Paul Dirac

Andrien Paul Maurice Dirac was born on August 8, 1902. He is one of the great English physicist. Small Dirac grew and grew up in Bristol. Her father, who came from Switzerland named Charles was born in the town of Monthey near Geneva in 1866 and then moved to Bristol England, to become a French teacher at the Academy of Engineering Merchant Venturers. His mother was Florence Holten, women born in Liskeard in 1878 and became a librarian in the city of Bristol. Dirac's father and mother were married in Bristol in 1899 and have three people, two male children (where Paul is the younger) and a woman. After completing high school and technical school education, Paul Dirac went on to study electrical engineering at the Department of the University of Bristol in 1918 to study to become engineers in electrical engineering.

The choice is made based on his father's suggestion that Paul wants to get a good job. Dirac completed his studies as well, but he did not get a suitable job wake of post-war world at that time. His desire is to go to Cambridge University to meperdalam mathematics and physics. He was accepted at the academy of St. John of Cambridge in 1921, but only offered a scholarship that is not sufficient to complete college. Fortunately he was able to take a college of applied mathematics at the University of Bristol for two years without having to pay tuition and still be able to stay at home. After that in 1923 he managed to get a full scholarship at the academy of St John and research grants from the Ministry of industry and science, but even this fund can not cover the amount it cost to study at Cambridge.

In the end Paul Dirac managed to fulfill his desire to study at the Academy of St John because of the demands of the university. Paul Dirac in Cambridge doing all the work of his life since his college post-graduate in 1923 until his retirement as professor (Lucasian Professor) in 1969. Dirac proved herself worthy of the university awarded scholarships to study at Cambridge.

On 20 October 1984 Paul Dirac died at the age of 82 years, as the winner of the 1933 Nobel Prize in physics and member of the British order of merit in 1973. Paul Dirac was the greatest British theoretical physicist in the 20th century. In 1995 a great celebration was held in London to commemorate his work in physics. A monument in Westminster Abbey was made to perpetuate his name and his work, which he joined in here with the same number of monuments created for Newton, Maxwell, Thomson, Green, and other great physicists-physicists. At the memorial also included relativistic Dirac equation in a compact form. Actually this equation is not the Dirac equation that is used at the time, but then this equation is used by students.

Confirmed the Dirac theory of quantum mechanics in its most common form and develop a relativistic equation for the electron, which now uses the name he is called the Dirac equation. This equation also requires the existence of antiparticles for each pair of particles such as positrons antiparticles of electrons. He was the first to develop a quantum field theory is the basis for the development of the whole theory about subatomic particles or elementary particles. This work provides the basis for our understanding of natural forces. He applied for and investigate the concept of a single magnetic pole (magnetic monopole), an object which is not yet proven its existence, as a way to incorporate a greater symmetry in Maxwell's electromagnetic field equations. Paul Dirac quantization to the gravitational field and build a general quantum field theory with dynamic constraints, which provide the foundation for the formation of Gauge Theory and Superstring Theory, as a candidate Theory Of Everything, is developing now. His theories are still influential and important in the development of physics to date, and the equations and concepts he presented the subject of discussion in theoretical physics lectures around the world.

Dirac with Heisenberg, two men credited arrives in the development of quantum physics
The first step toward new quantum theory initiated by Dirac in late September 1925. At that time, his research supervisor RH Fowler received a copy of Werner Heisenberg's paper contains an explanation and proof of the old quantum theory of Bohr and Sommerfeld, who still refers to the Bohr correspondence principle but change the equation so that it covers the theory directly observabel quantity. Fowler sent Heisenberg's paper to Dirac who was vacationing in Bristol and told him to study the paper carefully. Dirac's attention immediately went to a strange mathematical relationship, at the time, expressed by Heisenberg. A few weeks later after returning to Cambridge, Dirac realized that the mathematical forms have the same form as the Poisson brackets (Poisson bracket) is contained in classical physics in the discussion of the classical dynamics of particle motion.


Based on this idea he quickly reformulate quantum theory based on non-commute dynamic variables (non-comuting dinamical variables). In this way brought to the formulation of quantum mechanics is more general than that has been formulated by other physicists. This work is a great accomplishment made by the Dirac is placed higher than other physicists at that time were both developed quantum theory. As a young physicist who was only 25 years old, he was quickly accepted by the community of theoretical physicists at the time. He was invited to speak at conferences organized by the community of theoretical physics, including the Solvay Congress in 1927 and incorporated as


members with equal rights with other members consisting of leading experts from around the world of physics.

General formulation of quantum theory developed by Dirac allowed to proceed further. With this formulation, he was able to develop a theory of transformation that can connect a variety of different formulations of quantum theory. Transformation theory suggests that all these formulations are basically has the same physical consequences, both in the Schrodinger equation of wave mechanics and Heisenberg's matrix mechanics. This is a brilliant achievement that led to the understanding and wider use of quantum mechanics.

Transformation theory is the culmination of the development of quantum mechanics by Dirac for this theory to unite the various versions of quantum mechanics, which also gave way for the further development of quantum mechanics. Later in this transformation formula into his theory as there is no version of quantum mechanics which is not attached to them. Together with the transformation theory, quantum mechanics Dirac version is presented in a simple and beautiful, with a structure showing the practicality and elegant concept, but is closely related to the classical theory. This concept shows us new aspects of the universe as never seen before.

Dirac had a brilliant career seemed real when he was still at the undergraduate level. At that Dirac was aware of the importance of special relativity theory in physics, a theory that made Einstein famous in 1905, Dirac learned from lectures delivered by CD Broad, a professor of philosophy at the University of Bristol. Most of the papers that made the Dirac as a graduate student intended to present a new form of formulas that already exist in the literature to be the appropriate formula (compatible) with special relativity. In 1927 Dirac electron theory has developed that meet the conditions required by the theory of special relativity and relativistic invariant equations published for the electrons at the beginning of 1928.

Most of the other physicists actually thought the same as what is done by Dirac, though no one has been able to find an equation that meets what has been achieved by Dirac. He has a simple and elegant argument based on the goals that can tranformasinya theory applies also in relativistic quantum mechanics - an argument that specifies the general form of which must be owned by the relativistic equation of this, an argument that became part of the unsolved for all physicists. Tranformasinya theory must include not only the form of equations that the time derivative, while the assumption of relativity requires that the equation must also be linear in the derivatives space.


Dirac equation is one of the most beautiful equations of physics. Professor Sir Nevill Mott, a former director of the Cavendish Laboratory, recently wrote, "this equation for me is the physical theory of most picturesque and challenging I have ever seen in my lifetime, that can only be compared with the conclusion that the displacement current and Maxwell also electromagnetic field must exist. Moreover, the Dirac equation for electrons carry important implications that the electron must have spin ½, and magnetic moment eh/4pm be correct to the nearest 0.1%.

Dirac equation and the electron theory is still relevant in use today. Estimates are made has been demonstrated in atomic and molecular systems. It has been shown also that this holds true for other particles that have the same spin electrons as proton, hyperon and other baryon family of particles. This concept can be applied universally and is well known to physicists and chemists, something that no one can deny it. Given this reality, Dirac felt it was time to declare, "the general theory of quantum mechanics is now complete ...... the laws of physics are the underlying needs of the mathematical theory of physics and chemistry have a whole section of a complete unknown."


Dirac showed later that this equation implies that is not expected for a particle. The equation predicted the existence of antiparticles, like positrons and antiprotons are negatively charged, which is an object which is now very well known in high energy physics laboratories. According to his theory, all particles have a specific antiparticles associated with it. most of these antiparticles have now proved its existence. Positrons and antiprotons are a fraction of antiparticles that is well known, they may be in a stable condition in a vacuum, and is currently used extensively in accelerator particle collider (collider accelerator) with which the physicist studying the phenomena that occur in high energy physics.

Important here is expressed in the beauty of the Dirac equation. The beauty of this can be difficult to be felt by people who are not familiar with physics formulas, but this fact will not be denied by the physicists. Dirac equation is one of the major discoveries in the history of physics. Through this work, the Dirac gives the basic principles that satisfy the effort to understand our universe. Through this discovery Dirac's name will be remembered forever as one of the great physicist. A monument has been built for him for his services to lead us to an understanding of one important aspect of the basic styles are contained in the universe that we live.