Communicating the Heisenberg uncertainty relations: Niels Bohr, Complementarity and the Einstein-Rupp experiments

2015/05/29 by Jeroen van Dongen, van Dongen, Jeroen
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Philosophy and History of Science #Philosophy, Science, and History #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1505.08104

openalex publication_date 2015/05/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

The Einstein-Rupp experiments have been unduly neglected in the history of quantum mechanics. While this is to be explained by the fact that Emil Rupp was later exposed as a fraud and had fabricated the results, it is not justified, due to the importance attached to the experiments at the time. This paper discusses Rupp's fraud, the relation between Albert Einstein and Rupp, and the Einstein-Rupp experiments, and argues that these experiments were an influence on Niels Bohr's development of complementarity and Werner Heisenberg's formulation of the uncertainty relations.

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