Geschichte der Mathematik und Physik
History of Mathematics and Physics

Summer Term 2005
organized by
Della D. Fenster and Joachim Schwermer

Zur Wechselwirkung zwischen Mathematik und Mathematischer Physik an der Wende vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert
Mit dem Erstehen der Mathematischen Physik als eigenständige Disziplin im ausgehenden 19ten Jahrhundert gehen eine tiefgehende Diskussion der Grundlagen und eine fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit zwischen Mathematik und Physik einher. In dieser Zeit bildeten sich weitreichende Konzepte der modernen Physik und neue grundlegende mathematische Strukturen heraus. Mathematiker wie Poincaré, Hilbert und Minkowski trugen zu dieser Entwicklung bei. Die Rezeption ihrer Arbeiten durch Physiker wie Lorentz oder Einstein, der Austausch unterschiedlicher Auffassungen zu Raum und Zeit liegen am Kern der revolutionären physikalischen Theorien am Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Dieser Wechselwirkung zwischen Mathematik und Mathematischer Physik nachzugehen, deren spezielle Ausprägung in Wien etwa bei Boltzmann oder in der Aufnahme von Einsteins Theorien zur speziellen und allgemeinen Relativität aufzuspüren, ist Ziel einer Vortragsreihe am Erwin Schrödinger Institut im Jahre 2005.

Poincaré's electro-magnetic theory: philosophy and physics around 1900
Professor Jeremy Gray
Centre for the History of the Mathematical Sciences
Faculty of Mathematics and Computing
Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, U.K.
April 28, 2005, 5 p.m.
ESI Schrödinger lecture hall

Henri Poincaré was widely regarded as being one of the leading mathematicians of his day, as well as one of the leading theoretical physicists, and a successful popular philosopher. The contributions he felt that he could make to theoretical physics drew upon his mastery of mathematics as well as his philosophy of science, which he often also articulated in his popular writings. These issues also shed light on the complicated question of the similarities and differences between Poincaré's ideas and Einstein's special theory of relativity.

 

Joachim Schwermer, ESI                                  Wien, März 2005

"David Hilbert and the Axiomatization of Physics"
Leo Corry,
Cohn Institute for History and Philosophy of Science
Tel-Aviv University
February 10, 2005 5 p.m.
ESI lecture hall

It is a well-known fact that David Hilbert made some important contributions to physics. Among the most famous, one finds his solution of the Boltzmann equation and his involvement with the formulation of the field equations of General Relativity. It is also known that the sixth of Hilbert's famous 1900 list of problems was a call for the "axiomatization of physics". Still, until relatively recently, all these contributions were considered as no more than sporadic incursions into a totally foreign field. Recent historical research has brought to light a completely different picture, whereby physics appears as a fundamental pillar of Hilbert's scientific worldview, and as an organic component of his research and teaching activities at Göttingen throughout his career. In particular, the axiomatization of physics appears as the connecting thread among all of his activities in this field, as well as the link to much of his work in pure mathematics.

 

Joachim Schwermer, ESI                                  Wien, Januar 2005