Paul Ehrenfest
Austrian and Dutch theoretical physicist (1880–1933)
Quotes
- “Einstein, my upset stomach hates your theory — it almost hates you yourself ! How am I to provide for my students ? What am I to answer to the philosophers ?”
- “You will get your difficulties with the point electron.”
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Key facts
- Born
- ( 1880-01-18 ) 18 January 1880, Vienna , Austria-Hungary
- Died
- 25 September 1933 (1933-09-25) (aged 53), Amsterdam , Netherlands
- Cause of death
- Murder-suicide
- Education
- TU Wien University of Göttingen University of Vienna ( PhD )
- Known for
- Ehrenfest model (1907) Ehrenfest paradox (1909) Work on nonradiation condition (1910) Coining the term ultraviolet catastrophe (1911) Ehrenfest theorem (1927)
- Title
- Professor of Theoretical Physics
- Term
- 1912–1933
- Predecessor
- Hendrik Lorentz
- Successor
Article
Paul Ehrenfest ( Austrian German: [ˈpaʊl ˈeːrənfɛst]; 18 January 1880 – 25 September 1933) was an Austrian theoretical physicist who made major contributions to statistical mechanics and its relation to quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem. He befriended Albert Einstein on a visit to Prague in 1912 and became a professor in Leiden, where he frequently hosted Einstein. Suffering from depression, in 1933 Ehrenfest killed his disabled son, Wassik, and then himself.
Biography