Hendrik Lorentz

Created and claimed by Joe Stapleton

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Nobel Prize Winning, Dutch Physicist who is best known for his theory of electromagnetic radiation. [1]

Hendrik Lorentz.

Personal Life

Early Life and Education

Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, on July 18, 1853. He was the son of nursery-owner Gerrit Frederik Lorentz and wife nee Geertruida van Ginkel. Lorentz was a gifted student. By the time he was 9, he had already mastered the use of the table of logarithms and [2] in 1866 when the first high school at Arnhem was opened, Lorentz was placed in 3rd form. After Lorentz finished his 5th form and a year of classics study, he entered University of Leyden in 1870 and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and physics in 1871. He then returned to Arnhem in 1872 to become a night-school teacher while also working on his thesis about light diffraction. At the age of 22, Hendrik earned his doctor's degree in 1875 and three years he went on to be appointed to the Chair of Theoretical Physics at Leydon. He remained loyal to his Alma Mater and continued to teach there for the rest of his life. [[Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Nobel Prize Winning, Dutch Physicist who is best known for his theory of electromagnetic radiation. Henry married Aletta Catharina Kaiser and together they had three children. Hendrik died on February 4, 1928 from a serious illness. [3]

Major Contributions

Lorentz ether theory

This theory which was can be traced back to Lorentz's "The theory of electrons" was based on the ethor theory of Augstin-Jean Fresnel, the electron theory of Rudolf Clausius and Maxwell's equations.[3] He tried to correct their errors in their ether theories and in length contraction. From this, he found that the condition of the ether is able to be described by the electric field and magnetic field.

He found that the electromagnetic field of ether appears as a mediator between electrons and changes to these fields can not move faster than the speed of light. He also introduced his idea of Lorentz transformations to combat this problem.

FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction

Also known as the "space contraction", the FitzGerald-Lorentz contraction is the shortening in the length of an object measured by an observer in which the object is traveling at a non-zero velocity. George FitzGerald and Hendrik conceived this idea to explain the negative result of the Michelson-Morley experiment. Their statements implied but never mentioned the idea that electrostatic fields in motion are deformed. Their theory was deemed an ad hoc hypothesis because there was no evidence to support that electromagnetic forces behave in the same way as intermolecular forces. FitzGerald and Lorentz's implications eventually led to the formula:[4]

"[math]\displaystyle{ L=\frac{L_{0}}{\gamma(v)}=L_{0}\sqrt{1-v^{2}/c^{2}} }[/math]

where:

L is the length measured by an observer,

[math]\displaystyle{ L_{0} }[/math] is the length of the object in its rest frame),

v is the relative velocity between the observer and the moving object,

c is the speed of light,

[math]\displaystyle{ {\gamma(v)} }[/math] is the Lorentz factor. This is defined as

[math]\displaystyle{ {\gamma(v)}=\frac1{\sqrt{1-v^{2}/c^{2}}} }[/math]

[5]

Lorentz Force

Lornetz used Oliver Heaviside's version of Maxwell equations for a stationary ether and applied Lagragian mechanics to arrive at the complete form and final form of this force law.[Whittaker, E. T. (1910). A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity: From the Age of Descartes to the Close of the Nineteenth Century. Longmans, Green and Co. pp. 420–423. ISBN 1-143-01208-9.]

[math]\displaystyle{ F=Q*VxB }[/math]

Connectedness

Lorentz's work laid the foundation for Einstein and Einstein stated that Lorentz had been the greatest influence in his life. Einstein would use many of the concepts from Lorentz to create his theory of special relativity.[6] Lorentz force is also used to this day through various applications such as electric motor and the cyclotron. [7]

See also

Albert Einstein

Lorentz Force

James Maxwell

Further reading

The Theory of electrons and its applications to the phenomena of light and radiant heat by Hendrik Lorentz

Electromagnetic phenomena in a system moving with any velocity smaller than that of lightby Hendrik Lorentz

Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein

External links

Nobelprize.org

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References

This section contains the the references you used while writing this page

1.http://www.famousscientists.org/hendrik-antoon-lorentz/

2. "Hendrik A. Lorentz - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 1 Dec 2015. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1902/lorentz-bio.html>

3 Whittaker, Edmund Taylor (1951), A History of the theories of aether and electricity Vol. 1: The classical theories (2. ed.), London: Nelson

4.Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon (1892), "The Relative Motion of the Earth and the Aether", Zittingsverlag Akad. V. Wet. 1: 74–79

5. http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/HEP/QuarkNet/length.html

6.

7.http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hendrik_Antoon_Lorentz.aspx

7. http://digilander.libero.it/mfinotes/IVEuropeo/Physics/electricmotor.htm