Fine Structure of the Hydrogen Atom by a Microwave Method

FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS of the discovery of the "Lamb shift" "Shortly after World War II, Lamb began his work to check the accuracy of the predictions of Paul Dirac as they related to the energy levels and spectral lines of hydrogen. Dirac's quantum mechanical theory predicted that the hydrogen atom had two possible energy states with equal energies. Lamb's accurate work using radiofrequency resonance techniques, reported in 1947, revealed that there was a minute difference in these energy levels. Small as it was, this Lamb shift necessitated a revision of the theory of the interaction of the electron with electromagnetic radiation. For this work Lamb was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics, which he shared with another leader of research at Columbia, Polykarp Kusch, with whom he had performed wartime research in developing microwave radar" (.Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists). Particle Physics: One Hundred Years of Discoveries: "First measurements of the fine structure of the hydrogen atom, the Lamb shift. Nobel prize to W.E. Lamb awarded in 1955 'for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum.'" IN: The Physical Review, Vol 72, No 3, August 1, 1947, pp. 241-243. Lancaster, PA., and New York, NY: American Physical Society, 1947. Quarto, original wrappers. Tiny bump to outer edge, otherwise fine. Rare in wrappers.…