Between two disciplines. B. L. van der Waerden and the development of quantum mechanics (Q2276047)

It is above all by his Algebra books that van der Waerden became well known but he himself (so we are told by F. Hirzebruch) found this description to be a one-sided account of his work. In this book the author investigates van der Waerden's contributions to quantum mechanics which turn out to be important. The history of quantum mechanics started shortly before van der Waerden's birth in 1903 with Planck's theory of black body radiation in 1900. About 1926, the time of van der Waerden's PhD, more developed theories of quantum mechanics appeared dealing which with the subject from different aspects: {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[-] wave mechanics (de Broglie, \textit{E. Schrödinger} [Annalen d. Physik (4) 79, 734--756 (1926; JFM 52.0967.02)]), \item[-] transformation theory (Dirac 1926, Jordan), and \item[-] matrix theory [\textit{W. Heisenberg}, Z. f. Physik 43, 172--198 (1927; JFM 53.0853.05); \textit{M. Born}, Z. f. Physik 38 (1926), 803--827; JFM 52.0973.04]. \end{itemize}} The discovery of spin of the electron associated with subatomic particles was made in the Netherlands by \textit{G. E. Uhlenbeck} and \textit{S. Goudsmit} [Naturwissenschaften 13, 953--954 (1925; JFM 51.0740.06)]. Ehrenfest asked van der Waerden for a spinor calculus (p. 122) and van der Waerden dealt with this task from the view of group theory (representation theory) in his first paper associated with quantum mechanics in 1929. The book treats with the relation of van der Waerden with physics in general and analyzes in detail his corresponding papers; furthermore it is devoted to the relations between mathematics and physics in quantum mechanics. These topics are presented in four parts, but frequently the parts overlap. This is the reason the author introduces sections by short surveys in order to increase perspective. Briefly, the four parts may be described in this way: {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[1)] the development of group theory and quantum mechanics until 1928 in which van der Waerden's biography till 1928 is embedded; \item[2)] van der Waerden's time in Groningen (1928--31) and his entry in quantum mechanics; \item[3)] van der Waerden's time in Leipzig (1931--45), by far the longest part of the book; \item[4)] a glimpse of the time after 1945 (Amsterdam and Zurich). \end{itemize}} The author's investigations are based on extended archival studies, the references alone comprise almost 600 items. Van der Waerden's interests in physics are thoroughly traced to his student days. So some groundless statements are refuted, as for example that van der Waerden picked up physics from Heisenberg, cf. Soifer 2009 (which is already logical nonsense because van der Waerden's book on quantum mechanics and group theory came out in 1932, only one year after the cooperation with Heisenberg). The author earns a respected place in this area through her thorough and deep investigations. In general the attitudes of scientists in Nazi Germany towards Nazism has been a matter of controversy. Due to her investigations the author takes van der Waerden's statements for real and worthy of discussion. So van der Waerden's rejection of returning to the Netherlands becomes more understandable above all by the good description of the situation of Dutch sciences and their administration (p. 171). We find a discussion of van der Waerden's support for colleagues who were suppressed and discriminated However, I cannot completely follow some argumentations (p. 169, Brauer, and p. 358f., Het Parool). The reading of the book demands knowledge of representation theory as well of quantum mechanics. Unfortunately in this book (as also in the other books of this series) a subject index is missing.