
statistical mechanics
In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...
and
thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...
, physics of
dielectric
In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an Insulator (electricity), electrical insulator that can be Polarisability, polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric ...
s,
color theory,
electrodynamics,
general relativity
General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...
, and
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...
, and he made several attempts to construct a
unified field theory. In his book ''
What Is Life?'' Schrödinger addressed the problems of
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...
, looking at the phenomenon of life from the point of view of physics. He also paid great attention to the philosophical aspects of science, ancient, and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion.
He also wrote on philosophy and theoretical biology. In popular culture, he is best known for his "
Schrödinger's cat"
thought experiment
A thought experiment is an imaginary scenario that is meant to elucidate or test an argument or theory. It is often an experiment that would be hard, impossible, or unethical to actually perform. It can also be an abstract hypothetical that is ...
.
Spending most of his life as an academic with positions at various universities, Schrödinger, along with
Paul Dirac, won the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 for his work on quantum mechanics, the same year he left Germany due to his opposition to
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
. In his personal life, he lived with both his wife and his mistress which may have led to problems causing him to leave his position at
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
. Subsequently, until 1938, he had a position in
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
, Austria, until the
Nazi takeover when he fled, finally finding a long-term arrangement in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland, where he remained until retirement in 1955, and where he allegedly
sexually abused several minors.
Biography
Early years
Schrödinger was born in Erdberg, Vienna,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, on 12 August 1887, to
Rudolf Schrödinger ( producer, botanist)
and Georgine Emilia Brenda Schrödinger (née Bauer) (daughter of , professor of chemistry,
TU Wien). He was their only child.
His mother was of half Austrian and half English descent; his father was
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and his mother was
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
. He himself was an
atheist. However, he had strong interests in
Eastern religions and
pantheism, and he used religious symbolism in his works. He also believed his scientific work was an approach to divinity in an intellectual sense.
He was also able to learn English outside school, as his maternal grandmother was British.
Between 1906 and 1910 (the year he earned his doctorate) Schrödinger studied at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
under the physicists
Franz S. Exner (1849–1926) and
Friedrich Hasenöhrl (1874–1915). He received his doctorate at Vienna under Hasenöhrl. He also conducted experimental work with Karl Wilhelm Friedrich "Fritz" Kohlrausch. In 1911, Schrödinger became an assistant to Exner.
Middle years

In 1914 Schrödinger achieved
habilitation (''venia legendi''). Between 1914 and 1918 he participated in war work as a commissioned officer in the Austrian fortress artillery (
Gorizia
Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...
,
Duino,
Sistiana, Prosecco, Vienna). In 1920 he became the assistant to
Max Wien, in
Jena, and in September 1920 he attained the position of ao. Prof. (''
ausserordentlicher Professor''), roughly equivalent to Reader (UK) or associate professor (US), in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. In 1921, he became o. Prof. (''
ordentlicher Professor
Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Overview
Appointment grades
* (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'')
* (''W3'')
* (''W2'')
* (''W2'', ...
'', i.e. full professor), in
Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland).
In 1921, he moved to the
University of Zürich. In 1927, he succeeded
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck made many substantial con ...
at the
Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. In 1933, Schrödinger decided to leave Germany because he strongly disapproved of
the Nazis' antisemitism. He became a Fellow of
Magdalen College at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. Soon after he arrived, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with
Paul Dirac. His position at Oxford did not work out well; his unconventional domestic arrangements, sharing living quarters with two women, were not met with acceptance. In 1934, Schrödinger lectured at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
; he was offered a permanent position there, but did not accept it. Again, his wish to set up house with his wife and his mistress may have created a problem. He had the prospect of a position at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
but visa delays occurred, and in the end he took up a position at the
University of Graz in Austria in 1936. He had also accepted the offer of chair position at Department of Physics,
Allahabad University in India.
In the midst of these tenure issues in 1935, after extensive correspondence with
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
, he proposed what is now called the "
Schrödinger's cat"
thought experiment
A thought experiment is an imaginary scenario that is meant to elucidate or test an argument or theory. It is often an experiment that would be hard, impossible, or unethical to actually perform. It can also be an abstract hypothetical that is ...
.
Later years
In 1938, after the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...
, the Nazi takeover of Austria, Schrödinger had problems in Graz because of his flight from Germany in 1933 and his known opposition to
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
.
He issued a statement recanting this opposition,
which he later regretted, explaining to Einstein: "I wanted to remain free – and could not do so without great duplicity".
However, this did not fully appease the new dispensation, and the University of Graz dismissed him from his post for "political unreliability". He suffered harassment and was instructed not to leave the country, but fled to Italy with his wife. From there, he went to visiting positions in
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and
Ghent Universities.

In the same year he received a personal invitation from Ireland's
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
,
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...
– a mathematician himself – to reside in Ireland, and agreed to help establish an
Institute for Advanced Studies in Dublin. He moved to Kincora Road,
Clontarf, Dublin, and lived modestly. A plaque has been erected at his Clontarf residence and at the address of his workplace in
Merrion Square. Schrödinger believed that as an Austrian he had a unique relationship to Ireland. In October 1940, a writer from the ''
Irish Press'' interviewed Schrödinger, who spoke of Celtic heritage of Austrians, saying: "I believe there is a deeper connection between us Austrians and the Celts. Names of places in the Austrian Alps are said to be of Celtic origin." He became the Director of the School for Theoretical Physics in 1940 and remained there for 17 years. He became a naturalized Irish citizen in 1948, but also retained his Austrian citizenship. He published about fifty further
papers on various topics, including his explorations of
unified field theory.
In 1943, Schrödinger gave a series of three major lectures at
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
which remain highly influential at the university. The series began annual conferences in his name, and buildings at the College were named after him.
In 1944, he wrote ''
What Is Life?'', which contains a discussion of
negentropy and the concept of a complex
molecule
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...
with the genetic code for living
organism
An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...
s. According to
James D. Watson's memoir, ''DNA, the Secret of Life'', Schrödinger's book gave Watson the inspiration to research the
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
, which led to the discovery of the
DNA double helix structure in 1953. Similarly,
Francis Crick, in his autobiographical book ''What Mad Pursuit'', described how he was influenced by Schrödinger's speculations about how genetic information might be stored in molecules.
Schrödinger stayed in Dublin until retiring in 1955.
A manuscript "Fragment from an unpublished dialogue of
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...
" from this time resurfaced at
The King's Hospital boarding school, Dublin after it was written for the School's 1955 edition of their Blue Coat to celebrate his leaving Dublin to take up his appointment as Chair of Physics at the University of Vienna.
In 1956, he returned to Vienna (chair ''ad personam''). At an important lecture during the
World Power Conference he refused to speak on
nuclear energy
Nuclear energy may refer to:
*Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity
*Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom
*Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...
because of his scepticism about it and gave a philosophical lecture instead. During this period, Schrödinger turned from mainstream quantum mechanics' definition of
wave–particle duality and promoted the
wave idea alone, causing much controversy.
Tuberculosis and death

Schrödinger suffered from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
and several times in the 1920s stayed at a
sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence.
Sanatoriums are often in a health ...
in
Arosa in Switzerland. It was there that he formulated his wave equation. On 4 January 1961, Schrödinger died of tuberculosis, aged 73, in Vienna. He left Anny a widow, and was buried in
Alpbach, Austria, in a Catholic cemetery. Although he was not Catholic, the priest in charge of the cemetery permitted the burial after learning Schrödinger was a member of the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Personal life
On April 6, 1920, Schrödinger married Annemarie (Anny) Bertel.
When he migrated to Ireland in 1938, he obtained visas for himself, his wife and also another woman, Hilde March. March was the wife of an Austrian colleague and Schrödinger had fathered a daughter with her in 1934.
[Ronan Fanning, ''Éamon de Valera: A Will to Power'', Faber & Faber, 2015] Schrödinger wrote to the
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
,
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...
personally, so as to obtain a visa for March. In October 1939 the ''
ménage à trois
A () is a domestic arrangement or committed relationship consisting of three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together. The phrase is a loan from French meaning "household of three". ...
'' duly took up residence in Dublin.
His wife, Anny (born 3 December 1896), died on 3 October 1965.
One of Schrödinger's grandchildren,
Terry Rudolph, has followed in his footsteps as a quantum physicist, and teaches at
Imperial College London.
Sexual abuse allegations
At the age of 39, Schrödinger tutored a 14-year-old girl named "Ithi" Junger. Walter Moore relates in his 1989 biography of Schrödinger that the lessons "included 'a fair amount of petting and cuddling and Schrödinger "had fallen in love with his pupil". Moore further relates that "not long after her seventeenth birthday, they became lovers". The relationship continued and in 1932 she became pregnant (then aged 20). "Erwin tried to persuade her to have the child; he said he would take care of it, but he did not offer to divorce
ifeAnny... in desperation, Ithi arranged for an abortion."
Moore describes Schrödinger having a 'Lolita complex'. He quotes from Schrödinger's diary from the time where he said that "men of strong, genuine intellectuality are immensely attracted only by women who, forming the very beginning of the intellectual series, are as nearly connected to the preferred springs of nature as they". A 2021
''Irish Times'' article summarized this as a "predilection for teenage girls", and denounced Schrödinger as "a serial abuser whose behaviour fitted the profile of a paedophile in the widely understood sense of that term".
Schrödinger's grandson and his mother were unhappy with the accusation made by Moore, and once the biography was published, their family broke off contact with him.
Carlo Rovelli notes in his book ''
Helgoland'' that Schrödinger "always kept a number of relationships going at once – and made no secret of his fascination with preadolescent girls". In Ireland, Rovelli writes, he fathered children from two students identified in a ''
Der Standard'' article as being a 26-year-old and a married political activist of unknown age.
Moore's book described both of these episodes, giving the name Kate Nolan as a pseudonym for the first and naming the other as Sheila May, though neither were students. The book also described an episode of Schrödinger being "infatuated" with a twelve-year-old girl, Barbara MacEntee, while in Ireland. He desisted from attentions after a "serious word" from someone, and later "listed her among the unrequited loves of his life." This episode from the book was highlighted by the ''Irish Times'' article and others.
Walter Moore stated that Schrödinger's attitude towards women was "that of a male supremacist", but that he disliked the "official misogyny" at Oxford which socially excluded women.
Helge Kragh, in his review of Moore's biography, said the "conquest of women, especially very young women, was the salt of life for this sincere romantic and male chauvinist".
The physics department of
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
announced in January 2022 that they would recommend a lecture theatre that had been named for Schrödinger since the 1990s be renamed in light of his history of sexual abuse, while a picture of the scientist would be removed, and the renaming of an eponymous lecture series would be considered.
Academic interests and life of the mind
Early in his life, Schrödinger experimented in the fields of
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
,
atmospheric electricity, and atmospheric
radioactivity
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
, but he usually worked with his former teacher Franz Exner. He also studied
vibrational theory, the theory of
Brownian motion, and
mathematical statistics. In 1912, at the request of the editors of the ''Handbook of Electricity and Magnetism'', Schrödinger wrote an article titled ''Dielectrism''. That same year, Schrödinger gave a theoretical estimate of the probable height distribution of radioactive substances, which is required to explain the observed radioactivity of the atmosphere, and in August 1913 executed several experiments in Zeehame that confirmed his theoretical estimate and those of Victor Franz Hess. For this work, Schrödinger was awarded the 1920
Haitinger Prize (Haitinger-Preis) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Other experimental studies conducted by the young researcher in 1914 were checking formulas for capillary pressure in gas bubbles and the study of the properties of soft
beta radiation produced by
gamma rays striking a metal surface. The last work he performed together with his friend Fritz Kohlrausch. In 1919, Schrödinger performed his last physical experiment on
coherent light
Coherence expresses the potential for two waves to Wave interference, interfere. Two Monochromatic radiation, monochromatic beams from a single source always interfere. Wave sources are not strictly monochromatic: they may be ''partly coherent''. ...
and subsequently focused on theoretical studies.
Quantum mechanics
New quantum theory
In the first years of his career, Schrödinger became acquainted with the ideas of the
old quantum theory, developed in the works of Einstein,
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck made many substantial con ...
,
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr (, ; ; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and old quantum theory, quantum theory, for which he received the No ...
,
Arnold Sommerfeld, and others. This knowledge helped him work on some problems in
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...
, but the Austrian scientist at the time was not yet ready to part with the traditional methods of
classical physics
Classical physics refers to physics theories that are non-quantum or both non-quantum and non-relativistic, depending on the context. In historical discussions, ''classical physics'' refers to pre-1900 physics, while '' modern physics'' refers to ...
.
Schrödinger's first publications about atomic theory and the theory of spectra began to emerge only from the beginning of the 1920s, after his personal acquaintance with Sommerfeld and
Wolfgang Pauli and his move to Germany. In January 1921, Schrödinger finished his first article on this subject, about the framework of the
Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization of the interaction of electrons on some features of the spectra of the alkali metals. Of particular interest to him was the introduction of relativistic considerations in quantum theory. In autumn 1922, he analyzed the electron orbits in an atom from a geometric point of view, using methods developed by his friend
Hermann Weyl
Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl (; ; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist, logician and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, ...
. This work, in which it was shown that quantum orbits are associated with certain geometric properties, was an important step in predicting some of the features of wave mechanics. Earlier in the same year, he created the Schrödinger equation of the
relativistic Doppler effect for spectral lines, based on the hypothesis of light quanta and considerations of energy and momentum. He liked the idea of his teacher Exner on the statistical nature of the conservation laws, so he enthusiastically embraced the
BKS theory of Bohr,
Hans Kramers, and
John C. Slater, which suggested the possibility of violation of these laws in individual atomic processes (for example, in the process of emission of radiation). Although the
Bothe–Geiger coincidence experiment soon cast doubt on this, the idea of energy as a statistical concept was a lifelong attraction for Schrödinger, and he discussed it in some reports and publications.
Creation of wave mechanics
In January 1926, Schrödinger published in ''
Annalen der Physik'' the paper "" (Quantization as an
Eigenvalue Problem) on wave mechanics and presented what is now known as the Schrödinger equation. In this paper, he gave a "derivation" of the wave equation for time-independent systems and showed that it gave the correct energy eigenvalues for a hydrogen-like atom. This paper has been universally celebrated as one of the most important achievements of the twentieth century and created a revolution in most areas of quantum mechanics and indeed of all physics and chemistry. A second paper was submitted just four weeks later that solved the
quantum harmonic oscillator,
rigid rotor, and
diatomic molecule problems and gave a new derivation of the Schrödinger equation. A third paper, published in May, showed the equivalence of his approach to that of
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II.
He pub ...
's
matrix mechanics and gave the treatment of the
Stark effect. A fourth paper in this series showed how to treat problems in which the system changes with time, as in scattering problems. In this paper, he introduced a complex solution to the wave equation in order to prevent the occurrence of fourth- and sixth-order differential equations. Schrödinger ultimately reduced the order of the equation to one.
Building on a paper by Einstein,
Boris Podolsky, and
Nathan Rosen, which introduced the thought-experiment now known as the
EPR paradox, Schrödinger published in 1935 a paper that codified the concept of
quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon where the quantum state of each Subatomic particle, particle in a group cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the particles are separated by a large distance. The topic o ...
.
He deemed this quantum phenomenon "the one that enforces its entire departure from
classical lines of thought."
Schrödinger was not entirely comfortable with the implications of quantum theory referring to his theory as "wave mechanics". He wrote about the probability interpretation of quantum mechanics, saying, "I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it." (In order to ridicule the
viewpoints of Bohr and Heisenberg on quantum mechanics, he contrived the famous thought experiment called the
Schrödinger's cat paradox. He was said to have angrily complained to his students that "''now the damned Göttingen physicists use my beautiful wave mechanics for calculating their shitty matrix elements.''")
Work on a unified field theory
Following his work on quantum mechanics, Schrödinger devoted considerable effort to working on a
unified field theory that would unite
gravity
In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...
,
electromagnetism
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...
, and nuclear forces within the basic framework of
general relativity
General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...
, doing the work with an extended correspondence with Albert Einstein.
In 1947, he announced a result, "Affine Field Theory", in a talk at the Royal Irish Academy, but the announcement was criticized by Einstein as "preliminary" and failed to lead to the desired unified theory.
Following the failure of his attempt at unification, Schrödinger gave up his work on unification and turned to other topics. Additionally, Schrödinger reportedly never collaborated with a major physicist for the remainder of his career.
Color
Schrödinger had a strong interest in
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
, in particular
color perception and
colorimetry (German: '). He spent quite a few years of his life working on these questions and published a series of papers in this area:
* "Theorie der Pigmente von größter Leuchtkraft", ''
Annalen der Physik'', (4), 62, (1920), 603–22 (Theory of Pigments with Highest Luminosity)
* "Grundlinien einer Theorie der Farbenmetrik im Tagessehen", ''Annalen der Physik'', (4), 63, (1920), 397–456; 481–520 (Outline of a theory of colour measurement for daylight vision)
* "Farbenmetrik", ''
Zeitschrift für Physik'', 1, (1920), 459–66 (Colour measurement).
* "Über das Verhältnis der Vierfarben- zur Dreifarben-Theorie", ''Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse'', Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, 134, 471, (On The Relationship of Four-Color Theory to Three-Color Theory).
* "Lehre von der strahlenden Energie", ''
Müller-
Pouillets Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologie'', Vol 2, Part 1 (1926) (Thresholds of Color Differences).
His work on the psychology of color perception follows the step of
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
,
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism an ...
and
Hermann von Helmholtz
Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (; ; 31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894; "von" since 1883) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The ...
in the same area. Some of these papers have been translated into English and can be found in: ''Sources of Colour Science'', Ed. David L. MacAdam, MIT Press (1970) and in ''Erwin Schrödinger’s Color Theory, Translated with Modern Commentary'', Ed. Keith K. Niall, Springer (2017). .
Interest in philosophy
Schrödinger had a deep interest in philosophy, and was influenced by the works of
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...
and
Baruch Spinoza. In his 1956 lecture "Mind and Matter", he said that "The world extended in
space and time is but our
representation." This is a repetition of the first words of Schopenhauer's main work. Schopenhauer's works also introduced him to
Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...
, more specifically to the
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
and
Advaita Vedanta’s interpretation. He once took on a particular line of thought: "If the world is indeed created by our act of observation, there should be billions of such worlds, one for each of us. How come your world and my world are the same? If something happens in my world, does it happen in your world, too? What causes all these worlds to synchronize with each other?".
There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousnesses. Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads.[Schrödinger, Erwin. What is life? Epilogue: On Determinism and Free Will]
Schrödinger discussed topics such as
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
, the
mind–body problem
The mind–body problem is a List_of_philosophical_problems#Mind–body_problem, philosophical problem concerning the relationship between thought and consciousness in the human mind and Human body, body. It addresses the nature of consciousness ...
,
sense perception,
free will
Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...
, and
objective reality in his lectures and writings.
Schrödinger's attitude with respect to the relations between Eastern and Western thought was one of prudence, expressing appreciation for Eastern philosophy while also admitting that some of the ideas did not fit with empirical approaches to natural philosophy.
Some commentators have suggested that Schrödinger was so deeply immersed in a non-dualist Vedântic-like view that it may have served as a broad framework or subliminal inspiration for much of his work including that in theoretical physics.
Schrödinger expressed sympathy for the idea of
''Tat Tvam Asi'', stating "you can throw yourself flat on the ground, stretched out upon
Mother Earth, with the certain conviction that you are one with her and she with you."
Schrödinger said that "Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else."
He also anticipated the
many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. In 1952, he suggested that the different terms of a superposition evolving under the Schrödinger equation are "not alternatives but all really happen simultaneously". Schrödinger's later writings also contain elements resembling the
modal interpretation originated by
Bas van Fraassen. Because Schrödinger subscribed to a kind of post-
Machian neutral monism, in which "matter" and "mind" are only different aspects or arrangements of the same common elements, treating the wavefunction as physical and treating it as information became interchangeable.
Legacy
The philosophical issues raised by Schrödinger's cat are still debated today and remain his most enduring legacy in
popular science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
, while Schrödinger's equation is his most enduring legacy at a more technical level. Schrödinger is one of several individuals who have been called "the father of quantum mechanics". The large crater
Schrödinger, on the
far side of the Moon, is named after him. The
Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics was founded in Vienna in 1992.
Schrödinger's portrait was the main feature of the design of the
1983–97 Austrian 1000-schilling banknote, the second-highest denomination.
A building is named after him at the
University of Limerick, in Limerick, Ireland, as is the 'Erwin Schrödinger Zentrum' at
Adlershof
Adlershof (, literally "Eagle's Court") is a locality (') in the Boroughs of Berlin, borough (') Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany.
Adlershof is home to the new City of Science, Technology and Media (WISTA), located on the southwestern edge of ...
in Berlin
and the
Route Schrödinger at
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...
,
Prévessin, France.
Schrödinger's 126th birthday anniversary in 2013 was celebrated with a
Google Doodle.
Awards and honors
* 1920:
Haitinger Prize of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences
* 1927:
Matteucci Medal of the
Accademia nazionale delle scienze
* 1931:
Honorary membership of the Royal Irish Academy
* 1933:
Nobel Prize in Physics for the formulation of the
Schrödinger equation
The Schrödinger equation is a partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a non-relativistic quantum-mechanical system. Its discovery was a significant landmark in the development of quantum mechanics. It is named after E ...
– shared with
Paul Dirac
* 1937:
Max Planck Medal
The Max Planck Medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society , the world's largest organization of physicists, for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. The prize has been awarded annually since 1929, with few exceptions ...
of the
German Physical Society
* 1949:
Foreign membership of the Royal Society
* 1956:
Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts
* 1956:
Erwin Schrödinger Prize of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences
See also
List of things named after Erwin Schrödinger.
Published works
* ''Science and the human temperament'', Allen & Unwin (1935), translated and introduced by
James Murphy, with a foreword by
Ernest Rutherford.
* ''Nature and the Greeks'' and ''Science and Humanism'', Cambridge University Press (1996) .
* ''The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics'', Ox Bow Press (1995) .
* ''Statistical Thermodynamics'', Dover Publications (1989) .
* ''Collected papers'', Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn (1984) .
* ''My View of the World'', Ox Bow Press (1983) .
* ''Expanding Universes'', Cambridge University Press (1956).
* ''Space-Time Structure'', Cambridge University Press (1950) .
* ''
What Is Life?'', Macmillan (1944).
* ''What Is Life? & Mind and Matter'', Cambridge University Press (1974) .
See also th
list of Erwin Schrödinger's publications(), compiled by
Auguste Dick, Gabriele Kerber, Wolfgang Kerber and Karl von Meyenn.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
Erwin Schrödinger and others on Austrian banknotes*
* "
'" (in German) or
* "
'" (in English)
Encyclopædia Britannica article on Erwin Schrödinger* with his Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1933 ''The Fundamental Idea of Wave Mechanics''
* Vallabhan, C. P. Girija, "
'"
'ed.'' Schrödinger's interest in Vedanta">Vedanta.html" ;"title="'ed.'' Schrödinger's interest in Vedanta">'ed.'' Schrödinger's interest in Vedanta
Schrödinger Medalof the World Association of Theoretically Oriented Chemists (WATOC)
''The Discovery of New Productive Forms of Atomic Theory'' Nobel Banquet speech(in German)
Annotated bibliography for Erwin Schrödinger from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues*
Critical interdisciplinary review of Schrödinger's "What Is life?"*
''Schrödinger in Oxford by Sir David C Clary '' World Scientific, 2022
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schrodinger, Erwin
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