Science

Louis de Broglie

Physicist; matter-wave theorist

Who they are

Louis de Broglie developed quantum-theoretical ideas in his 1924 doctoral thesis, confronting problems of radiation and atomic stability. His matter-wave proposals were acknowledged by Erwin Schrödinger as an inspiration for wave mechanics. His place here is in the transformation of the physical models used to describe matter, motion and atomic energy levels.

He connects the wave-mechanics milestone to its acknowledged theoretical antecedents.

Selected contributions

Schrödinger credited de Broglie’s matter-wave ideas as an inspiration for the 1926 approach.Source ↗
Presented Recherches sur la théorie des quanta as his 1924 doctoral thesis.Source ↗

Selected works

Academic paper · 1924 · Doctoral thesis
Recherches sur la théorie des quanta
Author · Faculté des Sciences de Paris; reproduction by Fondation Louis de Broglie
De Broglie’s doctoral thesis develops quantum-theoretical arguments from problems of radiation and atomic stability. Its opening pages explain why classical dynamics and a purely wave-based account of radiation left unresolved difficulties that motivated new models.
Defended in Paris on November 25, 1924; published in Annales de Physique in 1925. Linked reproduction includes a later editorial introduction.
Full text ↗
Reading scope & citation
Three opening pages visually inspected; thesis date and later journal publication checked in the Foundation bibliography. Full mathematical chapters not reviewed.

Selected reading about this person

Academic paper · 1926
Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem (Erste Mitteilung)
Theoretical predecessor discussed and acknowledged by Schrödinger · Annalen der Physik; original German scan on Wikimedia Commons
Schrödinger treats atomic energy levels as an eigenvalue problem and works through nonrelativistic hydrogen. The inspected sections show the wave-mechanical approach and its acknowledged antecedents.
Original German first communication; manuscript received January 27, 1926. This is not the entire later series.
Full text ↗
Reading scope & citation
Reuses documented prior inspection: Selected original German passages read through scan text extraction; no full proof audit and no reliance on Commons’ day-level catalog date. Reuses the input’s documented prior inspection: Selected original German passages read through scan text extraction; no full proof audit and no reliance on Commons’ day-level catalog date. No fresh full-work reread in this directory pass. Reused prior inspected evidence: Selected original German passages read through scan text extraction; no full proof audit and no reliance on Commons’ day-level catalog date.