Information
on the scientist who proposed the quantum theory
Family Life:
Louis De Broglie was born on August 15, 1892 in Dieppe France. The son of
Victor, 5th du de Broglie and Pauline d’Armaille, the family is one
of the most well-known families of France. He was a descendant of the de Broglie
family of diplomats and politicians. His father’s side of the family served
French monarchs for centuries. Also they assisted the Austrian side during the
Seven Years War. The family was prominent in French public life. Louis De
Broglie was the youngest of five children.
“Bumps”:
Throughout de Broglie’s career he came across many bumps. After completing high
school, de Broglie enrolled at the University of Sorbonne. At this time he had
no definite plan for his future. He began his studies in history and then
shifted to philosophy. He received his baccalaureates in philosophy and
mathematics in 1909. After graduation de Broglie was assigned a research topic
in history but instead he decided to study theoretical physics. He was greatly
influenced by the writings of French theoretical physicists Jules Henri Poincare.
When
de Broglie was of age he was required to join the military. He spent six years
in the army as the First World War broke out. Stationed at the bottom of the
Eiffel Tower, he served as a telegraph operator. He worked to with French
Engineers to develop radio communications. His experiences working as an
electrician, taking care of machines and wireless transmissions gave him
practical experience and helped him in his scientific research.
Proposal of Quantum
Approach:
In
1924 at the age of 32 de Broglie presented his doctoral thesis called Research
on Quantum Theory at the University of Sorbonne. It contained the idea of
matter waves. The thesis was published as a paper of over 100 pages, a
combination of three shorter papers he published in pervious years.
Ideas Substantiated
After de Broglie’s thesis, Einstein announced that de Broglie had illuminated
one of the secrets of the universe. Erwin Schrodinger used de Broglie’s work to
develop his own theory of wave mechanics which became the foundation of modern
physics. However, de Broglie’s ideas still remained unproven until two separate
experiments demonstrated wave properties of electrons including the ability to
diffract electrons. American physicist Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer and
England physicist George Paget Thomson all proved that de Broglie had been
correct. Thomson passed a beam of electrons through a thin metal film and
observed the predicted interference patterns. Davisson and Germer guided their
beam through a crystalline grid. An experiment by Walter Elsasser, a graduate
student at the University of Gottingen, also helped verify de Broglie’s
discovery of wave nature of particles. Elsasser suggested that like x-rays,
electrons could be diffracted by a crystal. De Broglie’s ideas were
substantiated three years after he formulated the de Broglie hypothesis.
Noble Prize:
Louis de Broglie received the Noble Prize for physics in 1929 for his
contributions to wave mechanics.