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"Long live effrontery!" Albert Einstein and the birth of Quantum Theory

Domenico Giulini
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Abstract

From its very beginning, Quantum Theory developed contrary to the intentions of its creators. For Max Planck it marks the failure of a long-term research program, in which he tried to understand the 2nd law of thermodynamics deterministically in terms of mechanics and electrodynamics. For Albert Einstein it meant a refutation of his scientific credo. I describe parts of the early stages of this most remarkable development, up to Einstein's light-quantum hypotheis and its unfavourable reception by most other physicists.

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Domenico Giulini. 2005-12-05. "Long live effrontery!" Albert Einstein and the birth of Quantum Theory. https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0512034

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