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CSS colloquium -Jeroen Van Dongen, University of Utrecht: 'Rewriting the History of the Light Quantum - The Einstein-Rupp Experiments"

Info about event

Time

Monday 1 October 2012,  at 10:15 - 12:00

In 1926 Albert Einstein proposed two new experiments to test the wave versus particle nature of light. They were supposed to be executed by Emil Rupp, an up and coming experimental physicist from Heidelberg. Rupp confirmed Einstein's intuitions, yet was later charged with having made up his data; in fact, Rupp became one of the most famous cases of scientific fraud in the early twentieth century. Nevertheless, he appears to have been written out of the standard history of quantum mechanics. We will discuss the Einstein-Rupp experiments in detail, their role in the history of the quantum theory, and the career of Emil Rupp. Finally, we will look at Einstein's assessment of Rupp's work in light of his changing relation to experiment.

Read more about the speaker at http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~donge110/