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Walter Heitler
Walter Heinrich Heitler (German: [ˈvaltɐ ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈhaɪtlɐ]; 2 January 1904 – 15 November 1981) was a German–Irish theoretical physicist who made contributions to quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory. He brought chemistry under quantum mechanics through his theory of valence bonding.
Walter Heinrich Heitler was born on 2 January 1904 in Karlsruhe, Germany, the son of Adolf Heitler, a Jewish engineering professor, and Ottilie Rudolf.
Heitler studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) (1922), at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin (1923), and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (1924), where he studied under both Arnold Sommerfeld and Karl Herzfeld. Heitler received his Ph.D. in 1926, with Herzfeld as his thesis advisor. Herzfeld taught courses in theoretical physics and one in physical chemistry, and often substituted for Sommerfeld.
From 1926 to 1927, Heitler was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow for postgraduate research with Niels Bohr at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen and with Erwin Schrödinger at the University of Zurich. He then became an assistant to Max Born in the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen. In 1929, Heitler completed his habilitation (Dr. habil.) under Born, and remained as a Privatdozent until 1933, when he was dismissed by the University because he was Jewish.
At the time Heitler obtained his doctorate, three Institutes for Theoretical Physics formed a consortium which worked on the key problems of the day, such as atomic and molecular structure, and exchanged both scientific information and personnel in their scientific quests. These institutes were located at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, under Arnold Sommerfeld; the University of Göttingen, under Max Born; and the University of Copenhagen, under Niels Bohr. Furthermore, Werner Heisenberg and Born had just recently published their trilogy of papers which launched the matrix mechanics formulation of quantum mechanics. Also, in early 1926, Erwin Schrödinger, at the University of Zurich, began to publish his quintet of papers which launched the wave mechanics formulation of quantum mechanics and showed that the wave mechanics and matrix mechanics formulations were equivalent. These papers immediately put the personnel at the leading theoretical physics institutes onto applying these new tools to understanding atomic and molecular structure. It was in this environment that Heitler used his Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, leaving the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and within a period of two years going to do research and study with the leading figures of the day in theoretical physics—Bohr at the University of Copenhagen, Schrödinger at the University of Zurich, and Born at the University of Göttingen.
At the University of Zurich, with Fritz London, Heitler applied the new quantum mechanics to deal with the saturable, non-dynamic forces of attraction and repulsion, i.e., exchange forces, of the hydrogen molecule. Their valence bond treatment of this problem, was a landmark in that it brought chemistry under quantum mechanics. Furthermore, their work greatly influenced chemistry through Linus Pauling, who had just received his doctorate and on a Guggenheim Fellowship visited Heitler and London in Zurich. Pauling spent much of his career studying the nature of the chemical bond. The application of quantum mechanics to chemistry would be a prominent theme in Heitler's career.
While Heitler was at Göttingen, Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. With the rising prominence of anti-Semitism under Hitler, Born took it upon himself to take the younger Jewish generation under his wing. In doing so, Born arranged for Heitler to get a position that year as a research fellow at the University of Bristol, with Nevill Francis Mott.
Heitler was a research fellow of the Academic Assistance Council in the H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory. Among other things, he worked on quantum field theory and quantum electrodynamics on his own, as well as in collaboration with other scientific refugees from Hitler, such as Hans Bethe and Herbert Fröhlich, who also left Germany in 1933.
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Walter Heitler
Walter Heinrich Heitler (German: [ˈvaltɐ ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈhaɪtlɐ]; 2 January 1904 – 15 November 1981) was a German–Irish theoretical physicist who made contributions to quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory. He brought chemistry under quantum mechanics through his theory of valence bonding.
Walter Heinrich Heitler was born on 2 January 1904 in Karlsruhe, Germany, the son of Adolf Heitler, a Jewish engineering professor, and Ottilie Rudolf.
Heitler studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe (TH) (1922), at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin (1923), and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (1924), where he studied under both Arnold Sommerfeld and Karl Herzfeld. Heitler received his Ph.D. in 1926, with Herzfeld as his thesis advisor. Herzfeld taught courses in theoretical physics and one in physical chemistry, and often substituted for Sommerfeld.
From 1926 to 1927, Heitler was a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow for postgraduate research with Niels Bohr at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen and with Erwin Schrödinger at the University of Zurich. He then became an assistant to Max Born in the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen. In 1929, Heitler completed his habilitation (Dr. habil.) under Born, and remained as a Privatdozent until 1933, when he was dismissed by the University because he was Jewish.
At the time Heitler obtained his doctorate, three Institutes for Theoretical Physics formed a consortium which worked on the key problems of the day, such as atomic and molecular structure, and exchanged both scientific information and personnel in their scientific quests. These institutes were located at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, under Arnold Sommerfeld; the University of Göttingen, under Max Born; and the University of Copenhagen, under Niels Bohr. Furthermore, Werner Heisenberg and Born had just recently published their trilogy of papers which launched the matrix mechanics formulation of quantum mechanics. Also, in early 1926, Erwin Schrödinger, at the University of Zurich, began to publish his quintet of papers which launched the wave mechanics formulation of quantum mechanics and showed that the wave mechanics and matrix mechanics formulations were equivalent. These papers immediately put the personnel at the leading theoretical physics institutes onto applying these new tools to understanding atomic and molecular structure. It was in this environment that Heitler used his Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, leaving the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and within a period of two years going to do research and study with the leading figures of the day in theoretical physics—Bohr at the University of Copenhagen, Schrödinger at the University of Zurich, and Born at the University of Göttingen.
At the University of Zurich, with Fritz London, Heitler applied the new quantum mechanics to deal with the saturable, non-dynamic forces of attraction and repulsion, i.e., exchange forces, of the hydrogen molecule. Their valence bond treatment of this problem, was a landmark in that it brought chemistry under quantum mechanics. Furthermore, their work greatly influenced chemistry through Linus Pauling, who had just received his doctorate and on a Guggenheim Fellowship visited Heitler and London in Zurich. Pauling spent much of his career studying the nature of the chemical bond. The application of quantum mechanics to chemistry would be a prominent theme in Heitler's career.
While Heitler was at Göttingen, Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. With the rising prominence of anti-Semitism under Hitler, Born took it upon himself to take the younger Jewish generation under his wing. In doing so, Born arranged for Heitler to get a position that year as a research fellow at the University of Bristol, with Nevill Francis Mott.
Heitler was a research fellow of the Academic Assistance Council in the H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory. Among other things, he worked on quantum field theory and quantum electrodynamics on his own, as well as in collaboration with other scientific refugees from Hitler, such as Hans Bethe and Herbert Fröhlich, who also left Germany in 1933.
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