Quantum_ Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality - Manjit Kumar [93]
The end of the war brought in its wake political and economic chaos throughout Germany, but few places experienced this more intensely than Munich and Bavaria. On 7 April 1919, radical socialists declared Bavaria a 'Soviet Republic'. As they waited for troops sent by Berlin to arrive and restore the deposed government, those opposed to the revolutionaries organised themselves into military-style companies. Heisenberg and some friends joined one of these. His duties were largely confined to writing reports and running errands. 'Our adventures were over after a few weeks,' Heisenberg recalled later, 'then the shooting died down and military service became increasingly monotonous.'2 By the end of the first week in May the 'Soviet Republic' had been ruthlessly crushed, leaving over a thousand dead.
The harsh post-war reality led young middle-class teenagers like Heisenberg to embrace the romantic ideals of an earlier age as they flocked to join youth organisations such as the Pathfinders, the German equivalent of the Boy Scouts. Others, wanting more independence, set up their own groups and clubs. Heisenberg led one such group formed by younger pupils at his school. Gruppe Heisenberg, as they styled themselves, went hiking and camping in the Bavarian countryside and discussed the new world their generation would create.
In the summer of 1920, after graduating from the Gymnasium with such ease that he won a prestigious scholarship, Heisenberg wanted to study mathematics at Munich University. When a disastrous interview ended any chance of doing so, a despondent Heisenberg sought his father for advice. He made an appointment for his son to see an old friend, Arnold Sommerfeld. Although the 'small squat man with his martial dark moustache looked rather austere', Heisenberg did not feel intimidated.3 He sensed that despite his appearance, here was a man with a 'genuine concern for young people'.4 August Heisenberg had already told Sommerfeld that his son was particularly interested in relativity and atomic physics. 'You are much too demanding', he told Werner.5 'You can't possibly start with the most difficult part and hope that the rest will automatically fall into your lap.' Always eager to encourage and recruit raw talent to mould, he softened: 'It may be that you know something; it may be that you know nothing. We shall see.'6
Sommerfeld allowed the eighteen-year-old to attend the research seminar intended for more advanced students. Heisenberg was lucky. Together with Bohr's institute in Copenhagen and Born's group in Göttingen, Sommerfeld's institute would form the golden triangle of quantum research in the years to come. When Heisenberg attended his first seminar he 'spotted a dark-haired student with a somewhat secretive face in the third row'.7 It was Wolfgang Pauli. Sommerfeld had already introduced him to the portly Viennese during a tour around the institute on his first visit. The professor had been quick to tell Heisenberg, once Pauli was out of earshot, that he considered the boy to be his most talented student. Recalling Sommerfeld's advice that he could learn a great deal from him, Heisenberg sat down next to Pauli.
'Doesn't he look the typical Hussar officer?' whispered Pauli as Sommerfeld entered.8 It was the beginning of a lifelong professional relationship that never quite blossomed into a closer personal friendship. They were simply too different. Heisenberg was quieter, friendlier, less outspoken and critical than Pauli.