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David Bohm and collective movement
- Source :
- Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences. 33:161-192
- Publication Year :
- 2002
- Publisher :
- University of California Press, 2002.
-
Abstract
- Collectivist philosophy inspired David Bohm9s research program in physics in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which laid foundations for the modern theory of plasma and for a new stage in the development of the quantum theory of metals. Bohm saw electrons in plasma and in metals as capable of combining collective action with individual freedom, a combination that he pursued in his personal and political life. Mathematical models of such complex states of freedom, developed by Bohm and other socialist-minded physicists (Yakov Frenkel, Lev Landau, Igor Tamm), transformed the physics of condensed matter and led to the introduction of a new fundamental physical concept, collective excitations or quasiparticles. Together, these contributions illustrate the impact of socialist thought on the development of physics during the last century.
Details
- ISSN :
- 08909997
- Volume :
- 33
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........21bb927408ff6c94900f73a8d2a689e1