Albert Einstein in Leiden

Abstract

A lbert Einstein liked coming to Leiden, the Dutch city particularly known for its venerable university. Vienna-born theoretical physicist Paul Ehrenfest, professor at Leiden University since 1912, was one of his closest friends. 1 Last July Rowdy Boeyink, a history-of-science student, stumbled across a long-lost, handwritten Einstein manuscript in the Ehrenfest Library of Leiden University's Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics. The manuscript was part two of a paper entitled "Quantum Theory of Monatomic Ideal Gases," which Einstein presented at a 1925 meeting of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. 2 That paper has a special significance. It contained Einstein's last great discovery-Bose-Einstein condensation, as the effect came to be called. Unearthed amid the celebrations of the Word Year of Physics, the centenary of Einstein's 1905 annus mirabilis, the 16 handwritten pages attracted international media attention. 3 That same month, Boeyink also found among Ehrenfest's papers typescripts of two more Einstein papers-one from 1914, the other from 1920. Both manuscripts contain interesting differences from the version that eventually appeared in print (see box 1 on page 59). Last October I came across reprints of 22 articles by Einstein from the period 1902-15 in the archive of the Huygens Laboratory, home to experimental physics at the university. In some cases, including the famous 1905 article on the special theory of relativity, the reprints feature handwritten "improvements" by Einstein himself (see box 2 on page 60).

Zero-Point Energy: The Case of the Leiden Low-Temperature Laboratory of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

“…In October 1920, Kamerlingh Onnes organized a mini-conference on magnetic theory to mark Einstein's arrival in Leiden to take up a post as a professor by private appointment. 94 The conference was attended by Lorentz, Ehrenfest, Einstein, Kuenen, Langevin, Weiss, Keesom, and Kamerlingh Onnes. This gathering served as the basis for a report that was submitted to the third Solvay Conference of April 1921 and that contained the programme for a new series of magnetic measurements in Leiden, entitled Paramagnétisme aux basses températures.…”

Investigations into the origin of Einstein’s Sink

“…This presented a contrast to the rigid atmosphere that was present at his department in Berlin, where he worked and lived from 1914 to 1932. 9 Because of this Einstein would come to Leiden regularly to speak with his colleagues and to teach. In October 1920, he became a professor by special appointment (bijzonder hoogleraar); this allowed Einstein to have what he described as a 'comet-like existence in Leiden,' where he would regularly visit for short periods of time.…”

De Sitter en Einstein. ‘Het lijkt mij dat Einstein hier een vergissing begaan heeft’

“…De Sitter en Einstein ontmoetten elkaar voor het eerst in september 1916. 26 Einstein was op uitnodiging van Paul Ehrenfest naar Leiden gekomen. In Leiden startte hun twee jaar durende discussie over de fundamenten van de kosmologie.…”