First offprint of Einstein’s follow-up paper on the Bose-Einstein condensate, 1925

Albert EINSTEIN: QUANTENTHEORIE DES EINATOMIGEN IDEALEN GASES. Zweite Abhandlung. [Quantum Theory of the Monatomic Ideal Gas. Second paper.] Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, I (1925). Sitzung der physikalisch-mathematischen Klasse 8. Januar. Sonderabdruck [Offprint]). Berlin: Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften (in commission at Georg Reimer [Reichsdruckerei]), 9th February 1925.

Imperial 8vo (25,4:18,2 cm). 14 pages. Letterpress on machine paper, in original publisher’s brochure on orange stock with black title printing.

First offprint in the original wrappers, of this important seminal paper by Einstein related to the Quantum Theory, of particular rarity.

Content, Edition: 2nd of two seminal papers, in which Einstein creates the theory of identical particles in quantum mechanics. In 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose derived Planck's law of black-body radiation from a modification of coarse-grained counting of phase space. Einstein shows that this modification is equivalent to assuming that photons are rigorously identical, leading to the concept of coherent states. Einstein also extends Bose's formalism to material particles (bosons), predicting that they condense at sufficiently low temperatures, as verified experimentally.

Condition: Mint.

Rarity: ABPC (1973ff.) and APO (1988ff.) record 1 copy of this edition at auction (1990).

Reference: Schilpp-Shields 185; Weil 144 (the 1st of the papers being Weil 144).