Walter Ritz as a theoretical physicist and his research on the theory of atomic spectra

Abstract

Walter Ritz as a theoretical physicist and his research on the theory of atomic spectraM A El'yashevich, N G Kembrovskaya, L M Tomil'chik Contents 1. General characteristics of Ritz's works 435 2. The state of theoretical spectroscopy at the beginning of the 20th century 438 3. Ritz's thesis on spectral series theory and his elastic atomic model 443 4. The magnetic atomic model and the combination principle 448 5. Conclusion 454 References 454 Abstract.A n historical and methodological analysis is given of the scientific heritage of the r e m a r k a b l e Swiss theoretical physicist Walter Ritz ( 1 8 7 8 -1 9 0 9 ) on the basis of a study of his complete w o r k s edited in 1911. T h e general characteristics of R i t z ' s w o r k s -including the p a p e r s on spectroscopy, the variational m e t h o d and electrodynamics -are discussed, and his fundamental research in the theory of atomic spectra is considered in detail. T h e elastic and the magnetic atomic models, p r o p o s e d by Ritz to explain the spectral laws and based on a classical a p p r o a c h , are discussed. It is shown that the generalised Balmer and R y d b e r g formulas and the combination principle, which later b e c a m e a basis for the formulation of B o h r ' s frequency condition, were obtained by R i t z as a result of m a t h e m a t i c a l deductions from his models and were not of a semi-empirical character as is usually believed. General characteristics of Ritz's worksT h e n a m e of Walter Ritz, a Swiss scientist of the beginning of the 20th century, needs no special r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s for physicists. In spectroscopy, the n a m e of R i t z is connected primarily with the combination principle which played an i m p o r t a n t role in the construction by Niels Bohr in 1913 of the initial q u a n t u m theory of the a t o m and its spectrum. M A El'yashevich Heat and Mass Transfer Institute, Belarus Academy of Sciences, P Brovka ulitsa 15, 220072 Minsk, Belarus Tel. (7-0172) 39-52 06. Fax (7-0172) 32-25 13