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--il il l - -l lI - -i l i l i ---l i l- -l il - *WB019277* Aspects of Quantum Theory Edited by Abdus Salam αηd E. P. Wigner Cambridge at the U niversity Press 1972 97 ~) Published by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press Bentiey House, 200 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y.10022 @ Cambridge University Press 1972 Library of Congl'ess Catalogue Card Number: 72-75298 ISBN: 0 521 08600 0 Printed in Great Britain at The Kynoch Press, Birmingham Dedicated to P. A. M. DIRAC to COllllllemorate his seventieth birthday and his contriblltions to qllantll1n 1llechanics Contents ex---1 AU咆A Preface i List of contributors x u Bibliography of P. A. M. Dirac m 1 Dirac in Cambridge, by 扎 J. EDEN AND J. C. POLKINGHORNE 1 2 Travels with Dirac in the Rockies, by J. 日 VAN VLECK 7 3 ‘The golden age of theoretical physics': P. A. M. Dirac's scientific work from 1924 to 1933, by JAGDISH MEHRA 17 4 Foundation of quantum field theory, by RES JOST 61 5 The early history of the theory of the electron: 1897一1947， by A. PAIS 79 6 TheDiracequation,bYA. s. WIGHTMAN 95 7 Fermi-Dirac statistics, by RUDOLPH PEIERLS 117 8 Indefinite metric in state space, by w. HEISENBERG 129 9 Onbrasandkets,bYJ. M. JAUCH 137 10 The Poisson bracket, by c. LANCZOS 169 11 La ‘fonction' 0 et les noyaux, by L. SCHWARTZ 179 12 On the Dirac magnetic poles, by EDOARDO AMALDI AND NICOLA CABIBBO 183 13 The fundamental constants and their time variation, by FREEMAN J. DYSON 213 14 On the time-energy uncertainty relation, by EUGENE P. WIGNER 237 15 The path-integral quantization of gravity, by ABDUS SALAM AND J. STRATHDEE 249 Index 263 Plates An early portrait of P. A. M. Dirac frontispiece Dirac at a recent Solvay Conference facing page 7 Preface On the 8 August 1972 Pau1 Adrien Maurice Dirac will b巳 seventy. To ce1ebrate this occasion, some of his pupi1s and admirers have prepared this vo1ume of essays. Dirac is one of the chief creators of quantum mechanics. By concentrating on just those areas of quantum theory with which he is primari1y associated, we have in fact been ab1e to range over a1most all its aspects. Posterity will rate Dirac as one of the greatest physicists of all time. The present generation va1ues him as one of its great teachers - teaching both through his 1ucid lectures as well as through his book The Pr仇c伊les 0/ Quantul1l Mechanics. This exhibits a clarity and a spirit similar to those of the Prillc怡ia written by a predecessor of his in the Lucasian Chair in Cambridge. On tho~e privileged to know him, Dirac has 1eft his mark, not on1y by his observations (which he makes rarely but which are a1ways incisive), but even more by his human greatness. He is modest, affectionate, and sets the highest possib1e standards of personal and scientific integrity. He is a legend in his own lifetime and rightly so. On behalf of all those who have contributed, we offer Dirac this volume as a token of our affectiQn and gratitude. ABDUS SALAM EUGENE P. 矶TIGNER IX Contributors PROFESSOR E. AMALDI, Istituto di Fisica ‘Guglielmo Marconi', Rome. PROFESSOR N. CABIBBO, Istituto di Fisica ‘Guglielmo Mal'coni', Rome. PROFESSOR FREEMAN J. DYSON, Institute fo1' Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J. D R R. J. ED E N, Cavendish Laboratory, U niversity of Cambridge. PROFESSOR W. HEISENBERG, Mm(cid:157) Planck-Institut fü1' Physik and Ast ophysik, Munich. 1' PROFESSOR J. M. J AUC日， Institut de Physique Theorique, Geneva. PROFESSOR RES JOST, Eidgen凸issische Technische Hochschule, Zurich. PROFESSOR C. LANCZOS, Dublin Institute fo1' Advanced Studies, Dublin. DR J AGDISH MEHRA, Center fo1' Particle Theol'y, Unive1'sity ofTexas at Austin, Austin, Texas. PROFESSOR A. PAIS, National Accele1'ato1' Laborato1'Y, Batavia, Illinois. PROFESSOR RUDOLPH PEIERLS, Department of Theo1'etical Physics, Univer剑ty of Oxfo1'd. PROFESSOR J. C. POLKINGHORNE, Department of Applied Mathe matics and Theoretical Physics, Unive sity of Cambridge. 1' P R 0 F E S S 0 R A B D U S S A L A M , International Cent1'e fo1' Theoretical Physics, Trieste, and Impe ial College of Science and Technology, 1' London. PROFESSOR L. SCHWARTZ, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris. DR J. STRATHDEE, International Centre fo1' Theoretical Physics, Trieste. PROFESSOR J. 日. V A N V L E C K, Harvard U niversity, Cambridge, Mass. PROFESSOR A. S. WIGHTMAN, Department of Physics, Princeton University. PROFESSOR EUGENE P. WIGNER, Department of Physics, P1'inceton University. Xl