Theodor F. E. Kaluza | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1885-11-09)9 November 1885 |
| Died | 19 January 1954(1954-01-19) (aged 68) |
| Alma mater | University of Königsberg |
| Known for | Kaluza–Klein theory |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematical physics |
Theodor Franz Eduard Kaluza (German:[kaˈluːt͡sa]; 9 November 1885 – 19 January 1954) was a Germanmathematician andphysicist known for theKaluza–Klein theory, involvingfield equations in five-dimensional space-time. His idea that fundamental forces can be unified by introducing additional dimensions was reused much later forstring theory.
Kaluza was born to aRoman Catholic family from the town ofRatibor (present-day Racibórz in Poland) in theGerman Empire'sPrussianProvince of Silesia. Kaluza himself was born in Wilhelmsthal (a village that was incorporated into Oppeln (presentlyOpole) in 1899). He spent his youth inKönigsberg, where his father,Maximilian "Max" Kaluza, was a professor of the English language. He entered theUniversity of Königsberg to study mathematics and gained his doctorate with a thesis onTschirnhaus transformations. Kaluza was primarily a mathematician but began studyingrelativity. In April 1919 Kaluza noticed that when he solvedAlbert Einstein's equations forgeneral relativity using five dimensions, thenMaxwellian equations forelectromagnetism resulted spontaneously.[1][2][3] Kaluza wrote to Einstein who, in turn, encouraged him to publish. Kaluza's theory was published in 1921 in a paper "Zum Unitätsproblem der Physik" with Einstein's support inSitzungsberichte Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften 966–972 (1921).[2]
Kaluza's insight is remembered as theKaluza–Klein theory (named also after physicistOskar Klein). However, the work was neglected for many years, as attention was directed towardsquantum mechanics. His idea that fundamental forces can be explained by additional dimensions was not reused untilstring theory was developed. It is, however, also notable that many of the aspects of this body of work were already published in 1914 byGunnar Nordström, but his work also went unnoticed and was not recognized when the ideas were reused.
Among his PhD students wasShmuel Sambursky, Professor of Physics atHebrew University, and winner of theIsrael Prize.
For the rest of his career Kaluza continued to produce ideas about relativity and about models of theatomic nucleus. Despite Einstein's encouragement, Kaluza remained only a (Privatdozent) atKönigsberg until 1929, when he was appointed as professor at theUniversity of Kiel. In 1935, he became a full professor at theUniversity of Göttingen, where he remained until his death in 1954. Perhaps his finest mathematical work is the textbookHöhere Mathematik für den Praktiker, which was written jointly withGeorg Joos.
Kaluza was extraordinarily versatile. He spoke or wrote 17 languages. He also had an unusually modest personality. He refused theNazi ideology, and his appointment to the Göttingen professorship was possible only with difficulties and by assistance of his colleagueHelmut Hasse. Strange stories were told of his private life, for example, that he taught himself to swim during his thirties by reading a book about it and succeeded at his first attempt in the water.
Kaluza had a son, also namedTheodor Kaluza [de] (1910–1994), who was a notablemathematician.
