Convergence (philosophy)

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Convergence (derived from the Latin convergere = to turn to one another) means the approach of different methods and systems of theory towards a goal that is to be proven to be sustainable. Convergence thus describes the prerequisite and guarantee that scientific knowledge has objective validity.

Classic example: history of the hydrogen model

Max Planck's discovery of quantum physics suggests that there are primarily neither masses nor energies, but only sums of effective quanta (opposition to body or wave theory). These quanta of influence simultaneously fill space and time. The theory of relativity comes to the same conclusion . This view is further both substantiated and challenged by the history of the evolution of the atomic model .

The mathematical theories on the atomic model of hydrogen by Johann Jakob Balmer in 1885 and William Thomson in 1894 - see his oscillation formula - were based on mechanical ideas (so-called Ptolemaic atomic model). In contrast , the atomic model developed by Ernest Rutherford in 1911 has been called the Copernican model. - It turned out to be inadequate because of its temporal instability as a result of the decoupling of motion and radiation frequencies and a lack of correlation with the hydrogen spectrum.

In 1913, Niels Bohr applied Planck's quantum hypothesis to the Rutherford model. The aforementioned disadvantages of the Rutherford model were thus overcome and agreement with Balmer's formula was restored. - The reason for abandoning this hypothesis and the atomic model based on it is the one-sided mechanistic conceptual content of the theory, which was unable to explain the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum.

In 1915 Arnold Sommerfeld succeeded in overcoming the disadvantages of the theory by introducing the fine structure constant . In his model , which has been expanded by this, the fixed orbit of the electrons is elliptical. - The disadvantage of this theory results from the exchange interaction , see the Pauli prohibition . All hydrogen lines were found to be doublets. These are based on a spin of the orbiting electron, which can assume two positions, namely parallel and anti-parallel to the pulse.

The hydrogen model developed by Werner Heisenberg in 1925 together with Max Born and Wolfgang Pauli proved to be in need of revision within a year. - The theory suppresses the half-integer spin . There are ambiguities between relativistic and non-relativistic calculation.

Erwin Schrödinger's model, developed in 1926, is based on the matter waves described by Louis-Victor de Broglie . The description that has entered the history of science under the term Schrödinger equation of time shows an analogy with Hamiltonian mechanics . It delivers the hydrogen spectrum with impressive accuracy. - Unfortunately, this theory has the same disadvantages as the Werner Heisenberg model. It therefore had to be given up.

In 1928 Paul Dirac was able to achieve another variant of the Schrödinger equation using the relativistic energy law. Its success consisted in the admission of four wave functions. With the help of the Dirac equation it was possible to describe the electron more precisely in terms of the frequency conditions or in the half-integer spin. The equation confirms that with the help of a greater amount of mathematics deeper insights into the nature of matter become possible. In 1978, Hans H. Sallhofer found a correspondence between the Dirac equation and Maxwell 's electrodynamics . - However, he reports six reasons for abandoning Dirac's theory.

The theory of the hydrogen atom, which Sallhofer himself established in 1990, is based on the so-called Maxwell-Dirac isomorphism (MDI) and tries, among other things, to eliminate the potential dilemma he described as one of the blemishes of the Dirac model. - At the latest when electrodynamics have to be abandoned, this theory will also become obsolete, writes Sallhofer.

methodology

Max Hartmann described the principle of convergence as a four-fold method structure consisting of induction , deduction , analysis and synthesis .

See also

literature

  • Bernhard Bavink : The importance of the convergence principle for the epistemology of natural science . In: Journal for Philosophical Research . Volume II, 1947.
  • Walter von del Negro: Convergences in contemporary philosophy and modern physics . 1970.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Georgi Schischkoff (Ed.): Philosophical dictionary . Kröner, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-520-01321-5 , page 371 f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Hans H. Sallhofer: Dead end quantum physics . Universitas (FA Herbig Verlagbuchhandel) Munich 2000, ISBN 3-8004-1402-3 , pages 12 f., 18, 20, 21 ff., 24–28, 29–31
  3. ↑ Hans H. Sallhofer: In: Journal of scientific research . 33 a, 1978, p. 1378
  4. ↑ Hans H. Sallhofer: In: Journal of scientific research . 45 a, 1990, p. 1361
  5. ↑ Max Hartmann: The philosophical foundations of the natural sciences. Epistemology and Methodology. 1948, 1959