A mis-interpretation and its consequences: Albert Einstein and the wave-particle duality (Q1203018)

The author gives a historical and critical analysis of Einstein's interpretation of the fluctuations of blackbody radiation which is to be found in Einstein's Habilitationsschrift (1909) and in two successive papers (1909). The starting point is a thesis: in these works Einstein gave his famous fluctuation formula, in a short and questionable way, but then he interpreted it incorrectly. After the Introduction a historical review is given (Ch. 2 and 3) of Einstein's wave-particle duality conceptions from 1909 through 1927. Ehrenfest's criticism of the Lichtquantenhypothese and Einstein's fluctuation formula (Ch. 4 and 5) is studied from a systematic point of view; also Einstein-Ehrenfest's correspondence is used. In Ch. 6 the author's proof is given to show that Einstein's interpretation is really wrong. In Ch. 7 a modern interpretation of the fluctuation formula follows. Finally, Ch. 8 contains remarks concerning the influence of Einstein's interpretation on the quantum theory. It is shown that for a modern interpretation the quantum theoretical methods are not needed. The paper ends with numerous references (on five pages).