Everyone knows that the Nazis hated Einstein and relativity. I argue that this hostility had a profound influence on the development of quantum mechanics in the 1930s, and how it was taught. Specifically, de Broglie showed that quantum waves derived from special relativity, but political pressures forced German physicists to hide this close connection in the first textbooks. Furthermore, Einstein’s objections to aspects of quantum theory (such as entanglement) were ignored. This led to a split in the foundations of physics that has continued to the present, between relativity on the one hand, and quantum theory on the other. It is past time to reunify physics, by reimagining how “quantum relativity” would have developed without the influence of the Nazis. This may have important implications for the future of physics, particularly regarding quantum computing.
Alan Kadin
Discuss on Forums
View All