List of important publications in physics

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

title page of book
Title page of the first, 1704, edition of Newton's Opticks

This is a list of important publications in physics, organized by field.

Some reasons why a particular publication might be regarded as important:

  • Topic creator – A publication that created a new topic
  • Breakthrough – A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly
  • Influence – A publication which has significantly influenced the world or has had a massive impact on the teaching of physics.

Applied physics

Accelerator physics

Main article: Accelerator physics
  • Ising, G. (1924). "Prinzip einer Methode zur Herstellung von Kanalstrahlen hoher Voltzahl". Arkiv för matematik, astronomi och fysik
    (in German). 18 (30): 1–4.
The Swedish physicist
linear accelerator
(in this case, as part of a cathode ray tube).
The Norwegian physicist
linear accelerator
.
These two articles describe the betatron concept and the first experimental data of a working betatron, built by Donald William Kerst.
These publications were the first to introduce the idea of
particle colliders
.

Biophysics

Cell

Mathematical

Medical
An influential graduate textbook in MRI by some of the principal advancers of the field.

Molecular

Neurophysics

Plant

Geophysics

See also: Geophysics and History of geophysics
Early description of magnetism from an Elizabethan scientist consisting of six books. Erroneously attributes magnetism as causing the motion of bodies in the Solar system.
A classic reference on the Earth's magnetic field and related topics in
geomagnetism and the ionosphere for at least 2 decades.[2]
Up to date account of seismic data processing in the petroleum geophysics industry.[citation needed]

Physics of computation

See also: Physics of computation
Develops theory of a digital computer as an efficient universal computing device.[citation needed]

Plasma physics

See also:
Plasma physics
  • Langmuir, I. (1961). The Collected Works of Irving Langmuir Volume 3: Thermionic Phenomena: Papers from 1916–1937. Pergamon Press.
  • Langmuir, I. (1961). The Collected Works of Irving Langmuir Volume 4: Electrical Discharges: Papers from 1923–1931. Pergamon Press.
These two volumes from Nobel Prize winning scientist Irving Langmuir, include his early published papers resulting from his experiments with ionized gases (i.e. plasma). The books summarise many of the basic properties of plasmas. Langmuir coined the word plasma in about 1928.
Hannes Alfvén won the Nobel Prize for his development of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) the science that models plasma as fluids. This book lays down the ground work, but also shows that MHD may be inadequate for low-density plasmas such as space plasmas.

Astronomy and astrophysics

Favoured the heliocentric model (first advanced by
Ptolemaic model of the solar system; sometimes credited with starting the Scientific Revolution
in the Western world.
  • — (1992). New Astronomy. Translated by William H. Donahue. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 978-0-521-30131-2
    .
Provided strong arguments for
Kepler's laws). One of the most important works of the Scientific Revolution.[3]
  • — (1997). The harmony of the world. Translated into English with an introduction and notes by E. J. Aiton, A. M. Duncan and
    ISBN 978-0-87169-209-2
    .
Developed the third of
Kepler's laws.[citation needed
]

Astrophysics

See also: Astrophysics

Astrophysics employs physical principles "to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space."[4]

A landmark article of stellar physics, analysing several key processes that might be responsible for the synthesis of chemical elements in nature and their relative abundances; it is credited with originating what is now the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis.
Introduction of the Faber–Jackson law relating galaxy luminosity and velocity dispersion.[citation needed]
Introduction of the Tully–Fisher relation between galaxy luminosity and rotation-curve amplitude.[citation needed]
Introduction of the M–sigma relation between black hole mass and galaxy velocity dispersion.[citation needed]

Cosmology

See also: Physical cosmology
Introduced the conditions necessary for
doi:10.1070/PU1991v034n05ABEH002497
..
Reference textbook on cosmology, discussing both observational and theoretical issues.
Reported results from the COBE satellite, which was developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to measure the diffuse infrared and microwave radiation from the early universe to the limits set by our astrophysical environment. Measurements by a Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) confirmed that the cosmic microwave background (CMB) spectrum is that of a nearly perfect black body with a temperature of 2.725 ± 0.002 K. This observation matches the predictions of the hot Big Bang theory extraordinarily well, and indicates that nearly all of the radiant energy of the Universe was released within the first year after the Big Bang. The first paper presents initial results; the second, final results.
Presents results from the Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR) on the COBE satellite. This maps the cosmic radiation and searches for variations in brightness. The CMB was found to have intrinsic "anisotropy" for the first time, at a level of a part in 100,000. These tiny variations in the intensity of the CMB over the sky show how matter and energy was distributed when the Universe was still very young. Later, through a process still poorly understood, the early structures seen by DMR developed into galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the large scale structure that we see in the Universe today. The first paper presents initial results; the second, final results.
  • Hauser; et al. (1998). "The COBE Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment Search for the Cosmic Infrared Background. I. Limits and Detections". The Astrophysical Journal. 508 (1): 25–43.
    S2CID 17415989
    .
Presents results from the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on the COBE satellite. This searches for the cosmic infrared background radiation produced by the first galaxies. Infrared absolute sky brightness maps in the wavelength range 1.25 to 240 micrometres were obtained to carry out a search for the cosmic infrared background (CIB). The CIB was originally detected in the two longest DIRBE wavelength bands, 140 and 240 micrometres, and in the short-wavelength end of the FIRAS spectrum. Subsequent analyses have yielded detections of the CIB in the near-infrared DIRBE sky maps. The CIB represents a "core sample" of the Universe; it contains the cumulative emissions of stars and galaxies dating back to the epoch when these objects first began to form.

Atomic and molecular physics

Main articles: Atomic physics; Molecular physics; and Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
See also: Timeline of atomic and subatomic physics
James Clerk Maxwell reviewed this work in Nature and concluded that "there can be no doubt that the name of Van der Waals will soon be among the foremost in molecular science." Johannes Diderik van der Waals received the Nobel Prize in 1910 for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids.
Discovery of X-rays, leading to the very first Nobel Prize in Physics for the author.
The classic experimental measurement of the mass and charge of cathode ray "corpuscles", later called electrons. Won the Nobel Physics Prize (in 1906) for this discovery.
Described the Zeeman effect in which spectral lines in magnetic fields are split; earned author a Nobel Physics prize citation (1902).
See quantum mechanics section.
See quantum mechanics section.
See quantum mechanics section.
This announced a law that gave decisive evidence for atomic number from studies of X-ray spectra, which could be explained by the Bohr model.
Described the Stark effect in which spectral lines in electric fields are split (analogous to the Zeeman effect of splitting in magnetic fields) as predicted by Voigt.[6] Observed the same year (1913) as Lo Surdo;[7] the work won a Nobel Physics prize for Stark.
Formulated the concepts of spontaneous and stimulated emission.
  • Sommerfeld, Arnold |author-link=Arnold Sommerfeld| (1919).
See quantum mechanics section.
Description on an atomic ionization effect first discovered by Meitner,[8] but named for the later discoverer, Auger.
  • de Broglie, Louis |author-link=Louis de Broglie| (1924).
See quantum mechanics section.
  • Matrix mechanics papers: W. Heisenberg (1925), M. Born and P. Jordan (1925), M. Born, W. Heisenberg, and P. Jordan (1926).
See quantum mechanics section.
  • Schroedinger, Erwin |author-link=Erwin Schrödinger| (1926).
See quantum mechanics section.
  • Raman, C. V. (1928). "A new radiation". Indian J. Phys. 2: 387–398.
    hdl:10821/377
    .
Relates the experimental discovery of the
L. I. Mandelstam.[11]
  • Herzberg, Gerhard (1939) Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure I. Diatomic Molecules
  • Herzberg, Gerhard (1945) Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure II. Infrared and Raman Spectra of Polyatomic Molecules
  • Herzberg, Gerhard (1966) Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure III. Electronic Spectra of Polyatomic Molecules
This three-volume series is the classic detailed presentation of molecular spectroscopy for physicists and chemists. Herzberg received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his spectroscopic research on the electronic structure and geometry of molecules.

Classical mechanics

See also: Classical mechanics and History of classical mechanics

macroscopic objects at speeds well below the speed of light.[12]

  • Galilei, Galileo (1638). Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno à due nuove scienze attenenti alla mecanica & i movimenti locali [Two New Sciences] (in Latin). Leiden: Louis Elsevier.
Regarded as one of the three most important works on mechanics in the 17th century.[14] The first modern treatise in which a physical problem (the accelerated motion of a falling body) is idealized by a set of parameters then analyzed mathematically and constitutes one of the seminal works of applied mathematics.[15][16]
  • Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica
    [Mathematical principles of natural philosophy] (in Latin).
A three-volume work, often called Principia or Principia Mathematica. One of the most influential scientific books ever published, it contains the statement of
Kepler's laws for the motion of the planets (which were first obtained empirically).[citation needed
]
  • Mécanique Analytique
    [Analytical mechanics] (in French).
Lagrange's masterpiece on mechanics and hydrodynamics. Based largely on the
Lagrangian reference frame for fluid flow.[citation needed
]
These three papers used Hamilton's methods in optics to formulate mechanics anew; now called Hamiltonian mechanics.
  • Noether, Emmy (1918).
See mathematical physics section.
  • Kolmogorov-Arnol'd-Moser papers.
    • Kolmogorov, A. N. "On Conservation of Conditionally Periodic Motions for a Small Change in Hamilton's Function." Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 98, 527–530, 1954.
    • Moser, J. "On Invariant Curves of Area-Preserving Mappings of an Annulus." Nachr. Akad. Wiss. Göttingen Math.-Phys. Kl. II, 1-20, 1962.
    • Arnol'd, V. I. "Proof of a Theorem of A. N. Kolmogorov on the Preservation of Conditionally Periodic Motions under a Small Perturbation of the Hamiltonian." Uspekhi Mat. Nauk 18, 13–40, 1963.
Set of results in dynamical systems theory of
KAM theorem after the authors' initials. Regarded in retrospect as a sign of chaos theory.[citation needed
]
  • Classical Mechanics
    .
A standard graduate textbook on classical mechanics, considered a good book on the subject.[citation needed]

Fluid dynamics

See also: Fluid dynamics and History of fluid mechanics
Two-book treatise regarded as the founding text of fluid mechanics and hydrostatics in particular. Contains an introduction of his principle.[17]
  • Daniel Bernoulli (1738). Hydrodynamica, sive de viribus et motibus fluidorum commentarii (in Latin). Strasbourg. English translation: Hydrodynamics and Hydraulics by Daniel Bernoulli and Johann Bernoulli (Dover Publications, 1968).
Established a unified approach to hydrostatics and hydraulics; study of efflux; Bernoulli's principle.
  • Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1752). Essai d'une nouvelle théorie de la résistance des fluides (in French) [Essay of a new theory of resistance of fluids]. Paris.
Introduces D'Alembert's paradox.
  • Euler, Leonhard (1757). "Principes généraux du mouvement des fluides" [General principles of fluid motion]. Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences de Berlin. 11: 274–315. (Presented in 1755)
Formulates the theory of fluid dynamics in terms of a set of partial differential equations: Euler equations (fluid dynamics)
  • Navier, Claude Louis (1827). "Mémoire sur les lois du mouvement des fluides". Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences de l'Institut de France. 6: 389–440. (Presented in 1822)
First formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations, albeit based on an incorrect molecular theory.
  • Stokes, George Gabriel (1849). "On the theory of the internal friction of fluids in motion, and of the equilibrium and motion of elastic solids". Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 8: 287. (Presented in 1845)
Correct formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations.
Introduced the study of vortex dynamics (see Vorticity).
Introduces the dimensionless Reynolds number, investigating the critical Reynolds number for transition from laminar to turbulent flow.
  • Prandtl, Ludwig (1905). "Über Flüssigkeitsbewegung bei sehr kleiner Reibung". Verhandlungen des Dritten Internationalen Mathematiker-Kongresses in Heidelberg 1904: 484–491. (Presented in 1904)
Introduces the Boundary layer.
Introduces a quantitative theory of turbulence.

Computational physics
This paper records the first use of the
Los Alamos
.
  • Metropolis, N.; et al. (1953)
See statistical mechanics and thermodynamics section .
The Fermi-Ulam-Pasta-Tsingou simulation was an early demonstration of the ability of computers to deal with nonlinear physics problems and its surprising result regarding thermal equipartition hinted towards chaos theory.

Condensed matter physics

See also: Condensed matter physics

Condensed matter physics deals with the physical properties of condensed phases of matter. These properties appear when atoms interact strongly and adhere to each other or are otherwise concentrated.

  • Kamerlingh Onnes, H., "Further experiments with liquid helium. C. On the change of electric resistance of pure metals at very low temperatures, etc. IV. The resistance of pure mercury at helium temperatures." Comm. Phys. Lab. Univ. Leiden; No. 120b, 1911.
  • Kamerlingh Onnes, H., "Further experiments with liquid helium. D. On the change of electric resistance of pure metals at very low temperatures, etc. V. The disappearance of the resistance of mercury." Comm. Phys. Lab. Univ. Leiden; No. 122b, 1911.
  • Kamerlingh Onnes, H., "Further experiments with liquid helium. G. On the electrical resistance of pure metals, etc. VI. On the sudden change in the rate at which the resistance of mercury disappears." Comm. Phys. Lab. Univ. Leiden; No. 124c, 1911.
Series of articles about superconductivity.
These three papers develop the
Nobel prize for this work.[citation needed
]

Polymer physics

See also: Polymer physics
Contains the foundation of the kinetic theory of rubber elasticity, including the first theoretical description of statistical mechanics of polymers with application to viscosity and rubber elasticity, and an expression for the entropy gain during the coiling of linear flexible molecules.
Presented earlier by Guth at the American Chemical Society meeting of 1939, this article contains the first outline of the network theory of rubber elasticity. The resulting Guth-James equation of state is analogous to van der Waal's equation.
Presents a more detailed version of the network theory of rubber elasticity. The paper used average forces to some extent instead of thermodynamical functions. In statistical thermodynamics, these two procedures are equivalent. After some controversy within the literature, the James-Guth network theory is now generally accepted for larger extensions. See, e.g., Paul Flory's comments in Proc. Royal Soc. A. 351, 351 (1976).

Electromagnetism

See also:
History of electromagnetism
  • William Gilbert
    (main author), Aaron Dowling, 1600.
See geophysics section.
  • Coulomb, C. A. (1785–89). Mémoires sur l'Électricité et le Magnétisme (In French; trans. Memoirs on Electricity and Magnetism), a series of seven memoirs.
Contains descriptions empirical investigations into electricity. Established an empirical
Newton's constant G.[26]
Introduced the
magnetostatic
analogue of Coulomb's law.
Introduced
Ampere's law
for electric current.
  • Ohm, GS (1827). "Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet [tr., The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically]" (in German). TH Riemann, Berlin.
Announced the circuital relation between voltage and current.
Essay conceived several key ideas, among them a theorem similar to the modern
William Thomson
, among others.
  • Faraday, Michael (1839–1855). Experimental researches in electricity (Reprinted 2000 from the 1st ed. 1839 (vol. 1), 1844 (vol. 2), 1855 (vol. 3) ed.). Santa Fe (N.M.): Green Lion Press.
    ISBN 978-1-888009-15-6
    .
Faraday's law of induction and research in electromagnetism.[28]
The third of
electromagnetic wave. It was the first paper in which Maxwell's equations
appeared.
  • Hall, E.H. (1879). "On a New Action of the Magnet on Electric Currents". American Journal of Mathematics vol 2, p. 287-292. Thesis (PhD), Johns Hopkins U.
Details an experimental analysis of voltaic effect later named for author.
The defining graduate-level introductory text. (First edition 1962)
A standard undergraduate introductory text.

General physics
Ten-volume textbook in theoretical physics methods.
  • Addison–Wesley
    .
Bestselling three-volume textbook covering the span of physics. Reference for both (under)graduate student and professional researcher alike.

Mathematical physics

See also: Mathematical physics
Introduced the modern day notation of vector calculus, based on Gibbs' system.
  • Minkowski relativity papers (1907–15):
See special relativity section.
  • Silberstein, Ludwik (1914)
See special relativity section.
Contains a proof of
Noether's Theorem
(expressed as two theorems), showing that any symmetry of the Lagrangian corresponds to a conserved quantity. This result had a profound influence on 20th century theoretical physics.
  • Eddington, Arthur (1923)
See general relativity section.
  • Ising, Ernst (1924). "Beitrag zur Theorie des Ferro-und Paramagnetismus" [Contribution to the theory of ferro- and paramagnetism]. Thesis, Hamburg (in German).
Ising's 1924 thesis proving the non-existence of phase transitions in the 1-dimensional Ising model.
Influential textbooks by two leading mathematicians of the early 20th century.
  • Weyl, H.K.H. (1929). Elektron und Gravitation. I. (in German) Z. Phys. (56), 330.
The establishment of gauge theory as an important mathematical tool in field theories, an idea first advanced (unsuccessfully) in 1918 by the same author.[31]
  • von Neumann, John
    (1932).
See quantum mechanics section.
Rudolf Peierls' 1936 contour argument proving the existence of phase transitions in higher dimensional Ising models.
  • PAM Dirac (1939). "A new notation for quantum mechanics". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 35 (3): 416–418.
    S2CID 121466183
    .
Introduced
linear functionals in quantum mechanics and mathematics, though the notation has precursors in Grassmann nearly 100 years previously.[32]
See quantum field theory section.
Thorough introduction to the mathematical methods of classical mechanics, electromagnetic theory, quantum theory and general relativity. Possibly more accessible than Morse and Feshbach.
Proved the existence of phase transitions of continuous symmetry models in at least 3 dimensions.

Pre-Modern (Classical) mathematical physics

See also: Classical physics and Modern physics
See classical mechanics section.
See classical mechanics section.
  • Lagrangia, Giuseppe Ludovico
    (1788)
See classical mechanics section.
  • Mémoire sur la propagation de la chaleur dans les corps solides
     [Memoir on the propagation of heat in solid bodies] (in French).
Considered a founding text in the field of Fourier analysis (and by extension harmonic analysis), and a breakthrough for the solution of the classic (partial) differential equations of mathematical physics.
See optics section.
Contains a discussion of Fourier(1807) and annunciation of
Fourier's law.[35]
See electromagnetism section.
See classical mechanics section.
See electromagnetism section.

Nonlinear dynamics and chaos

See also: Chaos theory
  • Kolmogorov-Arnol'd-Moser papers.
See classical mechanics section.
  • Fermi, E.; Pasta, J.; Ulam, S. (1955)
See computational physics section.
A finite system of deterministic nonlinear
Lorenz attractor is presented for the first time, and gave the first hint of what is now known as butterfly effect
.

Optics

See also: Optics and History of optics
(
Arabic: Kitab al-Manazir, Latin: De Aspectibus) – a seven volume treatise on optics and physics, written by Ibn al-Haytham
(Latinized as Alhacen or Alhazen in Europe), and published in 1021.
The first major publication of the
biological cell
".
Huygens attained a remarkably clear understanding of the principles of wave-propagation; and his exposition of the subject marks an epoch in the treatment of Optical problems. Not appreciated until much later due to the mistaken zeal with which formerly everything that conflicted with the cherished ideas of Newton was denounced by his followers.
This posthumous publication contains the law of refraction (now known as "Snell's law) and was partly based on unpublished observations that Willebrord Snellius made and wrote in 1621.
A key publication in the history of physics, in which Newton describes his experiments regarding colour and light, and ends with a set of queries about the nature of light and matter.
Seminal text (regarded as polemical for its time) that influenced later research on human visual and colour perception,[36] from an author usually remembered for his literary work.
Work by Thomas Young and Fresnel provided a comprehensive picture of the propagation of light.
A series of papers recording Hamilton's work in geometric optics.[37] This would later become an inspiration for Hamiltonian mechanics.
See electromagnetism section.
These three papers introduced the Frequency comb technique. The earlier presented the main idea but last is the one often cited.

Nuclear and particle physics

Nuclear physics

Main article: Nuclear physics
Reported the accidental discovery of
a new kind of radiation
. Awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work.
Gives an account of the author's discovery of high energy cosmic radiation. Awarded half of the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Chadwick's experiments confirmed the identity of the mysterious particle detected independently by Joliot-Curie & Joliot,[38] and Bothe & Becker[39][40] and predicted by Majorana and others[41] to be a neutral nucleon in 1932, for which Chadwick was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935.[42]
  • E. Fermi (1934), "Trends to a theory of beta radiation", Nuovo Cimento, 11 (1): 1–19,
    S2CID 123342095
    . In Italian.
Introduced a
weak nuclear force
.
A series of three articles by Hans Bethe summarizing the knowledge in the subject of Nuclear Physics at the time of publication. The set of three articles is colloquially referred to as "Bethe's bible".
  • C. L. Cowan, Jr., F. Reines, F. B. Harrison, H. W. Kruse, A. D. McGuire; Reines; Harrison; Kruse; McGuire (July 20, 1956). "Detection of the Free Neutrino: a Confirmation".
    PMID 17796274.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
This contains an account of an experiment first suggested by Wang,[46] confirming the existence of a particle (the neutrino, and specifically the electron neutrino) first predicted by Pauli in 1940;[47][48] a result that was rewarded almost forty years later with the 1995 Nobel Prize for Reines.[49]
  • Wu et al. (1957)
See particle physics section.
  • Fowler et al. (1957).
See astrophysics section.

Particle physics

Main article: Particle physics
  • Thomson, JJ (1897).
See the atomic and molecular physics section.
  • Hess, V. F. (1912).
See the nuclear physics section.
  • C.D. Anderson (1932). "The Apparent Existence of Easily Deflectable Positives".
    PMID 17731542
    .
Experimental detection of the
doi:10.1103/PhysRev.43.491
.
  • Fermi, E. (1934).
See the nuclear physics section.
  • J. C. Street and E. C. Stevenson. "New Evidence for the Existence of a Particle Intermediate Between the Proton and Electron", Phys. Rev. 52, 1003 (1937).
Experimental confirmation of a particle first discovered by Anderson and Neddermeyer at Caltech in 1936;[50] originally thought to be Yukawa's meson,[51] but later shown to be a "heavy electron", now called muon.
  • Cowan et al. (1956)
See the nuclear physics section.
An
parity conservation was disobeyed by the weak force, later confirmed by another group in the same year.[53]
This won Lee and Yang the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1957.
  • Sakharov, A. D. (1967).
See cosmology section.
  • Griffiths, David (1987). Introduction to elementary particles (New ed.). New York: Wiley.
    ISBN 978-0-471-60386-3
    .
Standard undergraduate particle physics textbook.

Quantum mechanics

Main article: Quantum mechanics
See also: Timeline of quantum mechanics and History of quantum mechanics
Introduced
Wien's law (which worked at short wavelengths). He found that the above function fit the data for all wavelengths remarkably well. This paper is considered to be the beginning of quantum theory
and discovery of photon.
English translations:
Introduced the concept of light
Annus Mirabilis papers
.
Introduced the Bohr model of the (hydrogen) atom, which later formed the foundation for the more sophisticated atomic shell model of larger atoms.
  • J. Franck & G. Hertz (1914). "Über Zusammenstöße zwischen Elektronen und Molekülen des Quecksilberdampfes und die Ionisierungsspannung desselben". Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges. (in German). 16: 457–467.
An experiment on the electrical conductivity of gases that supported the conclusions of the Bohr model.
Added a
relativisitic correction to Bohr's model achieved in 1916, by Sommerfeld. Together with Planck (1901), Einstein (1905) and Bohr model (1913) considered stanchion of old quantum theory
.
This experiment on a beam of particles through a magnetic field described the experimental observation that their deflection takes only certain quantized values was important in leading to the concept of a new quantum number, spin.
  • de Broglie, Louis (1924). Recherches sur la théorie des quanta (in French) (Researches on the theory of quanta), Thesis, Paris. Ann. de Physique (10) 3, 22 (1925)
Introduced formally the concept of the
wave particle duality
.
These three papers (die Dreimaennerarbeit) formulated matrix mechanics, the first successful (non-relativistic) theory of quantum mechanics.[54]
These papers introduce the
equation named after the author.[54]
Formulates the uncertainty principle as a key concept in quantum mechanics.[54]
Compton effect
discovered by Arthur Compton (who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1927), established the wave–particle duality hypothesis as a fundamental concept in quantum theory.
Quantum mechanics as explained by one of the founders of the field, Paul Dirac. First edition published on 29 May 1930. The second to last chapter is particularly interesting because of its prediction of the positron.
  • von Neumann, John. (1932). Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (in German).
    • Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Beyer, R. T., trans., Princeton Univ. Press. 1996 edition:
      ISBN 0-691-02893-1
      .
Rigorous axiomatic formulation of quantum mechanics as explained by one of the greatest pure and applied mathematicians in modern history. In this book all the modern mathematical machinery to deal with quantum theories, such as the general notion of Hilbert space, that of self-adjoint operator and a complete general version of the spectral theory for self-adjoint unbounded operators, was introduced for the first time.
  • Feynman, R P (1942). "The Principle of Least Action in Quantum Mechanics". Ph.D. Dissertation, Princeton University. Reprinted as Laurie M. Brown ed., (with title Feynman's Thesis: a New Approach to Quantum Theory). World Scientific, 2005.
    ISBN 978-981-256-380-4
    .
The earliest record of the (complete)
Wiener integral.[56]

Quantum field theory

See also: Quantum field theory and History of quantum field theory
The publications formulate what became known as the Klein–Gordon equation as the first relativistically invariant Schrödinger equation (however the equation was considered contemporaneously by Schrödinger - in his personal notes - and Fock, among others).[57]
In these papers, Dirac formulates and derives the Dirac equation, which won him a Nobel Prize (1933) in Physics.
Introduction of the Feynman diagrams approach to quantum electrodynamics.
Extended the concept of
nonabelian groups to provide an explanation for strong interactions by use of what are now known as the Yang–Mills equations
.
Combined the
Standard Model of particle physics
.
Collectively these three papers (called the 1964 PRL symmetry breaking papers) formulated the concept of the Higgs mechanism. Also important later work done by t'Hooft.
  • Gross, Wilczek & Politzer 1973 papers:
Won the three researchers the Nobel Physics (2004) prize for the prediction of asymptotic freedom.
Standard graduate textbook in quantum field theory.

Relativity

Special

See also:
Special theory of relativity and History of special relativity

The primary sources section of the latter article in particular contains many additional (early) publications of importance in the field.

  • Lorentz, Hendrik (1892). "De relatieve beweging van de aarde en den aether". Zittingsverlag Akad. (in Dutch). 5 (1): 74–79.
For a translation see: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:The_Relative_Motion_of_the_Earth_and_the_Aether. Hendrik Lorentz was a major influence on Einstein's theory of special relativity. Lorentz laid the fundamentals for the work by Einstein and the theory was originally called the Lorentz-Einstein theory. After 1905 Lorentz wrote several papers on what he called "Einstein's principle of relativity".
  • "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". Translation by George Barker Jeffery and Wilfrid Perrett in The Principle of Relativity, London: Methuen and Company, Ltd. (1923)
  • "
    Megh Nad Saha
    in The Principle of Relativity: Original Papers by A. Einstein and H. Minkowski, University of Calcutta, 1920, pp. 1–34:
Introduced the special theory of relativity. Reconciled
Annus Mirabilis papers
.
English translations:
Used the newly formulated theory of special relativity to introduce the
Annus Mirabilis papers
.

Minkowski relativity papers:

Introduced the four-vector notation and the notion of Minkowski space, which was later adopted by Einstein and others.
Used concepts developed in the then-current textbooks (e.g.,
vector analysis and non-Euclidean geometry) to provide entry into mathematical physics with a vector-based introduction to quaternions and a primer on matrix notation for linear transformations of 4-vectors. The ten chapters are composed of 4 on kinematics, 3 on quaternion methods, and 3 on electromagnetism. Silberstein used biquaternions to develop Minkowski space and Lorentz transformations
. The second edition published in 1924 extended relativity into gravitation theory with tensor methods, but was superseded by Eddington's text.
A modern introduction to special relativity, that explains well how the choice to divide spacetime into a time part and a space part is no different than two choices about how to assign coordinates to the surface of the earth.

General

See also:
General theory of relativity and History of general relativity
This publication is the first complete account of a general relativistic theory.
Einstein considered this the finest description of the theory of relativity in any language.[59]
A book on gravitation, often considered the "Bible" on gravitation by researchers. Published by W.H. Freeman and Company in 1973. It covers all aspects of the General Theory of Relativity and also considers some extensions and experimental confirmation. It is divided into two "tracks", the second of which covers more advanced topics. Its massive size (over 1200 pages) has inspired nicknames such as "the phone book".[60]

Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics

Main articles: Thermodynamics and Statistical mechanics
See also:
Literature of phase boundaries
Observations of the generation of heat during the
motion
.
A founding text in the field of
Fourier's law
.
  • —; Thurston, Robert Henry (1890). Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat and on Machines Fitted to Develop That Power. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. (full text of 1897 ed.))
  • —; E. Clapeyron; R. Clausius (2005). Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire – and other Papers on the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Edited with an introduction by E. Mendoza. New York: Dover Publications.
    ISBN 978-0-486-44641-7
    .
Between 1876 and 1878 Gibbs wrote a series of papers collectively entitled "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances", considered one of the greatest achievements in physical science in the 19th century and the foundation of the science of
phase rule
.
In this publication Einstein covered his study of
Annus Mirabilis
papers.
  • Ising, Ernst (1924), (1925).
See mathematical physics section.
  • Peierls, R.; Born, M. (1936).
See mathematical physics section.
Introduces the
Metropolis Monte Carlo method with periodic boundary conditions
and applies it to the numerical simulation of a fluid.
  • Fermi, E.; Pasta, J.; Ulam, S. (1955)
See computational physics section.
Introduces the real space view on the renormalization group, and explains using this concept some relations between the scaling exponents of the Ising model.
Application of the renormalization group to the solution of the Kondo problem. The author was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1982 for this work.

See also

References

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Further reading

External links
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