Revisiting the History of Quantum Physics

In the 100 years since Werner Heisenberg’s “Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Größen” offered the first glimpses of a new theory in the summer of 1925, quantum mechanics has gone on to become a foundational part of modern physics – to the extent that it sometimes becomes hard to make a distinction between quantum physics and physics itself. And for the last 20 years, Berlin was an international center for the study of the history of quantum physics, first with the project “History and Foundations of Quantum Physics” (2006-2012) at the Fritz Haber Institute and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, then with the research group “Historical Epistemology of the Final Theory Program” (2018-2025) at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Albert Einstein Institute. As this long tradition comes to an end, and in celebration of the centenary of quantum mechanics, this conference will gather world-leading experts on many aspects of “quantum history” to reflect on past achievements and look to the future. 

The range of topics will stretch from the beginnings of quantum physics around 1900, when physicists first started to explore the limits of (what would come to be known as) classical physics, over the construction of quantum mechanics itself in the 1920s, to the manifold applications and the interpretation debate that ensued. A second major focus lies on the second half of the twentieth century, when physicists revisited foundational aspects of quantum physics in the “Second Quantum Revolution” and again explored limits, now those of quantum physics itself, in the search for a final theory. The third main focus lies on exploring the social and cultural contexts of the quantum revolution(s), its unprecedented global spread and the role of underrepresented demographics.