DOCS.
616,
617
SEPTEMBER
1918 641
616. To
Lise
Meitner
[Berlin,
14 September
1918]
Dear Miss
Meitner,
I
have
performed
the
calculation
again more
exactly
now,
and
found
that
the fluctuations
of
both
ionizations must
be completely
uncorrelated. Thus
our
promising enterprise
falls
flat, except
that
Meyer’s
results
definitely
must be
corrected.[1]
Even before
the
calculation,
I
recognized
that
in
such
cases
statistical
inde-
pendence
had
to
exist:
Let
a
ray
S
be
split
into two
equally
intense
S1
and
S2
through partial
re-
flection. I contend
that the
fluctuations
of
S1
and
S2
have to be
independent
of
each other.
For,
since all
rays
of
the
same
intensity (and frequency)
must
behave
statistically
identically,
it
must
come
to
the
same
thing
if
I
have
S1
combine
with
an
equally intense, independently
generated
ray
S'1,
as
if I
had it
combine
with
S2.
This
is
the
case only
when
S1
&
S2
are
statistically
independent
of each
other.
Cordial
regards, yours,
A.
Einstein.
617. To
Ernst
Trendelenburg
[Berlin,]
16 September 1918
To
the Administrative
Office of
the
Kaiser Wilhelm
Society
for
the
Advancement
of
the
Sciences. W.
9,
4 Voss
St.
At
your request by telephone yesterday,
I
am
sending you
some
information
about
the
K. W.
Inst,
of
Physics,
which could
possibly
be
incorporated
into the
annual
report.[1]
Since
I
do not know
exactly
what details
you need,
I
am
not
sure
that what
I
am
writing you
here meets
your
wishes.
The enclosed information
does not
regard
the
history
of
the Institute’s
creation
nor
its
constitution,
but
rather
its
goals
and activities
up
to
now.
In
great
respect,
A.
Einstein.
Kaiser Wilhelm
Institute
of
Physics,
W.
30,
5
Haberland St.
The
Institute,
which
came
into
being
on
1
October
1917,
has
as
its
exclusive
mission
the
promotion
of
purely scientific, theoretical,
and
experimental
research
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