Matrix Mechanics Mis-Prized: Max Born's Belated Nobelization

We examine evaluations of the contributions of Matrix Mechanics and Max Born to the formulation of quantum mechanics from Heisenberg's Helgoland paper of 1925 to Born's Nobel Prize of 1954. We point out that the process of evaluation is continuing in the light of recent interpretations of the theory that deemphasize the importance of the wave function.Comment: 58 page

Identification of novel risk loci, causal insights, and heritable risk for Parkinson's disease: a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies

Background Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in Parkinson's disease have increased the scope of biological knowledge about the disease over the past decade. We aimed to use the largest aggregate of GWAS data to identify novel risk loci and gain further insight into the causes of Parkinson's disease. Methods We did a meta-analysis of 17 datasets from Parkinson's disease GWAS available from European ancestry samples to nominate novel loci for disease risk. These datasets incorporated all available data. We then used these data to estimate heritable risk and develop predictive models of this heritability. We also used large gene expression and methylation resources to examine possible functional consequences as well as tissue, cell type, and biological pathway enrichments for the identified risk factors. Additionally, we examined shared genetic risk between Parkinson's disease and other phenotypes of interest via genetic correlations followed by Mendelian randomisation. Findings Between Oct 1, 2017, and Aug 9, 2018, we analysed 7·8 million single nucleotide polymorphisms in 37 688 cases, 18 618 UK Biobank proxy-cases (ie, individuals who do not have Parkinson's disease but have a first degree relative that does), and 1·4 million controls. We identified 90 independent genome-wide significant risk signals across 78 genomic regions, including 38 novel independent risk signals in 37 loci. These 90 variants explained 16–36% of the heritable risk of Parkinson's disease depending on prevalence. Integrating methylation and expression data within a Mendelian randomisation framework identified putatively associated genes at 70 risk signals underlying GWAS loci for follow-up functional studies. Tissue-specific expression enrichment analyses suggested Parkinson's disease loci were heavily brain-enriched, with specific neuronal cell types being implicated from single cell data. We found significant genetic correlations with brain volumes (false discovery rate-adjusted p=0·0035 for intracranial volume, p=0·024 for putamen volume), smoking status (p=0·024), and educational attainment (p=0·038). Mendelian randomisation between cognitive performance and Parkinson's disease risk showed a robust association (p=8·00 × 10−7). Interpretation These data provide the most comprehensive survey of genetic risk within Parkinson's disease to date, to the best of our knowledge, by revealing many additional Parkinson's disease risk loci, providing a biological context for these risk factors, and showing that a considerable genetic component of this disease remains unidentified. These associations derived from European ancestry datasets will need to be followed-up with more diverse data. Funding The National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (USA), The Michael J Fox Foundation, and The Parkinson's Foundation (see appendix for full list of funding sources)

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of Parkinson?s disease

Although over 90 independent risk variants have been identified for Parkinson’s disease using genome-wide association studies, most studies have been performed in just one population at a time. Here we performed a large-scale multi-ancestry meta-analysis of Parkinson’s disease with 49,049 cases, 18,785 proxy cases and 2,458,063 controls including individuals of European, East Asian, Latin American and African ancestry. In a meta-analysis, we identified 78 independent genome-wide significant loci, including 12 potentially novel loci (MTF2, PIK3CA, ADD1, SYBU, IRS2, USP8, PIGL, FASN, MYLK2, USP25, EP300 and PPP6R2) and fine-mapped 6 putative causal variants at 6 known PD loci. By combining our results with publicly available eQTL data, we identified 25 putative risk genes in these novel loci whose expression is associated with PD risk. This work lays the groundwork for future efforts aimed at identifying PD loci in non-European populations

The earliest missionaries of the Copenhagen spirit

SUMMARY. — The formalisms of quantum mechanics, invented in 1925-26, were very quickly and successfully deployed in solving many problems of atomic and molecular physics. For most physicists these successes expressed the physical meaning of the theory. For a few others, mainly German-speaking physicists closely associated with Niels Bohr, quantum mechanics brought a new definition of knowledge applicable to all exercises of the pure and applied reason. In this paper I describe some of the psychological traits of Bohr and the young men he inspired to extend his epistemological teachings to biology, depth psychology, and other fields remote from the quantum theory of the atom. By calling attention to these traits I aim not to belittle Bohr's thought or its extrapolations, but rather to show how an unsystematic philosophy developed in a particular time and place, and with reference to special problems in atomic physics, could have laid claim to universal validity. I conclude with a parallel between Bohr and his band on the one hand and Newton and his immediate disciples on the other.RESUME. — Les formalismes de la mécanique quantique, élaborés en 1925- 1926, furent très vite mis en œuvre, avec succès, pour la résolution de nombreux problèmes en physique atomique et moléculaire. Pour la plupart des physiciens, ces résultats exprimaient le sens physique de la théorie. Pour un petit nombre d'entre eux, cependant, principalement des physiciens de langue allemande, proches de Niels Bohr, la mécanique quantique apportait une nouvelle définition de la connaissance, susceptible d'être appliquée à toutes les œuvres de la raison, pure et appliquée. Dans le présent article, je précise certains traits psychologiques de Bohr et des jeunes gens auxquels il donna l'inspiration d'étendre ses préceptes à la biologie, à la psychologie analytique (« psychologie des profondeurs »), et à d'autres domaines, bien éloignés de la théorie quantique de l'atome. En faisant ressortir ces traits, je n'entends nullement réduire la portée de la pensée de Niels Bohr, ni des extrapolations auxquelles elle donna lieu : il s'agit bien, plutôt, de faire voir comment une philosophie non systématique, développée à un endroit et à une époque donnés pour résoudre des problèmes particuliers de la physique atomique, aurait pu revendiquer une validité à vocation universaliste. En conclusion, j'établis un parallèle entre Bohr et ses compagnons, d'une part, et Newton et ses adeptes les plus proches, de l'autre.Heilbron John L. The earliest missionaries of the Copenhagen spirit. In: Revue d'histoire des sciences, tome 38, n°3-4, 1985. pp. 195-230

Planck: 1858-1947 : une conscience déchirée

John L. Heilbron retrace la vie de Max Planck (1858-1947), père de la physique quantique, qui a incarné la science allemande au cours de la première moitié de ce siècle. Il dépeint les affres et l'incessant labeur d'un honnête homme, parvenu au faîte de l'autorité scientifique, confronté au régime national-socialiste dont il refuse la philosophie et qui, demeuré malgré tout à son poste, s'est efforcé de préserver les institutions scientifiques allemandes et de reconstituer une communauté internationale des physiciens. Cet ouvrage illustre de façon pathétique l'impossibilité, pour les hommes de science, de s'abstraire des drames politiques et sociaux de leur époque

The Bizzarrie of the Dialogo Myth, Marvel, and Make-Believe in Galileo’s Force-Free Physics

Galileo made several spectacular gaffes in the Dialogo that commentators have interpreted as important though flawed anticipations of Newtonian physics. These interpretations may not have attended sufficiently to Galileo's reference to the book as a philosophical comedy and to one of the gaffes as a bizzarria, and to his characterizing all of them as marvels. These facts suggest that he knew his claims were shaky and did not intend them as science in the modem sense. They may be construed, rather, as ingenious paradoxes made additionally difficult by the geometrical dress he gave them. It is argued that Galileo's gaffes, and possibly also his theory of the tides, arose from a combination of his love of paradox with his program for a force-free physics

A propos de l'invention de la bouteille de Leyde

Heilbron John L. A propos de l'invention de la bouteille de Leyde. In: Revue d'histoire des sciences et de leurs applications, tome 19, n°2, 1966. pp. 133-142