2003/03/27 by Bert Schroer, Schroer, Bert
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Mathematical Physics (math-ph) #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Quantum mechanics #Theoretical physics #gr-qc #hep-ph #hep-th #math-ph #math.MP #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.hep-th/0303241
More biographical detail, expansion of the part referring to Jordan's legacy in quantum field theory, 37 pages latex
openalex publication_date 2003/03/27 · arxiv created 2003/05/15 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
After recalling episodes from Pascual Jordan's biography including his pivotal role in the shaping of quantum field theory and his much criticized conduct during the NS regime, I draw attention to his presentation of the first phase of development of quantum field theory in a talk presented at the 1929 Kharkov conference. He starts by giving a comprehensive account of the beginnings of quantum theory, emphasising that particle-like properties arise as a consequence of treating wave-motions quantum-mechanically. He then goes on to his recent discovery of quantization of ``wave fields'' and problems of gauge invariance. The most surprising aspect of Jordan's presentation is however his strong belief that his field quantization is a transitory not yet optimal formulation of the principles underlying causal, local quantum physics. The expectation of a future more radical change coming from the main architect of field quantization already shortly after his discovery is certainly quite startling. I try to answer the question to what extent Jordan's 1929 expectations have been vindicated. The larger part of the present essay consists in arguing that Jordan's plea for a formulation without ``classical correspondence crutches'', i.e. for an intrinsic approach (which avoids classical fields altogether), is successfully addressed in past and recent publications on local quantum physics.