Ehberger, M.

2026
Springer Nature Switzerland Cham
ISBN: 9783032091888, 9783032091871, 9783032091901

Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland, Science Networks. Historical Studies 68, : 1st ed. 2026, 1 Online-Ressource (XXIII, 581 pages) : illustrations (2026) [10.1007/978-3-032-09188-8]2026  

Abstract: Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. How to conceive of the concept of virtual particles in a historical study of its development -- Chapter 3. The community of practitioners -- Part I. From virtual oscillators to virtual transitions (1923–1929) -- Chapter 4. The BKS theory and the Light Quantum Hypothesis: virtual entities and transitions to intermediate states, but in different conceptual frameworks (1923–1925) -- Chapter 5. Dirac’s verbal model: Making transitions a quantum concept (1927) -- Chapter 6. The Raman effect: How virtual transitions became “virtual” (for the first time) and real transitions were excluded from the conception of scattering (1928–1929) -- Part II. Theoretical practice with virtual transitions (1928–1942) -- Chapter 7. Scattering and the sea: Antiparticles and intermediate states (1928–1931) -- Chapter 8. The practice of time-dependent perturbation theory (Part I): Formal and conceptual extensions (1929–1936) -- Chapter 9 The practice of time-dependent perturbation theory (Part II): Virtual possibilities, modes of representation, and the reprise of the “Schüttelwirkung” (1934–1942) -- Part III. From virtual transitions to virtual particles (1930–1949) -- Chapter 10. In between: Traces of the virtual particle during the 1930s -- Chapter 11. Outlook: Feynman, diagrams, and virtual particles (1948–1949) -- Part IV. Analysis, Summary, and Conclusion -- Chapter 12. Representations and Practices in the Formation of the Virtual Particle Concept

Keyword(s): Mathematics (LCSH) ; History (LCSH) ; Physics (LCSH)