DOC.
61
397
and
this
would
also establish the
bridge between
material
and
nonmaterial
entities still
missed
by
Mr.
Planck.
Stark:
Mr.
Planck
pointed out
that
we
have
no reason
at
the
moment
to
switch
over
to
the
Einstein
consequence,
to
consider the
radiation in
space,
where
it
occurs
detached
from matter,
as
concentrated. I
was
originally also
of the
opinion
that for the time
being
we
could restrict ourselves
to
reducing
the
elementary law
to
a
certain
mode
of action
of
the
resonators. But
I
do
believe
that there
exists
a
phenomenon
that leads
to
the conclusion that
electromagnetic
radiation detached
from
matter,
in
space,
must
be
considered
as
concentrated.
I have
in
mind
the
phenomenon
that
even
at great
distances,
[2]
up
to
10
m,
electromagnetic
radiation that
has
left
an
X-ray
tube for the
surrounding
space can
still achieve
concentrated action
on
a
single
electron.
I believe that this
phenomenon
does
represent
a reason
for
considering
the
question
of whether the
energy
of
electromagnetic
radiation should
not be
considered
as
concentrated
even
where
it
occurs
detached
from
matter.
Rubens:
The
view represented
by
Mr.
Einstein
would
seem
to yield
a
practical
conclusion that
can
be
tested
experimentally.
As
we
know,
it is
not
only
the
a-rays,
but also the
B-rays
that
produce
a
scintillating
luminous
effect
on
the fluorescent
screen. According
to
the
view presented, the
same
must
also hold for
r-rays
and
X-rays.
Planck:
The X-rays
are a
special
case;
I
would not assert too
much
about
them.
-
Stark
brought
up something
in favor of the
quantum
theory,
and
I
wish to
bring
up something
against
it;
I have
in
mind
the
interferences
at
the
enormous
phase
differences of
hundreds
of thousands
of
wavelengths.
When
a
quantum
interferes with itself, it
would have
to
have
an
extension
of hundreds
of thousands of
wavelengths.
This is also
a
certain difficulty.
Stark:
The
interference
phenomena can
easily be
pitted
against
the
quantum
hypothesis.
However,
once
they
are
treated with
more
benevolence
toward
the
quantum
hypothesis,
one
will
find
an
explanation
for
them, too
-
this
is
my
hope. As
for
the
experimental
aspect, it
must
be
emphasized
that
the
experiments to
which
Mr.
Planck
alluded involve
very
dense
radiation,
so
that
a
very
large
number
of
quanta of the
same
frequency
were
concentrated in
the
beam
of light; this
must
be
taken
into
account when
discussing
those
interference
phenomena.
With
radiation
of
very
low
density,
the interference
phenomena
would
most
likely
be
different.
[3]