Mathematician:Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac

Mathematician

English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics.

Stepather of Gabriel Andrew Dirac.

Nationality

British (of Swiss origin)

History

• Born: 8 August 1902 in Bristol, England
• Died: 20 October 1984 in Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Theorems and Definitions

• Dirac Equation in Curved Spacetime
• Two-Body Dirac Equations
• Dirac Large Numbers Hypothesis

• Fermi-Dirac Statistics (with Enrico Fermi)
• Dirac-von Neumann Axioms (with John von Neumann)

• Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac Force (with Max Abraham and Hendrik Antoon Lorentz)
• Kapitsa-Dirac Effect (with Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa)

• Dirac Adjoint
• Dirac Algebra
• Dirac Bracket
• Dirac Comb
• Dirac Constant (also known as the Reduced Planck Constant for Max Planck)
• Dirac Delta Distribution
• Dirac Delta Function
• Dirac Equation
  • Nonlinear Dirac Equation
• Dirac Field
• Dirac Lagrangian
• Dirac Matrix
• Dirac Measure
• Dirac Monopole
• Dirac Notation
• Dirac Operator
• Dirac Sea
• Dirac Spinor

Results named for Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac can be found here.

Definitions of concepts named for Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac can be found here.

Publications

• 1930: The Principles of Quantum Mechanics

• 1966: Lectures on Quantum Mechanics

• 1966: Lectures on Quantum Field Theory

• 1974: Spinors in Hilbert Space

• 1975: General Theory of Relativity

Notable Quotes

We have boson variables appearing automatically in a theory that starts with only fermion variables, provided the number of fermion variables is infinite. There must be such boson variables connected with electrons...

-- from Spinors in Hilbert Space

Mathematics is the tool specially suited for dealing with abstract concepts of any kind and there is no limit to its power in this field. For this reason a book on the new physics, if not purely descriptive of experimental work, must be essentially mathematical.

-- Quoted in 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics: They Say: What Say They? : Let Them Say

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): They Say: What Say They? : Let Them Say
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Dirac delta function (delta function)
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice FRS (1902-84)