Kragh Helge
a Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University , Copenhagen , Denmark.
Ann Sci. 2017 Apr;74(2):126-148. doi: 10.1080/00033790.2017.1318171. Epub 2017 May 11.
Faced with various anomalies related to nuclear physics in particular, in 1929 Niels Bohr suggested that energy might not be conserved in the atomic nucleus and the processes involving it. By this radical proposal he hoped not only to get rid of the anomalies but also saw a possibility to explain a puzzle in astrophysics, namely the energy generated by stars. Bohr repeated his suggestion of stellar energy arising ex nihilo on several occasions but without ever going into detail. In fact, it is not very clear what he meant or how seriously he took the stellar energy hypothesis. This paper relates Bohr's comments to the period's attempts to find a mechanism for stellar energy and also to the role played by astrophysics at the Copenhagen institute. Moreover, it looks at how Bohr's hypothesis was received not only by physicists but also by astronomers. In this regard the disciplinary status of astrophysics and its contemporary relation to the new quantum mechanics is of relevance. It turns out that, with very few exceptions, the hypothesis was met with silence by astronomers and astrophysicists concerned with the problem of stellar energy production. And yet, for a brief period of time it did have an impact on how physicists thought about the interior of the stars.
特别是面对与核物理相关的各种异常现象，1929年尼尔斯·玻尔提出，在原子核及其相关过程中能量可能不守恒。通过这一激进的提议，他不仅希望消除这些异常现象，还认为有可能解释天体物理学中的一个谜题，即恒星产生的能量。玻尔多次重复他关于恒星能量凭空产生的观点，但从未详细阐述。事实上，他的意思是什么以及他对恒星能量假说有多认真，并不是很清楚。本文将玻尔的评论与当时寻找恒星能量机制的尝试以及天体物理学在哥本哈根研究所所起的作用联系起来。此外，还探讨了玻尔的假说不仅是如何被物理学家接受的，也是如何被天文学家接受的。在这方面，天体物理学的学科地位及其与新量子力学的当代关系具有相关性。结果发现，除了极少数例外，关注恒星能量产生问题的天文学家和天体物理学家对这一假说都保持沉默。然而，在一段短暂的时间里，它确实对物理学家思考恒星内部的方式产生了影响。
