Issues

 / 

2005

 / 

October

  



Matvei Bronstein and quantum gravity: 70th anniversary of the unsolved problem

Matvei Bronstein’s 1935 work on quantum gravity, the first in-depth study of the problem, is analyzed in the context of the history of physics and the scientist’s career. Bronstein’s analysis of field measurability revealed ’an essential difference between quantum electrodynamics and the quantum theory of the gravitational field’ and showed that general relativity and quantum theory are fundamentally difficult to unify. Featured in the story are Planck, Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli, Rosenfeld, Landau, and Bohr. The methodological uniqueness of the quantum gravity problem is discussed.

Fulltext pdf (713 KB)
Fulltext is also available at DOI: 10.1070/PU2005v048n10ABEH005820
PACS: 01.65.+g, 03.65.Ta, 04.60.−m (all)
DOI: 10.1070/PU2005v048n10ABEH005820
URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2005/10/d/
000235238900004
2005PhyU...48.1039G
Citation: Gorelik G E "Matvei Bronstein and quantum gravity: 70th anniversary of the unsolved problem" Phys. Usp. 48 1039–1053 (2005)
BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks

Оригинал: Горелик Г Е «Матвей Бронштейн и квантовая гравитация. К 70-летию нерешенной проблемы» УФН 175 1093–1108 (2005); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0175.200510h.1093

M.P. Bronshtein is author of Physics-Uspekhi

References (67) ↓ Cited by (35)

  1. Bronstein M "Quantentheorie schwacher Gravitationsfelder" Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 9 140 - 157 (1936); Bronshtein M Einshteinovskii Sbornik, 1980 - 1981 (Otv. red. I Yu Kobzarev, Sost. G E Gorelik) (M.: Nauka, 1985) p. 267 - 282
  2. Bronshtein M P "Kvantovanie gravitatsionnykh voln" Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 6 195 - 236 (1936)
  3. Kuranskii E S (Red.) Al’bert Einshtein i Teoriya Gravitatsii. Sb. Statei (M.: Mir, 1979)
  4. Gorelik G "First steps of quantum gravity and the Planck values" In Studies In The History Of General Relativity (Einstein Studies, Vol. 3, Eds J Eisenstaedt, A J Kox) (Boston: Birkhäuser, 1992) p. 364 - 379; Gorelik G, Frenkel V Ya Matvei Petrovich Bronstein And Soviet Theoretical Physics In The Thirties (Boston: Birkhäuser, 1994)
  5. Plank M Izbrannye Trudy (M.: Nauka, 1975)
  6. Bridgman P W Dimensional Analysis (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press, 1922) p. 101; Bridzhmen P V Analiz Razmernostei (M. - Izhevsk: RKhD, 2001) p. 114
  7. Einstein A "Naherungsweise Integration der Feldgleichungen der Gravitation" Sitzungsber. Königlich Preuß. Akad. Wiss., Berlin 688 (1916); Einstein A "Approximative integration of the field equations of gravitation (22 June 1916)" In The Collected Papers Of Albert Einstein Vol. 6 The Berlin Years: Writings, 1914 - 1917 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1997) p. 201
  8. Einstein A "Über Gravitationswellen" Sitzungsber. Königlich Preuß. Akad. Wiss., Berlin 154 (1918); Einstein A "On Gravitational Waves (31 January 1918)" In The Collected Papers Of Albert Einstein Vol. 7 The Berlin Years: Writings, 1918 - 1921 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 2002) p. 9; Einshtein A Sobranie Nauchnykh Trudov Vol. 1 (M.: Nauka, 1965) p. 522, 642
  9. Geizenberg V, Pauli V Pauli V "K kvantovoi dinamike volnovykh polei (1929)" v Sb. Pauli V, Trudy Po Kvantovoi Teorii (M.: Nauka, 1977) p. 32
  10. Rosenfeld L "Über die Gravitationswirkungen des Lichtes." Z. Phys. 65 589 - 599 (1930); Rozenfel’d L v Sb. Einshteinovskii Sbornik, 1980 - 1981 (Otv. red. I Yu Kobzarev, Sost. G E Gorelik) (M.: Nauka, 1985) p. 255 - 266
  11. Gorelik G E, Frenkel’ V Ya "M.P. Bronshtein i ego rol’ v stanovlenii kvantovoi teorii gravitatsii" v Sb. Einshteinovskii Sbornik, 1980 - 1981 (Otv. red. I Yu Kobzarev, Sost. G E Gorelik) (M.: Nauka, 1985) p. 322
  12. Bronstein M P "On the theory of electronic semiconductors" Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 2 28 - 45 (1932); Bronshtein M P "Fizicheskie svoistva elektronnykh poluprovodnikov" Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 2 919 - 952 (1932); Bronstein M P "On the conductivity of semiconductors in magnetic field" Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 3 140 (1933)
  13. Ioffe A F Elektronnye Poluprovodniki (L.-M.: ONTI, 1933)
  14. Gorelik G E, Frenkel’ V Ya "M.P. Bronshtein i ego rol’ v stanovlenii kvantovoi teorii gravitatsii" Einshteinovskii Sbornik, 1980 - 1981 (Otv. red. I Yu Kobzarev, Sost. G E Gorelik) (M.: Nauka, 1985) p. 317 - 320
  15. Shpinel’ V S Pis’mo G.E. Goreliku, 17 marta 1998 g.
  16. Bronshtein M P "Ob odnom sledstvii gipotezy svetovykh kvantov" Zhurn. Russk. Fiz.-khim. Obshch. 57 321 - 325 (1925); Bronstein M P "Zur Theorie des kontinuierlischen Rontgenspektrums" Z. Phys. 32 881 - 885 (1925)
  17. Gorelik G E, Frenkel’ V Ya Matvei Petrovich Bronshtein: 1906 - 1938 (M.: Nauka, 1990)
  18. Bronstein M "Zum Strahlungsgleichgewichtsproblem von Milne" Z. Phys. 58 696 - 699 (1929); Bronstein M "Über das Verhältnis des effektiven Temperatur der Sterne zur Temperatur ihrer Oberfläche" Z. Phys. 59 144 - 148 (1929)
  19. Bronstein M P "Note on the temperature distribution in the deeplayers of stellar atmospheres" Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 91 133 (1930)
  20. Bronshtein M P "Convegno di Fisica Nucleare" SOPEHA (1) 176 - 177 (1933); Bronshtein M P "Konferentsiya po tverdym nemetallicheskim telam" Priroda (1) 73 - 74 (1933); Bronshtein M P "Vsesoyuznaya yadernaya konferentsiya" Usp. Fiz. Nauk 13 768 (1933); Bronshtein M P SOPEHA (9) 155 - 165 (1933)
  21. Bronshtein M P "O konferentsii po teoreticheskoi fizike" Usp. Fiz. Nauk 14 516 (1934)
  22. Gershtein S S "Na zare yadernoi fiziki" Priroda (8) 62 (2004)
  23. Feinberg E L Epokha i Lichnost’. Fiziki. Ocherki i Vospominaniya (M.: Fizmatlit, 2003) p. 80 - 81
  24. Gorelik G E "Neelementarnyi vopros fiziki elementarnykh chastits" http://ggorelik.narod.ru/Dau/Tamm_Ivanenko_1934_Priroda_2004.htm
  25. Bronshtein M P "K voprosu o vozmozhnoi teorii mira kak tselogo" Uspekhi Astronomicheskikh Nauk. Sbornik, №3 (M.: ONTI, 1933) p. 3 - 30
  26. Bronshtein M P "Vnutrennee stroenie zvezd i istochniki zvezdnoi energii" Uspekhi Astronomicheskikh Nauk. Sbornik, №2 (M.: ONTI, 1933) p. 102
  27. Landau L, Peierls R "Erweiterung des Unbestimmtheitsprinzips für die relativistische Quantentheorie" Z. Phys. 69 56 - 70 (1931); Landau L D, Paierls P "Rasprostranenie printsipa neopredelennosti na relyativistskuyu teoriyu (1931)" v Kn. Landau L D, Sobranie Trudov Vol. 1 (M.: Nauka, 1969) p. 69
  28. Rosenfeld L "On quantum electrodynamics" In Niels Bohr And The Development Of Physics (Ed. W Pauli) (London: Pergamon Press, 1955) p. 70
  29. Dirak P Osnovy Kvantovoi Mekhaniki (M.: Gostekhteorizdat, 1932)
  30. Bronshtein M P "Dirak P. Printsipy kvantovoi mekhaniki (Oxford, 1930, retsenziya)" Usp. Fiz. Nauk 11 355 - 358 (1931)
  31. Schweber S S Phys. Today 54 (11) 56 (2001); Schweber S S http://www.physicstoday.org/pt/vol-54/iss-11/p56.html
  32. Bohr N, Rosenfeld L "Zur Frage der Messbarkeit der elektromagnetischen Feldgrössen" Kgl. Danske Vidensk. Selskab., Math.-Fys. Medd. 12 (8) 3 - 65 (1933); Bohr N, Rosenfeld L "On the question of the measurability of electromagnetic field quantities" In Quantum Theory And Measurement (Eds J A Wheeler, W H Zurek) (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1983) p. 470 - 522
  33. Bor H Izbrannye Nauchnye Trudy Vol. 2 (M.: Nauka, 1971) p. 121
  34. Bronshtein M P "K voprosu o relyativistskom obobshchenii printsipa neopredelennosti" Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 1 388 - 390 (1934)
  35. Landau L D "K teorii zvezd" v Kn. Landau L D, Sobranie Trudov Vol. 1 (M.: Nauka, 1969) p. 89
  36. Bronstein M P "On the expanding universe" Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 3 73 - 82 (1933)
  37. Bohr N Collected Works Vol. 9 Nuclear Physics, 1929 - 1952 (Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1986) p. 571
  38. Bor H "O metode sootvetstviya v teorii elektrona (1934)" v Kn. Bor H, Izbrannye Nauchnye Trudy Vol. 2 (M.: Nauka, 1971) p. 172
  39. Medvedev B V (Red.), Kozhevnikov A B (Sost.) Pol’ Dirak i Fizika XX Veka (M.: Nauka, 1990) p. 167
  40. Pauli V "Zakony sokhraneniya v teorii otnositel’nosti i atomnoi fizike (1937)" v Sb. Fizika: Problemy, Istoriya, Lyudi . Sb. Nauch. Tr. (Otv. red. V M Tuchkevich) (L.: Nauka, 1986) p. 224, 228
  41. Peierls R Bird Of Passage: Recollections Of A Physicist (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1985) p. 66
  42. Bridzhmen P Analiz Razmernostei (Pod red. S I Vavilova) (L.-M.: ONTI, 1934)
  43. Kobzarev I Yu (Otv. red.), Gorelik G E (Sost.) Einshteinovskii Sbornik, 1980 - 1981 (M.: Nauka, 1985)
  44. Born M "Tainstvennoe chislo 137" Usp. Fiz. Nauk 16 717 (1936)
  45. Khoking S, Ellis Dzh Krupnomasshtabnaya Struktura Prostranstva-vremeni (M.: Mir, 1977) p. 406
  46. Bronshtein M P "O magnitnom rasseyanii neitronov" Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 7 357 - 362 (1937)
  47. Bronshtein M P "O vozmozhnosti spontannogo rasshchepleniya fotonov" Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 7 335 - 358 (1937); kratkii variant, Bronstein M Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 10 686 - 688 (1936)
  48. Zel’dovich Ya B, Novikov I D Stroenie i Evolyutsiya Vselennoi (M.: Nauka, 1975) p. 124
  49. Bronshtein M P "Sovremennoe sostoyanie relyativistskoi kosmologii" Usp. Fiz. Nauk 11 124 - 184 (1931)
  50. Halpern O "Scattering processes produced by electrons in negative energy states" Phys. Rev. 44 855 - 856 (1933); Heitler W The Quantum Theory Of Radiation (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1936) p. 193
  51. Solomon J "Gravitation et quanta" J. Phys. Radium 9 6 (11) 479 - 485 (1938); Bustamante M C "Jacques Solomon (1908 - 1942): profil d’un physicien theéoricien dans la France des anneées trentes (Jacques Solomon 1908 - 1942): Profile of a theoretical physicist in France in the 1930s)" Rev. D’Histoire Sci. 50 (1, 2) 49 - 87 (1997)
  52. Gorelik G E "V.A. Fok: filosofiya tyagoteniya i tyazhest’ filosofii" Priroda (10) 81 (1993)
  53. Blokhintsev D I, Gal’perin F M "Gipoteza neitrino i zakon sokhraneniya energii" Pod Znamenem Marksizma (6) 147 - 157 (1934)
  54. Landau L D, Abrikosov A A, Khalatnikov I M "Asimptoticheskoe vyrazhenie dlya funktsii Grina protona v kvantovoi elektrodinamike" Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 95 1177 - 1180 (1954); sm. takzhe v kn., Landau L D Sobranie Trudov Vol. 2 (M.: Nauka, 1969) p. 206
  55. Klein O "Aktuella Problem Kring Fysikens Sma och Stora Tal" Kosmos (Sweden) 32 33 (1954); Klein O "Generalization of Einstein’s theory of gravitation considered from the point of view of quantum field theory" Fuenfzig Jahre Relativitätstheorie. Bern, 11 - 16 Juli 1955 (Helvetica Physica Acta, Suppl. 4, Eds A Mercier, M Kervaire) (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1956) p. 58 - 68
  56. Wheeler J A "Geons" Phys. Rev. 97 511 - 536 (1955)
  57. Misner C W, Wheeler J A "Classical physics as geometry: gravitation, electromagnetism, unquantized charge, and mass as properties of curved empty space" Ann. Physics 2 525 - 603 (1957)
  58. Rosenfeld L "On quantization of fields" Nucl. Phys. 40 353 - 356 (1963)
  59. Sakharov A D "Vakuumnye kvantovye fluktuatsii v iskrivlennom prostranstve i teoriya gravitatsii" Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 177 70 - 71 (1967); Sakharov A D Usp. Fiz. Nauk 161 (5) 64 - 66 (1991); sm. takzhe v sb., Sakharov A D Akademik A.D. Sakharov. Nauchnye Trudy (Pod red. B L Al’tshulera i dr.) (M.: Tsentr-kom OTF FIAN, 1995) p. 155 - 162
  60. Misner C W, Thorne K S, Wheeler J A Gravitation (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1973) p. 426 - 428; Wheeler J A "Beyond the End of Time" The World Of Physics: A Small Library Of The Literature Of Physics From Antiquity To The Present Vol. 3 The Evolutionary Cosmos And The Limits Of Science (Ed. J H Weaver) (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987) p. 675 - 694
  61. Tamm I E "Teoreticheskaya fizika" v Sb. Oktyabr’ i Nauchnyi Progress Vol. 1 (Pod red. M V Keldysha i dr.; Sost. V A Boyarskii, G D Komkov) (M.: Izd-vo APN, 1967) p. 170
  62. Isham C J, Penrose R, Sciama D W (Eds) Quantum Gravity: An Oxford Symp. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975) p. 605, written versions of talks at a symposium held at the Rutherford Laboratory on Feb. 15 - 16, 1974
  63. Gorelik G E "Pervye shagi kvantovoi gravitatsii i plankovskie velichiny" v Sb. Einshteinovskii Sbornik, 1978 - 1979 (Pod red. U I Frankfurta) (M.: Nauka, 1983) p. 334 - 364
  64. Stachel J "History of relativity" In Twentieth Century Physics Vol. 1 (Eds L M Brown, A Pais, Sir B Pippard) (Philadelphia, PA.: Institute of Physics Publ., 1995) p. 317 - 319
  65. Kiefer C Quantum Gravity (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004), ix, 308 pp.; Rovelli C Quantum Gravity (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2004), xxiii, 455
  66. Einstein A "Autobiographical notes" In Albert Einstein — Philosopher-Scientist (The Library Of Living Philosophers, Vol. 7, Ed. P A Schilpp) (Evanston, Ill.: Library of Living Philosophers, 1949); Einshtein A "Avtobiograficheskie zametki" Sobranie Nauchnykh Trudov Vol. 4 (M.: Nauka, 1967) p. 259 - 293
  67. Dyson F "The world on a string" New York Rev. Books 51 (8) (2004); Dyson F http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17094

© 1918–2024 Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk
Email: ufn@ufn.ru Editorial office contacts About the journal Terms and conditions