Solvay Conference

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Photograph of the first conference in 1911 at the Hotel Metropole. Seated (L-R): W. Nernst, M. Brillouin, E. Solvay, H. Lorentz, E. Warburg, J. Perrin, W. Wien, M. Curie, and H. Poincaré. Standing (L-R): R. Goldschmidt, M. Planck, H. Rubens, A. Sommerfeld, F. Lindemann, M. de Broglie, M. Knudsen, F. Hasenöhrl, G. Hostelet, E. Herzen, J.H. Jeans, E. Rutherford, H. Kamerlingh Onnes, A. Einstein, and P. Langevin.

The International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the first world physics conference. The Institutes coordinate conferences, workshops, seminars, and colloquia.

Following the initial success of 1911, the Solvay Conferences (Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and chemistry. They occur every three years. The 23rd Solvay Conference took place in Brussels during December 1-3, 2005, on the subject: "The Quantum Structure of Space and Time".^[1]

[edit] First conference

Hendrik A. Lorentz was chairman of the first Solvay Conference held in Brussels in the autumn of 1911. The subject was Radiation and the Quanta. This conference looked at the problems of having two approaches, namely the classical physics and quantum theory. Albert Einstein was the youngest physicist present. Other members of the Solvay Congress included such luminaries as Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Henri Poincaré. (See image for attendee list.)

[edit] Fifth conference

Perhaps the most famous conference was the October 1927 Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photons, where the world's most notable physicists met to discuss the newly formulated quantum theory. The leading figures were Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. Einstein, disenchanted with Heisenberg's "Uncertainty Principle," remarked "God does not play dice." Bohr replied, "Einstein, stop telling God what to do." (See Bohr-Einstein debates.) Seventeen of the twenty-nine attendees were or became Nobel Prize winners, including Marie Curie, who alone among them, had won Nobel Prizes in two separate scientific disciplines.

A. Piccard, E. Henriot, P. Ehrenfest, Ed. Herzen, Th. De Donder, E. Schrödinger, J.E. Verschaffelt, W. Pauli, W. Heisenberg, R.H. Fowler, L. Brillouin;
P. Debye, M. Knudsen, W.L. Bragg, H.A. Kramers, P.A.M. Dirac, A.H. Compton, L. de Broglie, M. Born, N. Bohr;
I. Langmuir, M. Planck, M. Curie, H.A. Lorentz, A. Einstein, P. Langevin, Ch. E. Guye, C.T.R. Wilson, O.W. Richardson Fifth conference participants, 1927. Institut International de Physique Solvay.

[edit] List of Solvay conferences on physics^[2]

1. 1911 « La théorie du rayonnement et les quanta », Chair: Hendrik Lorentz (Leiden)
2. 1913 « La structure de la matière », Chair: Hendrik Lorentz (Haarlem)
3. 1921 « Atomes et électrons », Chair: Hendrik Lorentz (Haarlem)
4. 1924 « Conductibilité électrique des métaux et problèmes connexes », Chair: Hendrik Lorentz (Haarlem)
5. 1927 « Electrons et photons », Chair: Hendrik Lorentz (Haarlem)
6. 1930 « Le magnétisme », Chair: Paul Langevin (Paris)
7. 1933 « Structure et propriétés des noyaux atomiques », Chair: Paul Langevin (Paris)
8. 1948 « Les particules élémentaires », Chair: Sir Lawrence Bragg (Cambridge)
9. 1951 « L'état solide », Chair: Sir Lawrence Bragg (Cambridge)
10. 1954 « Les électrons dans les métaux », Chair: Sir Lawrence Bragg (Cambridge)
11. 1958 « La structure et l'évolution de l'univers », Chair: Sir Lawrence Bragg (Cambridge)
12. 1961 « La théorie quantique des champs », Chair: Sir Lawrence Bragg (Cambridge)
13. 1964 " The Structure and Evolution of Galaxies ", Chair: Robert Oppenheimer (Princeton)
14. 1967 " Fundamental Problems in Elementary Particle Physics ", Chair: R. Møller (Copenhagen)
15. 1970 " Symmetry Properties of Nuclei ", Chair: Edoardo Amaldi (Rome)
16. 1973 " Astrophysics and Gravitation ", Chair: Edoardo Amaldi (Rome)
17. 1978 " Order and Fluctuations in Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Statistical Mechanics ", Chair: Léon Van Hove (CERN)
18. 1982 " Higher Energy Physics ", Chair: Léon Van Hove (CERN)
19. 1987 " Surface Science ", Chair: F.W. de Wette (Austin)
20. 1991 " Quantum Optics ", Chair: Paul Mandel (Brussels)
21. 1998 " Dynamical Systems and Irreversibility ", organized by Ioannis Antoniou (Brussels),
22. 2001 " The Physics of Communication ", organized by Ioannis Antoniou (Brussels)
23. 2005 "The Quantum Structure of Space and Time", Chair: David Gross (Santa Barbara)

First Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1911.	Second Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1913.	Third Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1921.	Fourth Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1924.
Fifth Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1927.	Sixth Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1930.	Seventh Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1933.	Eighth Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1948.
Eleventh Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1958.	Twelfth Solvay Conference on Physics, Brussels, 1961.

[edit] List of Solvay conferences on chemistry^[3]

1. 1922 Cinq Questions d'Actualité, Chair: William Pope (Cambridge)
2. 1925 Structure et Activité Chimique, Chair: William Pope (Cambridge)
3. 1928 Questions d'Actualité, Chair: William Pope (Cambridge)
4. 1931 Constitution et Configuration des Molécules Organiques, Chair: William Pope (Cambridge)
5. 1934 L'Oxygène, ses réactions chimiques et biologiques, Chair: William Pope (Cambridge)
6. 1937 Les vitamines et les Hormones, Chair: Fred Swarts (Ghent)
7. 1947 Les Isotopes, Chair: Paul Karrer (Zurich)
8. 1950 Le Mécanisme de l'Oxydation, Chair: Paul Karrer (Zurich)
9. 1953 Les Protéines, Chair: Paul Karrer (Zurich) (Image)
10. 1956 Quelques Problèmes de Chimie Minérale, Chair: Paul Karrer (Zurich)
11. 1959 Les Nucléoprotéines, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
12. 1962 Transfert d'Energie dans les Gaz, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
13. 1965 Reactivity of the Photoexited Organic Molecule, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
14. 1969 Phase Transitions, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
15. 1970 Electrostatic Interactions and Structure of Water, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
16. 1976 Molecular Movements and Chemical Reactivity as conditioned by Membranes, Enzymes and other Molecules, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
17. 1980 Aspects of Chemical Evolution, Chair: A.R. Ubbelohde (London)
18. 1983 Design and Synthesis of Organic Molecules Based on Molecular Recognition", Chairs: Ephraim Katchalski (Rehovot, Israel) and Vladimir Prelog (Zurich)
19. 1987 Surface Science, Chair: Frederik W. de Wette (Austin)
20. 1995 Chemical Reactions and their Control on the Femtosecond Time Scale, Chair: Pierre Gaspard (Brussels)
21. 2007 From Noncovalent Assemblies to Molecular Machines, Chair: Jean-Pierre Sauvage (Strasbourg)

First Solvay Conference on Chemistry, Brussels, 1922.

[edit] References

1. ^ Annual Report 1999 30. Institute for Theoretical Physics - Faculty of Science - Universiteit van Amsterdam.
2. ^ Previous Solvay Conferences on Physics.^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Previous Solvay Conferences on Chemistry.^{[dead link]}

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Solvay Conference

• Institut international de physique Solvay
• Irving Langmuir's “home movie” shot of the 1927 Solvay Conference
• A page from the American Institute of Physics A brief overview of the argument of the Fifth Conference.