Matrix Mechanics

In 1925, with a stroke of genius stemming from his previous work on light dispersion, W. Heisenberg[aut]Heisenberg, Werner Karl managed to dissipate the fog of confusion that made it impossible to understand how to describe the quantum world. In fact, he succeeded in providing an initial version of the theory of quantum mechanics. In this chapter, we will present and discuss the first paper in which Heisenberg outlined the structure of quantum mechanics, along with subsequent developments attributed to M. Born[aut]Born, Max and P. Jordan[aut]Jordan, Pascual. Moreover, we will encounter also an unmistakable sign of the nascent quantum mechanics, namely the discovery that the mathematical expression of some fundamental physical quantities, such as position and momentum, obey to a non-commutative algebra. Finally, we will also provide the commutation relations associated with them.