E.C.G. Stueckelberg, An Unconventional Figure of Twentieth Century Physics

Born in 1905, Ernst C. G. Stueckelberg was professor of theoretical physics at the Universities of Geneva and Lausanne in the years 1930-1970. He was one of the most eminent Swiss physicists of the 20th century. His breakthroughs, from his causal S-matrix to the renormalization group, have influenced the development of contemporary theoretical physics.

The book presents a selection of his most important scientific papers. They are preceded with a series of introductory essays, contributed by scientists and historians, specialists of Stueckelberg's achievements and time. These essays deal with the scientific context and the issues of the various topics that Stueckelberg tackled in his scientific career and serve as an enlightening complement to the reprinted papers. The volume also contains Stueckelberg's concise biography and an exhaustive list of his publications. It ambitions to provide an authoritative source gathering in a single place all the material needed to assessthe scientific achievements of one of the most important, albeit somehow overlooked, scientists of 20th century.

Inhalt
Ernst C. G. Stueckelberg: Biography and Personal Recollections.- Overview of Stueckelberg's Life as a Scientist.- Stueckelberg in Geneva and Lausanne.- Scientific Work.- Stueckelberg and Molecular Physics.- Stueckelberg's Covariant Perturbation Theory.- Stueckelberg's Unitary Field Theory of 19361939.- Stueckelberg 19371942: The B-Field and Antiparticles as Time-Reversed Particles.- Stueckelberg and the S-Matrix Theory.- Relativistic Thermodynamics.- Stueckelberg's Selected Papers.- Theorie der unelastischen Stösse zwischen Atomen.- Relativistisch invariante Störungstlieorie des Diracechen, JElehtrons I. Teil: Streustrahlung und Bremsstrahlung.- Austauschskräfte zwischen Elementarteilchen und Fermische Theorie des ?-Zerfalls als Konsquenzen einer möglichen Feldtheorie der Materie [26].- Radioactive ?-decay and nuclear exchange forces as a consequence of a unitary field theory [27].- Artificial radioactivity giving continuous ?-radiation [30].- Über die Methode der physikalischen Naturbeschreibung [33].- On the existence of heavy electrons [38].- Die Wechselwirkungs Kräfte in der Elektrodynamik und in der Feldtheorie der Kernkraefte (I) [39].- Die Wechselwirkungskräfte in der Elektrodynamik und in der Feldtheorie der Kernkräfte (Teil II und III) [40].- La signification du temps propre en mécanique ondulatoire [53].- Remarque à propos de la création de paires de particules en theorie de relativité [54].- La mécanique du point matériel en théorie de relativité et en théorie des quanta [56].- An unambiguous method of avoiding divergence difficulties in quantum theory [67].- Une proprieté de l'opérateur S en mécanique asymptotique [78].- A convergent expression for the magnetic moment of the neutron [81].- Erratum: A Convergent Expression for the Magnetic Moment of the Neutron.- Causalité et structure de la Matrice S [82].- A propos des divergences en théorie des champs quantifiés [83].- Relativistic Quantum Theory for Finite Time Intervals [84].- Elimination des constantes arbitraires dans la theorie relativiste des quanta [85].- Restriction of Possible Interaction in Quantum Electrodynamics [86].- The normalization group in quantum theory [87].- Thermodynamique en Relativité Générale [89].