The debate between Hendrik A. Lorentz and Schrödinger on wave mechanics

Abstract

In 1923 the Austrian Erwin Schrödinger, professor of physics in Zurich, and his Dutch colleague Hendrik Lorentz, grand old man of classical physics, engaged in a fascinating correspondence on the foundations of quantum physics. In this lecture I will go back to that year, give a sketch of the personalities of Lorentz and Schrödinger and of their respective careers, and explain the importance for the history of physics of their remarkable exchange of ideas.