Karel Niessen
Encyclopedia
Karel Frederik Niessen was a Dutch theoretical physicist who made contributions to quantum mechanics
and is known for the Pauli-Niessen model.
under Arnold Sommerfeld
, 1925 to 1926 on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. He also spent 1928 to 1929 on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
.
In 1922, Niessen’s doctoral thesis, as well as Wolfgang Pauli’s
extended doctoral thesis, dealt with the hydrogen molecule ion in the Bohr-Sommerfeld framework. Their work is referred to as the Pauli-Niessen model. Their works helped to show the inadequacy of the old quantum mechanics, which gave physicists the impetus to explore new paths which led to the matrix mechanics
formulation of quantum mechanics
by Werner Heisenberg
and Max Born
in 1925 and the wave mechanics
formulation by Erwin Schrödinger
in 1926, which were shown to be equivalent.
in Eindhoven.
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
and is known for the Pauli-Niessen model.
Education
Niessen began his studies in physics at the University of Utrecht in 1914. In 1922, he received his doctorate under L. S. Ornstein. He was an assistant at the University from 1921 to 1928, except for his postdoctoral study and research at the Ludwig Maximilians University of MunichLudwig Maximilians University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , commonly known as the University of Munich or LMU, is a university in Munich, Germany...
under Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...
, 1925 to 1926 on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. He also spent 1928 to 1929 on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
.
In 1922, Niessen’s doctoral thesis, as well as Wolfgang Pauli’s
Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
extended doctoral thesis, dealt with the hydrogen molecule ion in the Bohr-Sommerfeld framework. Their work is referred to as the Pauli-Niessen model. Their works helped to show the inadequacy of the old quantum mechanics, which gave physicists the impetus to explore new paths which led to the matrix mechanics
Matrix mechanics
Matrix mechanics is a formulation of quantum mechanics created by Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan in 1925.Matrix mechanics was the first conceptually autonomous and logically consistent formulation of quantum mechanics. It extended the Bohr Model by describing how the quantum jumps...
formulation of quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
by Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
and Max Born
Max Born
Max Born was a German-born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
in 1925 and the wave mechanics
Schrödinger equation
The Schrödinger equation was formulated in 1926 by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger. Used in physics , it is an equation that describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes in time....
formulation by Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Schrödinger
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
in 1926, which were shown to be equivalent.
Career
Upon Niessen’s return to The Netherlands in 1929, he took a life-long position as a theoretical physicist at Philips ElectronicsPhilips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
in Eindhoven.
Selected Literature
- Karel F. Niessen Zur Quantentheorie des Wasserstoffmolekülions, doctoral dissertation, University of Utrecht, Utrecht: I. Van Druten (1922) as cited in Mehra, Volume 5, Part 2, 2001, p. 932.
- K. F. Niessen Zur Quantentheorie des Wasserstoffmolekülions, Annalen der Physik 70 129-134 (1923)
- K. F. Niessen Ableitung des Planckschen Strahlungsgesetzes für Atome mit zwei Freiheitsgraden, Annalen der Physik 75 743–780 (1924)
- K. F. Niessen (Utrecht) Die Energieberechnung in einem sehr vereinfachten Vierkörperproblem, Zeitschrift für Physik Volume 43, Numbers 9-10, Pages 675-693 (1927). Received 14 April 1927.
- K. F. Niessen Überdie annähernden komplexen Lösungen der Schrödingerschen Differentialgleichun für den harmonischen Oszillator, Annalen der Physik 85 487-514 (1928) as cited in Jammer, 1966, p. 279.
- K. F. Niessen On the Saturation of the Electric and Magnetic Polarization of Gases in Quantum Mechanics, Phys. Rev. 34 253 - 278 (1929). Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Received 1 June 1929.
- K. F. Niessen (Physics Department, Madison, Wisconsin) Ein Gas in gekreuzten Feldern nach der Quantenmechanik Journal Zeitschrift für Physik, Volume 58, Numbers 1-2, Pages 63-74 (1929). Received 13 July 1929.
- K. F. Niessen Über das akustische analogon der sommerfeldschen oberflächenwelle Niessen, K. F. Physica 8 (3) 337-343 (1941)
- K. F. Niessen On one of Heisenberg's hypotheses in the theory of specific heat of superconductors, Physica 16 (2) 77-83 (1950)