Atomismo y Mec\'anica Cu\'antica

TL;DR

This paper historiographically examines how key physicists' confidence in the atomistic hypothesis evolved from 1925 to 1927, analyzing their interpretations of quantum mechanics and the free particle problem.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical analysis of the perspectives of early quantum physicists on atomism during the foundational years of quantum mechanics.

Findings

Physicists' views on atomism remained largely stable from 1925 to 1927.

The free particle problem significantly influenced interpretations of quantum mechanics.

Many fundamental questions from that era are still relevant today.

Abstract

We discuss, from a historiographical point of view, which was the degree of certainty that the physicists directly involved in the birth of Quantum Mechanics (Heisenberg, Born, Jordan, Dirac and Schr\"odinger) gave to the atomistic hypothesis, starting from 1925, and until the celebration of the 5th Solvay Conference, in October 1927. In particular, we analyze how was tackled the problem of the free particle, and how that affected decisively the interpretations proposed for the new mechanics. We show that, despite focusing on such a narrow period of time, so close to those seminal years, practically all the questions which still prevail nowadays, were then already posed. Except in the case of Schr\"odinger, there hardly were changes of appreciation of the atomistic hypothesis.