Author(s): P. A. M. Dirac



Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character, Vol. 109, No. 752

(Dec. 1, 1925), pp. 642-653 Published by: Royal Society

 (Communicated by R. H. Fowler, F.R.S.-Received November 7th, 1925.

Introduction:

 It is well known that the experimental facts of atomic physics necessitate a departure from the classical theory of electrodynamics in the description of atomic phenomena. This departure takes the form, in Bohr's theory, of the special assumptions of the existence of stationary states of an atom, in which it does not radiate, and of certain rules, called quantum conditions, which fix the stationary states and the frequencies of the radiation emitted during tran- sitions between them. These assumptions are quite foreign to the classical theory, but have been very successful in the interpretation of a restricted region of atomic phenomena. The only way in which the classical theory is used is through the assumption that the classical laws hold for the description of the motion in the stationary states, although they fail completely during transitions, and the assumption, called the Correspondence Principle, that the classical theory gives the right results in the limiting case when the action per cycle of the system is large compared to Planck's constant h, and in certain other special eases.


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