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The manuscript examines how atoms of a gas behave at
extremely low temperatures. | |
An original Albert Einstein manuscript has been unearthed
at a university in the Netherlands by a student.
Rowdy Boeyink stumbled
on the document while he was researching papers
belonging to an old friend of Einstein.
"It was quite exciting," said Professor Carlo
Beenakker, of the University of Leiden. "You can even see Einstein's
fingerprints
in some
places."
The 16-page manuscript, dated 1924, shows the German-born genius
working on his last major theory.
It took scientists until 1995 to finally prove Einstein right.
It examines how atoms of a gas behave at extremely low temperatures, in
a theory developed in collaboration with Indian physicist Satyendra Nath
Bose.
The theory stated that at temperatures near absolute
zero, the atoms could reach a state of such low energy that they collapsed
into a new state where it was no longer possible to distinguish between
them - a state known as Einstein-Bosecondensation
.
The university, near The Hague, says the newly-unearthed paper will be
kept in its Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Einstein had strong ties with the university and was a regular
guest-lecturer there.
The manuscript was with papers belonging to a friend of Einstein, Paul Ehrenfest, who was a
professor at Leiden. (Agencies) |
荷兰莱登大学的一名学生最近在无意中发现了艾伯特·爱因斯坦留下的一份原始手稿。
荷兰莱登大学学生罗迪·波英克在研究爱因斯坦的一位老朋友的学术论文时无意中发现了爱因斯坦的珍贵手稿。
莱登大学的教授卡洛·贝纳克说:“太令人激动了,在手稿上你甚至可以看到爱因斯坦的指纹。”
这份16页的手稿写于1924年,上面记录着这位德国科学天才最后正在研究的一些重要理论。
经过长期的研究,直到1995年,科学家们才最终证明爱因斯坦提出的理论是正确的。
这份手稿研究了在超低温情况下气体原子的运动情况,这是爱因斯坦和印度物理学家玻色共同合作提出的有关量子学说的一项重要理论。
这项理论预测在几乎处于绝对零度的温度下,气体原子的能量非常低,以至于它们会分解,形成一种新的状态,在这种新的状态下,原子和原子之间无法再区分开来。这种状态被称为爱因斯坦-玻色凝聚。
莱登大学位于海牙附近,学校表示这份最新发现的手稿将被保存在罗伦茨理论物理研究所。
爱因斯坦身前和这所大学保持着密切的联系,他曾出任该校的客座教授,定期来学校讲学。
这份手稿是在爱因斯坦的老朋友、莱登大学教授保罗·埃伦费斯的学术论文中发现的。
(中国日报网站 薛晓文译) |