View source for Werner Heisenberg

{{Short description|German theoretical physicist (1901–1976)}}
{{Redirect|Heisenberg}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Werner Heisenberg
| image             = Bundesarchiv Bild183-R57262, Werner Heisenberg.jpg
| caption           = Heisenberg in 1933
| birth_name        = Werner Karl Heisenberg
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1901|12|5|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Würzburg]], [[Kingdom of Bavaria]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1976|02|01|1901|12|05|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Munich]], [[Bavaria]], [[West Germany]]
| resting_place     = ''[[Munich Waldfriedhof|Waldfriedhof]]'', Munich
| alma_mater        = {{Plain list|
* [[University of Munich]] <br/> ([[Dr. phil.]])
* [[University of Göttingen]] <br/> ([[Dr. habil.]])
}}
| known_for         = {{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|''See list''}}
 | [[Heisenberg cut]]
 | [[Heisenberg group]]
 | [[Heisenberg model (classical)]]
 | [[Heisenberg model (quantum)]]
 | [[Heisenberg picture]]
 | [[Heisenberg's microscope]]
 | [[Heisenberg–Langevin equations]]
 | [[Kramers–Heisenberg formula]]
 | [[Euler–Heisenberg Lagrangian]]
 | [[C*-algebra]]
 | [[Canonical commutation relation]]
 | [[Copenhagen interpretation]]
 | [[Isospin]]
 | [[Matrix mechanics]]
 | [[Exchange interaction]]
 | [[Optical theorem]]
 | [[Quantum field theory]]
 | [[Quantum fluctuation]]
 | [[Quantum spacetime]]
 | [[Discovery of the neutron#Proton–neutron model of the nucleus|Proton–neutron model of the nucleus]]
 | [[Resonance (chemistry)]]
 | [[S-matrix]]
 | [[Spin isomers of hydrogen]]
 | [[Uncertainty principle]]
 | [[Vacuum polarization]]
 | [[Wave function collapse]]
 | [[Umdeutung paper|''Umdeutung'' paper]]
 | ''[[German nuclear program during World War II|Uranprojekt]]''
 }}
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Elisabeth Schumacher|1937}}
| children          = 7, including [[Jochen Heisenberg|Jochen]] and [[Martin Heisenberg|Martin]]
| awards            = {{Plain list|
* [[Matteucci Medal]] (1929)
* [[Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science]] (1930)
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1932)
* [[Max Planck Medal]] (1933)
* {{Postnom|ForMemRS|country=GBR|size=100%}} (1955)<ref name=formemrs/>
* [[Niels Bohr International Gold Medal]] (1970)
}}
| fields            = {{plain list|
* [[Quantum physics]]
* [[Nuclear physics]]
}}
| work_institutions = {{Plain list|
* University of Göttingen
* [[University of Leipzig]]
* [[University of Berlin]]
* University of Munich
}}
| thesis_title      = Über Stabilität und Turbulenz von Flüssigkeitsströmen <br/>
| thesis_url        = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/634404649
| thesis_year       = 1923
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Arnold Sommerfeld]]
| academic_advisors = [[Max Born]]
| doctoral_students = {{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|''See list''}}
 | [[Felix Bloch]] (1929)
 | [[Rudolf Peierls]] (1929)
 | [[Edward Teller]] (1930)
 | [[Hans Heinrich Euler]] (1935)
 | [[Hermann Arthur Jahn|Hermann Jahn]] (1935)
 | [[Șerban Țițeica]] (1935)
 | [[Erich Bagge]] (1938)
 | [[Ivan Supek]] (1940)
 | [[Reinhard Oehme]] (1951)
 | [[Friedwardt Winterberg]] (1955)
 | [[Peter Mittelstaedt]] (1956)
 | [[Fazley Bary Malik]] (1958)
 | <!--[[Edwin Gora]]-->
 }}
| notable_students  = {{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|''See list''}}
 | [[Guido Beck]]
 | [[Ugo Fano]]
 | [[William Vermillion Houston]]
 | [[Ettore Majorana]]
 | [[Arnold Nordsieck]]
 | [[Edwin Albrecht Uehling]]
 | [[Herbert Wagner (physicist)|Herbert Wagner]]
 | [[Gian Carlo Wick]]
 | [[Alan Herries Wilson]]
 }}
| signature         = Werner Heisenberg signature.svg
}}

'''Werner Karl Heisenberg''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aɪ|.|z|ən|.|b|ɜr|ɡ}};<ref>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/heisenberg "Heisenberg"]. ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{IPA|de|ˈvɛʁnɐ ˈhaɪzn̩bɛʁk|lang|De-Werner Heisenberg.ogg}}; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976)<ref name=Biography/> was a German [[theoretical physicist]], one of the main pioneers of the theory of [[quantum mechanics]] and a principal scientist in the [[German nuclear program during World War II]].

Heisenberg published his [[Umdeutung paper|''Umdeutung'' paper]] in 1925, a major reinterpretation of [[old quantum theory]]. In the subsequent series of papers with [[Max Born]] and [[Pascual Jordan]], during the same year, his [[matrix mechanics|matrix formulation]] of quantum mechanics was substantially elaborated. He is known for the [[uncertainty principle]], which he published in 1927. He received the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1932 "for the creation of quantum mechanics".<ref>{{Nobelprize}} This source explains that Heisenberg actually received his Nobel Prize for 1932 one year later, in 1933.</ref>{{efn|name=old|Heisenberg's work on quantum physics was preceded by a quarter century of research by other authors on the [[old quantum theory]].}}

Heisenberg also made contributions to the theories of the [[Fluid dynamics|hydrodynamics]] of [[turbulent flow]]s, the [[atomic nucleus]], [[ferromagnetism]], [[cosmic rays]], and [[subatomic particles]]. He introduced the concept of a [[wave function collapse]]. He was also instrumental in planning the first West German [[nuclear reactor]] in [[Karlsruhe]], together with a [[research reactor]] in [[Munich]], in 1957.

Following World War II, Heisenberg was appointed Director of the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics]], which soon thereafter was renamed the [[Max Planck Institute for Physics]]. He was director until it was moved to Munich in 1958. He was Director of the [[Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics]] from 1960 to 1970.

Heisenberg was also President of the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft|German Research Council]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.aip.org/web-exhibits/heisenberg/german-science.html |publisher=American Institute of Physics |title=Reviving German Science }}</ref> Chairman of the Commission for Atomic Physics, Chairman of the Nuclear Physics Working Group, and President of the [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]].<ref name=formemrs/>

==Early life and education==

===Early years===
Werner Karl Heisenberg was born in [[Würzburg]], Germany, to [[Kaspar Ernst August Heisenberg]],<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2009|p=12}}</ref> and his wife, Annie Wecklein. His father was a secondary school teacher of [[classical language]]s who became Germany's only ''[[ordentlicher Professor]]'' (ordinarius professor) of medieval and [[modern Greek]] studies in the university system.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|p=3}}</ref>

Heisenberg was raised and lived as a [[Lutheran]] Christian.<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20101129213817/http://www.adherents.com/people/ph/Werner_Heisenberg.html The religion of Werner Heisenberg, physicist]}}. Adherents.com. Retrieved on 1 February 2012.</ref> In his late teenage years, Heisenberg read Plato's ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'' while hiking in the [[Bavarian Alps]]. He recounted philosophical conversations with his fellow students and teachers about understanding the [[atom]] while receiving his scientific training in Munich, Göttingen and Copenhagen.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=149}}</ref> Heisenberg later stated that "My mind was formed by studying philosophy, Plato and that sort of thing"<ref>{{Cite journal|arxiv=1307.1244|doi=10.1007/s10699-019-09619-2|title=Science and Philosophy: A Love–Hate Relationship|year=2020|last1=De Haro|first1=Sebastian|s2cid=118408281|journal=Foundations of Science|volume=25|issue=2|pages=297–314}}</ref> and that "Modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wilber |first1=Ken |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4ekMrkHmngC&pg=PA52 |title=Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World's Great Physicists |date=10 April 2001 |publisher=Shambhala Publications |isbn=978-0-8348-2283-2 |pages=52}}</ref>

In 1919 Heisenberg arrived in Munich as a member of the ''[[Freikorps]]'' to fight the [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] established a year earlier. Five decades later he recalled those days as youthful fun, like "playing cops and robbers and so on; it was nothing serious at all";<ref>Miller, Arthur (2009). ''137: Jung, Pauli and the pursuit of a scientific obsession''. New York: Norton & Company. p. 31. {{ISBN|978-0-393-33864-5}}</ref> his duties were restricted to "seizing bicycles or typewriters from 'red' administrative buildings", and guarding suspected "red" prisoners.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rechenberg |first1=Helmut |title=Werner Heisenberg – Die Sprache der Atome. Leben und Wirken |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-540-69221-8 |page=36}}</ref>

===University studies===
[[File: Heisenberg,Werner 1924 Göttingen - adjusted.jpeg|thumb|upright|left|Heisenberg in 1924|alt=]]
From 1920 to 1923, he studied physics and mathematics at the [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]] under [[Arnold Sommerfeld]] and [[Wilhelm Wien]] and at the [[University of Göttingen|Georg-August University of Göttingen]] with [[Max Born]] and [[James Franck]] and mathematics with [[David Hilbert]]. He received his doctorate in 1923 at Munich under Sommerfeld.

In June 1922, Sommerfeld took Heisenberg to Göttingen to attend the [[Bohr Festival]], because Sommerfeld had a sincere interest in his students and knew of Heisenberg's interest in [[Niels Bohr]]'s theories on [[atomic physics]]. At the event, Bohr was a guest lecturer and gave a series of comprehensive lectures on quantum atomic physics and Heisenberg met Bohr for the first time, which had a lasting effect on him.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|pp=127, Appendix A}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Powers|1993|p=23}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|van der Waerden|1968|p=21}}</ref>

Heisenberg's [[Thesis|doctoral thesis]], the topic of which was suggested by Sommerfeld, was on [[turbulence]];<ref>{{cite journal|author=Heisenberg, W. |title=Über Stabilität und Turbulenz von Flüssigkeitsströmmen |doi=10.1002/andp.19243791502|year=1924|journal=Annalen der Physik|volume=379|issue=15|pages=577–627|bibcode = 1924AnP...379..577H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> the thesis discussed both the stability of [[laminar flow]] and the nature of [[Turbulence|turbulent flow]]. The problem of stability was investigated by the use of the [[Orr–Sommerfeld equation]], a fourth-order [[linear differential equation]] for small disturbances from laminar flow. He briefly returned to this topic after World War II.<ref name=MottPeierls77_217>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=217}}</ref>

At Göttingen, under Born, he completed his [[habilitation]] in 1924 with a ''Habilitationsschrift'' (habilitation thesis) on the anomalous [[Zeeman effect]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Heisenberg|first=W.|s2cid=186215582|year=1924|title=Über eine Abänderung der formalen Regeln der Quantentheorie beim Problem der anomalen Zeeman-Effekte|journal=Z. Phys.|volume=26|issue=1|pages=291–307|bibcode=1924ZPhy...26..291H|doi=10.1007/BF01327336}} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=243}}</ref><ref name=Biography>''[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html Werner Heisenberg Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807183130/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html |date=7 August 2011 }}'', ''Nobel Prize in Physics 1932'' Nobelprize.org.</ref><ref name=Hentschel>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996|loc=Appendix F}}; see the entry for Heisenberg.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=219}}</ref>

In his youth he was a member and Scoutleader of the ''Neupfadfinder'', a [[Scouting in Germany|German Scout association]] and part of the [[German Youth Movement]].<ref>{{cite web |last= Maringer |first= Daniel |title= Berühmte Physiker: Werner Heisenberg eine Biographie-Pfadfinderzeit |language= de |url= http://www.physik.tu-berlin.de/~dschm/lect/heislek/html/pfadfinder.html |access-date= 5 February 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091018190406/http://www.physik.tu-berlin.de/~dschm/lect/heislek/html/pfadfinder.html |archive-date= 18 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Heisenberg Werner |language= de |url= http://www.psfd.de/de/datenbank_mitmacher/einleitung.php,67,Heisenberg-Werner |access-date= 5 February 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719073458/http://www.psfd.de/de/datenbank_mitmacher/einleitung.php,67,Heisenberg-Werner |archive-date= 19 July 2011 |url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Ein Leben für die Jugendbewegung und Jugendseelsorger – 100 Jahre Gottfried Simmerding |language=de |journal=Rundbrief der Regionen Donau und München |volume=2 |date=March 2005 |page=12 |publisher=Gemeinschaft Katholischer Männer und Frauen im Bund Neudeutschland-ND |url=http://www.kmf-net.de/files/muenchen/Maerz2005.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305082134/http://www.kmf-net.de/files/muenchen/Maerz2005.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2009 }}</ref> In August 1923 Robert Honsell and Heisenberg organized a trip to Finland with a Scout group of this association from Munich.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Raum, Helmut |title= Die Pfadfinderbewegung im Freistaat Bayern Teil 53 |language= de | journal= Der Bundschuh |volume= 2 |pages= 23–24 |year= 2008 |publisher= Pfadfinderförderkreis Nordbayern e.V. |url= http://www.bdp-foerder-nord.de/Der%20Bundschuh%202.%20Quartal.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090305082138/http://www.bdp-foerder-nord.de/Der%20Bundschuh%202.%20Quartal.pdf |archive-date= 5 March 2009}}</ref>

===Personal life===
Heisenberg enjoyed [[classical music]] and was an accomplished pianist; playing for others was a prominent part of his social life.<ref name=Biography/> During the late 1920s and early 1930s he would often play music and dance at the Berlin home of his aristocratic student [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]], during which time he carried on a courtship with Carl's high-school-age sister Adelheid, which led to him being unwelcome at their home for a time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rechenberg |first1=Helmut |title=Werner Heisenberg – Die Sprache der Atome. Leben und Wirken |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-540-69221-8 |pages=915-918 and 943-944}}</ref>
Years later, his interest in music also led to meeting his future wife. In January 1937, Heisenberg met Elisabeth Schumacher (1914–1998) at a private music recital. Schumacher was the daughter of a well-known Berlin economics professor, and her brother was the economist [[E. F. Schumacher]], author of ''[[Small Is Beautiful]]''. Heisenberg and Schumacher were married on 29 April. Fraternal twins Maria and Wolfgang were born in January 1938, whereupon [[Wolfgang Pauli]] congratulated Heisenberg on his "pair creation"{{mdash}}a wordplay on a process from elementary particle physics, [[pair production]]. They had five more children over the next 12 years: Barbara, Christine, [[Jochen Heisenberg|Jochen]], [[Martin Heisenberg|Martin]] and Verena.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2009|p=372 and Appendix A}}</ref><ref>David Cassidy and the American Institute of Physics, ''[http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p10.htm The Difficult Years] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915073146/http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p10.htm |date=15 September 2008 }}''</ref> In 1939 he bought a summer home for his family in [[Urfeld am Walchensee]], in southern Germany.

One of Heisenberg's sons, [[Martin Heisenberg]], became a [[neurobiologist]] at the [[University of Würzburg]], while another son, [[Jochen Heisenberg]], became a physics professor at the [[University of New Hampshire]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2009|p=372}}</ref>

==Academic career==
===Göttingen, Copenhagen and Leipzig===
From 1924 to 1927, Heisenberg was a [[Privatdozent]] at [[Göttingen]], meaning he was qualified to teach and examine independently, without having a chair. From 17 September 1924 to 1 May 1925, under an International Education Board [[Rockefeller Foundation]] fellowship, Heisenberg went to do research with [[Niels Bohr]], director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the [[University of Copenhagen]]. On 7 June, after weeks of failing to alleviate a severe bout of [[hay fever]] with aspirin and cocaine,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rechenberg |first1=Helmut |title=Werner Heisenberg – Die Sprache der Atome. Leben und Wirken |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-540-69221-8 |page=322}}</ref> Heisenberg retreated to the pollen-free [[North Sea]] island of [[Heligoland|Helgoland]] to focus on quantum mechanics.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Prescod-Weinstein|first=Chanda |author-link=Chanda Prescod-Weinstein|date=2021-07-07|title=No man is an island – the early days of the quantum revolution|url=https://physicsworld.com/no-man-is-an-island/ |access-date=2022-02-03|website=[[Physics World]]|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=crease>{{cite web |last1=Crease |first1=Robert P. |author-link=Robert P. Crease |title=Return to Helgoland: celebrating 100 years of quantum mechanics |url=https://physicsworld.com/a/return-to-helgoland-celebrating-100-years-of-quantum-mechanics/ |website=[[Physics World]] |date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201152618/https://physicsworld.com/a/return-to-helgoland-celebrating-100-years-of-quantum-mechanics/ |archive-date=2024-12-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref><!-- [[Helgoland (book)]] --> His seminal paper, "[[Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen]]" ("Quantum theoretical re-interpretation of kinematic and mechanical relations") also called the ''Umdeutung'' (reinterpretation) paper, was published in September 1925.<ref>Kragh, H. (2004) "[[Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice]] (1902–1984)", ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press. {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/31032}}</ref> He returned to Göttingen and, with [[Max Born]] and [[Pascual Jordan]] over a period of about six months, developed the [[matrix mechanics]] formulation of [[quantum mechanics]]. On 1 May 1926, Heisenberg began his appointment as a university lecturer and assistant to Bohr in Copenhagen. It was in Copenhagen, in 1927, that Heisenberg developed his [[uncertainty principle]], while working on the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics. On 23 February, Heisenberg wrote a letter to fellow physicist [[Wolfgang Pauli]], in which he first described his new principle.<ref>{{Cite journal | url=http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200802/physicshistory.cfm | title=February 1927: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle | publisher=American Physics Society | journal=APS News | date=February 2008 | volume=17 | issue=2 | access-date=23 February 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130195156/http://aps.org/publications/apsnews/200802/physicshistory.cfm | archive-date=30 January 2011 | url-status=live }}</ref> In his paper on the principle,<ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|1927}}, cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=243}}</ref> Heisenberg used the word "''Ungenauigkeit''" (imprecision), not uncertainty, to describe it.<ref name=Biography/><ref name=Cassidy>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|loc=Appendix A}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=224}}</ref>

In 1927, Heisenberg was appointed ''ordentlicher Professor'' (professor ordinarius) of theoretical physics and head of the department of physics at the [[Leipzig University|University of Leipzig]]; he gave his inaugural lecture there on 1 February 1928. In his first paper published from Leipzig,<ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|1928}}, as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=243}}</ref> Heisenberg used the [[Pauli exclusion principle]] to solve the mystery of [[ferromagnetism]].<ref name=Biography/><ref name=Hentschel/><ref name=Cassidy/><ref>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|pp=226–227}}</ref>

At 25 years old, Heisenberg gained the title of the youngest full-time professor in Germany and professorial chair<ref name="Valiunas-2019">{{Cite journal |last=Valiunas |first=Algis |date=2019 |title=The Most Dangerous Possible German |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26609101 |journal=The New Atlantis |issue=57 |pages=36–74 |jstor=26609101 |issn=1543-1215}}</ref> of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Leipzig. He gave lectures that were attended by physicists like [[Edward Teller]] and [[Robert Oppenheimer]],<ref name="Valiunas-2019" /> who would later work on the [[Manhattan Project]]<ref name="Groves-1962" /> for the United States. 

During Heisenberg's tenure at Leipzig, the high quality of the doctoral students and [[Postgraduate education|post-graduate]] and research associates who studied and worked with him is clear from the acclaim that many later earned. They included [[Erich Bagge]], [[Felix Bloch]], [[Ugo Fano]], [[Siegfried Flügge]], [[William Vermillion Houston]], [[Friedrich Hund]], [[Robert S. Mulliken]], [[Rudolf Peierls]], [[George Placzek]], [[Isidor Isaac Rabi]], [[Fritz Sauter]], [[John C. Slater]], [[Edward Teller]], [[John Hasbrouck van Vleck]], [[Victor Frederick Weisskopf]], [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]], [[Gregor Wentzel]], and [[Clarence Zener]].<ref name=MottPeierls77_227>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=227}}</ref>

In early 1929, Heisenberg and Pauli submitted the first of two papers laying the foundation for relativistic [[quantum field theory]].<ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|Pauli|1929}}, {{harvnb|Heisenberg|Pauli|1930}}, as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=243}}</ref> Also in 1929, Heisenberg went on a lecture tour of China, Japan, India, and the United States.<ref name=Cassidy/><ref name=MottPeierls77_227 /> In the spring of 1929, he was a visiting lecturer at the [[University of Chicago]], where he lectured on quantum mechanics.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kursunoglu|first1=Behram N.|last2=Wigner|first2=Eugene P.|title=Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac: Reminiscences about a Great Physicist|date=26 April 1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-38688-3|page=132}}</ref>

In 1928, the British [[Mathematical Physics|mathematical physicist]] [[Paul Dirac]] had derived his [[Dirac equation|relativistic wave equation]] of quantum mechanics, which implied the existence of positive electrons, later to be named [[positron]]s. In 1932, from a [[cloud chamber]] photograph of [[cosmic ray]]s, the American physicist [[Carl David Anderson]] identified a track as having been made by a [[positron]]. In mid-1933, Heisenberg presented his theory of the positron. His thinking on Dirac's theory and further development of the theory were set forth in two papers. The first, "Bemerkungen zur Diracschen Theorie des Positrons" ("Remarks on Dirac's theory of the positron") was published in 1934,<ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|1934}}</ref> and the second, "Folgerungen aus der Diracschen Theorie des Positrons" ("Consequences of Dirac's Theory of the Positron"), was published in 1936.<ref name=Cassidy/><ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|Euler|1936}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Emilio G. |last=Segrè |author-link=Emilio G. Segrè |title=From X-rays to Quarks: Modern Physicists and Their Discoveries |publisher=W.H. Freeman |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-7167-1146-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/fromxraystoquark0000segr }}</ref> In these papers Heisenberg was the first to reinterpret the [[Dirac equation]] as a "classical" [[field equation]] for any point particle of [[Spin (physics)|spin]] ħ/2, itself subject to quantization conditions involving anti-[[commutator]]s. Thus reinterpreting it as a (quantum{{clarify|date=January 2021}}) field equation accurately describing electrons, Heisenberg put matter on the same footing as [[electromagnetism]]: as being described by relativistic quantum field equations which allowed the possibility of particle creation and destruction. ([[Hermann Weyl]] had already described this in a 1929 letter to [[Albert Einstein]].)

===Matrix mechanics and the Nobel Prize===
{{more citations needed|section|date=February 2017}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Bohr heisen pauli.jpg|thumb|[[Niels Bohr]], Werner Heisenberg, and [[Wolfgang Pauli]], c. 1935]] -->

Heisenberg's [[Umdeutung paper|''Umdeutung'' paper]] that established modern quantum mechanics<ref>{{cite journal|author=Heisenberg, W. |title=Über quantentheoretishe Umdeutung kinematisher und mechanischer Beziehungen|journal=Zeitschrift für Physik|volume=33|pages= 879–893|year= 1925|issue=1|doi=10.1007/BF01328377|bibcode=1925ZPhy...33..879H|s2cid=186238950}} (received 29 July 1925). [English translation in: B.L. van der Waerden, editor, ''Sources of Quantum Mechanics'' (Dover Publications, 1968) {{ISBN|978-0-486-61881-4}} (English title: "Quantum-Theoretical Re-interpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations").]</ref>{{efn|name=old}} has puzzled physicists and historians. His methods assume that the reader is familiar with [[Hans Kramers|Kramers]]-Heisenberg transition probability calculations. The main new idea, [[Matrix multiplication#Properties of matrix multiplication|non-commuting matrices]], is justified only by a rejection of unobservable quantities. It introduces the non-[[Commutativity|commutative]] multiplication of [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrices]] by physical reasoning, based on the [[correspondence principle]], despite the fact that Heisenberg was not then familiar with the mathematical theory of matrices. The path leading to these results has been reconstructed by MacKinnon,<ref>{{cite journal |last=MacKinnon |first=Edward |title=Heisenberg, Models, and the Rise of Quantum Mechanics |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences |volume=8 |pages=137–188 |year=1977 |jstor=27757370 |doi=10.2307/27757370}}</ref> and the detailed calculations are worked out by Aitchison and coauthors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aitchison |first1=Ian J.R. |first2=David A. |last2=MacManus |first3=Thomas M. |last3=Snyder |s2cid=53118117 |title=Understanding Heisenberg's 'magical' paper of July 1925: A new look at the calculational details |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=72 |issue=11 |pages=1370–1379 |date=November 2004 |doi=10.1119/1.1775243 |arxiv=quant-ph/0404009v1|bibcode=2004AmJPh..72.1370A }}</ref>

In Copenhagen, Heisenberg and [[Hans Kramers]] collaborated on a paper on dispersion, or the scattering from atoms of radiation whose wavelength is larger than the atoms. They showed that the successful formula Kramers had developed earlier could not be based on Bohr orbits, because the transition frequencies are based on level spacings which are not constant. The frequencies which occur in the [[Fourier transform]] of the classical [[sharp series]] orbits, by contrast, are equally spaced. But these results could be explained by a semi-classical [[virtual state]] model: the incoming radiation excites the valence, or outer, electron to a virtual state from which it decays. In a subsequent paper, Heisenberg showed that this virtual oscillator model could also explain the polarization of fluorescent radiation.

These two successes, and the continuing failure of the [[Bohr model|Bohr–Sommerfeld model]] to explain the outstanding problem of the anomalous Zeeman effect, led Heisenberg to use the virtual oscillator model to try to calculate spectral frequencies. The method proved too difficult to immediately apply to realistic problems, so Heisenberg turned to a simpler example, the [[anharmonic oscillator]].

The dipole oscillator consists of a [[simple harmonic oscillator]], which is thought of as a [[charged particle]] on a spring, perturbed by an external force, like an external charge. The motion of the oscillating charge can be expressed as a [[Fourier series]] in the frequency of the oscillator. Heisenberg solved for the quantum behavior by two different methods. First, he treated the system with the virtual oscillator method, calculating the transitions between the levels that would be produced by the external source.

He then solved the same problem by treating the anharmonic potential term as a perturbation to the harmonic oscillator and using the [[Perturbation theory|perturbation methods]] that he and Born had developed. Both methods led to the same results for the first and the very complicated second-order correction terms. This suggested that behind the very complicated calculations lay a consistent scheme.

So Heisenberg set out to formulate these results without any explicit dependence on the virtual oscillator model. To do this, he replaced the Fourier expansions for the spatial coordinates with matrices, matrices which corresponded to the transition coefficients in the virtual oscillator method. He justified this replacement by an appeal to Bohr's correspondence principle and the Pauli doctrine that quantum mechanics must be limited to observables.

On 9 July, Heisenberg gave Born this paper to review and submit for publication. When Born read the paper, he recognized the formulation as one which could be transcribed and extended to the systematic language of matrices,<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Abraham Pais |first=Abraham |last=Pais |title=Niels Bohr's Times in Physics, Philosophy, and Polity |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-19-852049-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nielsbohrstimesi00pais_0/page/275 275–279] |url=https://archive.org/details/nielsbohrstimesi00pais_0/page/275 }}</ref> which he had learned from his study under [[Jakob Rosanes]]<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1954/born-lecture.pdf Max Born] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019194414/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1954/born-lecture.pdf |date=19 October 2012 }} ''The Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics'', Nobel Lecture (1954)</ref> at [[Breslau University]]. Born, with the help of his assistant and former student [[Pascual Jordan]], began immediately to make the transcription and extension, and they submitted their results for publication; the paper was received for publication just 60 days after Heisenberg's paper.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=M. |last1=Born |first2=P. |last2=Jordan |s2cid=186114542 |title=Zur Quantenmechanik |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=858–888 |year=1925 |doi=10.1007/BF01328531 |bibcode=1925ZPhy...34..858B }} (received 27 September 1925). [English translation in: {{harvnb|van der Waerden|1968|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLMGqnZCDcC&pg=PA277 "On Quantum Mechanics"]}}]</ref> A follow-on paper was submitted for publication before the end of the year by all three authors.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=M. |last1=Born |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |first3=P. |last3=Jordan |s2cid=186237037 |title=Zur Quantenmechanik II |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=35 |pages=557–615 |year=1925 |bibcode=1926ZPhy...35..557B |doi=10.1007/BF01379806 |issue=8–9 }} The paper was received on 16 November 1925. [English translation in: {{harvnb|van der Waerden|1968|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLMGqnZCDcC&pg=PA321 15 "On Quantum Mechanics II"]}}]</ref>

Up until this time, matrices were seldom used by physicists; they were considered to belong to the realm of [[pure mathematics]]. [[Gustav Mie]] had used them in a paper on electrodynamics in 1912 and Born had used them in his work on the lattice theory of crystals in 1921. While matrices were used in these cases, the algebra of matrices with their multiplication did not enter the picture as they did in the matrix formulation of quantum mechanics.<ref>Jammer, Max (1966) ''The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics''. McGraw-Hill. pp. 206–207.</ref>

In 1928, Albert Einstein nominated Heisenberg, Born, and Jordan for the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein| 2004|p= 1004}}</ref> The announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1932 was delayed until November 1933.<ref>{{cite book |last=Greenspan |first=Nancy Thorndike |title=[[The End of the Certain World|The End of the Certain World: The Life and Science of Max Born]] |publisher=Basic Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7382-0693-6 |page=190}}</ref> It was at that time announced that Heisenberg had won the Prize for 1932 "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, [[List of Latin phrases: I#inter alia|inter alia]], led to the discovery of the [[Spin isomers of hydrogen|allotropic forms of hydrogen]]".<ref name=nobelprize>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1932] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080716011447/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/ |date=16 July 2008 }}. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 1 February 2012.</ref><ref name=ReferenceA>[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] and [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/press.html 1933] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080715234807/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/press.html |date=15 July 2008 }}&nbsp;– Nobel Prize Presentation Speech.</ref>

===Interpretation of quantum theory===

The development of quantum mechanics, and the apparently contradictory implications in regard to what is "real" had profound philosophical implications, including what scientific observations truly mean. In contrast to Albert Einstein and [[Louis de Broglie]], who were realists who believed that particles had an objectively true momentum and position at all times (even if both could not be measured), Heisenberg was an anti-realist, arguing that direct knowledge of what is "real" was beyond the scope of science.<ref name=Einstein>{{Cite book|title=Einstein's unfinished revolution: the search for what lies beyond the quantum|last=Smolin |first=Lee |isbn=978-0-241-00448-7|location=London | publisher=Allen Lane |pages=92–93|oclc=1048948576|date = 9 April 2019}}</ref> In his book ''The Physicist's Conception of Nature'',<ref name=Nature>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYYGAQAAIAAJ|title=The Physicist's Conception of Nature|last=Heisenberg|first=Werner|date=1958|publisher=Harcourt, Brace|pages=15, 28–29|language=en}}</ref> Heisenberg argued that ultimately one only can speak of the ''knowledge'' (numbers in tables) which describes something about particles but they can never have any "true" access to the particles themselves:<ref name=Einstein/><blockquote>We can no longer speak of the behaviour of the particle independently of the process of observation. As a final consequence, the natural laws formulated mathematically in quantum theory no longer deal with the elementary particles themselves but with our knowledge of them. Nor is it any longer possible to ask whether or not these particles exist in space and time objectively ...

When we speak of the picture of nature in the exact science of our age, we do not mean a picture of nature so much as a ''picture of our relationships with nature''. ...Science no longer confronts nature as an objective observer, but sees itself as an actor in this interplay between man and nature. The scientific method of analysing, explaining and classifying has become conscious of its limitations, which arise out of the fact that by its intervention science alters and refashions the object of investigation. In other words, method and object can no longer be separated.<ref name=Einstein/><ref name=Nature/></blockquote>

===''SS'' investigation===
Shortly after the discovery of the [[neutron]] by [[James Chadwick]] in 1932, Heisenberg submitted the first of three papers<ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|1932a}}, {{harvnb|Heisenberg|1932b}}, {{harvnb|Heisenberg|1933}}, as cited by {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=244}}</ref> on his [[Neutron#Proton – neutron model of the nucleus|neutron-proton model of the nucleus]].<ref name=Cassidy/><ref>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=228}}</ref> After [[Adolf Hitler]] came to power in 1933, Heisenberg was attacked in the press as a "White Jew" (i.e. an [[Aryan race|Aryan]] who acts like a Jew).<ref>{{cite web |title=Heisenberg&nbsp;– The Difficult Years: Professor in Leipzig, 1927–1942 |publisher=American Institute of Physics |url=http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p10.htm |access-date=20 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915073146/http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p10.htm |archive-date=15 September 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Supporters of ''[[Deutsche Physik]]'', or German Physics (also known as Aryan Physics), launched vicious attacks against leading theoretical physicists, including Arnold Sommerfeld and Heisenberg.<ref name=Cassidy/> From the early 1930s onward, the [[anti-Semitic]] and anti-theoretical physics movement ''Deutsche Physik'' had concerned itself with quantum mechanics and the [[theory of relativity]]. As applied in the university environment, political factors took priority over scholarly ability,<ref>{{harvnb|Beyerchen|1977|pp=141–167}}</ref> even though its two most prominent supporters were the [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Laureates in Physics]] [[Philipp Lenard]]<ref>{{harvnb|Beyerchen|1977|pp=79–102}}</ref> and [[Johannes Stark]].<ref>{{harvnb|Beyerchen|1977|pp=103–140}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Werner Heisenberg and Albert Einstein|journal = Physics Today|date = 12 January 2007|pages = 38–42|volume = 53|issue = 7|doi = 10.1063/1.1292474|first = Gerald|last = Holton|bibcode = 2000PhT....53g..38H|doi-access = free}}</ref>

There had been many failed attempts to have Heisenberg appointed as a professor at a number of German universities. His attempt to be appointed as successor to Arnold Sommerfeld failed because of opposition by the ''Deutsche Physik'' movement.<ref name=Macrakis172>{{harvnb|Macrakis|1993|p = 172}}</ref> On 1 April 1935, the eminent theoretical physicist Sommerfeld, Heisenberg's doctoral advisor at the [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München]], achieved [[emeritus]] status. However, Sommerfeld stayed in his chair during the selection process for his successor, which took until 1 December 1939. The process was lengthy due to academic and political differences between the Munich Faculty's selection and that of the [[Reichserziehungsministerium|Reich Education Ministry]] and the supporters of ''Deutsche Physik''.

In 1935, the Munich Faculty drew up a list of candidates to replace Sommerfeld as ordinarius professor of theoretical physics and head of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Munich. The three candidates had all been former students of Sommerfeld: Heisenberg, who had received the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]; [[Peter Debye]], who had received the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 1936; and [[Richard Becker (physicist)|Richard Becker]]. The Munich Faculty was firmly behind these candidates, with Heisenberg as their first choice. However, supporters of ''Deutsche Physik'' and elements in the REM had their own list of candidates, and the battle dragged on for over four years. During this time, Heisenberg came under vicious attack by the ''Deutsche Physik'' supporters. One attack was published in ''[[Das Schwarze Korps]]'', the newspaper of the ''[[SS]]'', headed by [[Heinrich Himmler]]. In this, Heisenberg was called a "White Jew" who should be made to "disappear".<ref>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996|pp=152–157 Document #55 [https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA152 'White Jews' in Science (15 July 1937)]}}</ref> These attacks were taken seriously, as Jews were violently attacked and incarcerated. Heisenberg fought back with an editorial and a letter to Himmler, in an attempt to resolve the matter and regain his honour.

At one point, Heisenberg's mother visited Himmler's mother. The two women knew each other, as Heisenberg's maternal grandfather and Himmler's father were rectors and members of a Bavarian hiking club. Eventually, Himmler settled the Heisenberg affair by sending two letters, one to SS [[Gruppenführer]] [[Reinhard Heydrich]] and one to Heisenberg, both on 21 July 1938. In the letter to Heydrich, Himmler said Germany could not afford to lose or silence Heisenberg, as he would be useful for teaching a generation of scientists. To Heisenberg, Himmler said the letter came on the recommendation of his family and he cautioned Heisenberg to make a distinction between professional physics research results and the personal and political attitudes of the involved scientists.<ref name=Goudsmit117>{{harvnb|Goudsmit|1986|pp= 117–119}}</ref>

[[Wilhelm Müller (physicist)|Wilhelm Müller]] replaced Sommerfeld at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Müller was not a theoretical physicist, had not published in a physics journal, and was not a member of the [[Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft|German Physical Society]]. His appointment was considered a travesty and detrimental to educating theoretical physicists.<ref name=Goudsmit117/><ref>{{harvnb|Beyerchen|1977|pp=153–167}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|pp=383–387}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Powers|1993|pp=40–43}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996|pp=152–157}} Document #55 ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA152 'White Jews' in Science (15 July 1937)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101210718/https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA152 |date=1 January 2016 }}''<br />pp. 175–176 Document #63 ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA175 Heinrich Himmler: Letter to Reinhard Heydrich &#91;21 July 1938&#93;] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521212342/https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA175 |date=21 May 2016 }}''<br />pp. 176–177 Document #64 ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA176 Heinrich Himmler: Letter to Werner Heisenberg &#91;21 July 1938&#93;] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603004352/https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC&pg=PA176 |date=3 June 2016 }}''<br />pp. 261–266 Document #85 ''Ludwig Prandtl: Attachment to the letter to Reich Marschal (sic) Hermann Göring [28 April 1941]'' <br />pp. 290–292 Document #93 ''[[Carl Ramsauer]]: The Munich Conciliation and Pacification Attempt [20 January 1942]''</ref>

The three investigators who led the SS investigation of Heisenberg had training in physics. Indeed, Heisenberg had participated in the doctoral examination of one of them at the [[University of Leipzig|Universität Leipzig]]. The most influential of the three was [[Johannes Juilfs]]. During their investigation, they became supporters of Heisenberg as well as his position against the ideological policies of the ''Deutsche Physik'' movement in theoretical physics and academia.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|pp=390–391}} Please note that Cassidy uses the alias Mathias Jules for Johannes Juilfs.</ref>

==German nuclear weapons program==
{{Main|German nuclear weapons program}}

===Pre-war work on physics===
In mid-1936, Heisenberg presented his theory of [[cosmic ray|cosmic-ray]] showers in two papers.<ref>{{harvnb|Heisenberg|1936a}}, {{harvnb|Heisenberg|1936b}}, as cited by {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=244}}</ref> Four more papers<ref>{{cite journal|author=Heisenberg, W. |title=Der Durchgang sehr energiereicher Korpuskeln durch den Atomkern|journal=Die Naturwissenschaften|volume =25|pages= 749–750 |doi= 10.1007/BF01789574 |year=1937 |issue=46 |bibcode=1937NW.....25..749H|s2cid=39613897}}, as cited by {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=244}}</ref><ref>Heisenberg, W. (1937) ''Theoretische Untersuchungen zur Ultrastrahlung'', ''Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges.'' Volume 18, 50, as cited by {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=244}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Die Absorption der durchdringenden Komponente der Höhenstrahlung|doi=10.1002/andp.19384250705|year=1938|last1=Heisenberg|first1=W. |journal=Annalen der Physik|volume=425|issue=7|pages=594–599|bibcode = 1938AnP...425..594H }}, as cited by {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=244}}</ref><ref>Heisenberg, W. (1938) ''Der Durchgang sehr energiereicher Korpuskeln durch den Atomkern'', ''Nuovo Cimento'' Volume 15, 31–34; ''Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges.'' Volume 19, 2, as cited by {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=244}}</ref> appeared in the next two years.<ref name=Cassidy/><ref name=MottPeierls77_231>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=231}}</ref>

In December 1938, the German chemists [[Otto Hahn]] and [[Fritz Strassmann]] sent a manuscript to ''[[Die Naturwissenschaften|The Natural Sciences]]'' reporting they had detected the element [[barium]] after bombarding [[uranium]] with neutrons, leading Hahn to conclude that a ''bursting'' of the uranium nucleus had occurred;<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Hahn, O. |author2= Strassmann, F. |title=Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle|trans-title=On the detection and characteristics of the alkaline earth metals formed by irradiation of uranium with neutrons|journal=Naturwissenschaften|volume =27|issue= 1|pages= 11–15 |year=1939|doi= 10.1007/BF01488241 |bibcode= 1939NW.....27...11H |s2cid= 5920336 }}. The authors were identified as being at the ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Chemie'', Berlin-Dahlem. Received 22 December 1938.</ref> simultaneously, Hahn communicated these results to his friend [[Lise Meitner]], who had in July of that year fled, first to the Netherlands, then to Sweden.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sime, Ruth Lewin |title=Lise Meitner's Escape from Germany |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=263–267 |date=March 1990 |doi=10.1119/1.16196 |bibcode=1990AmJPh..58..262S |author-link=Ruth Lewin Sime }}</ref> Meitner, and her nephew [[Otto Robert Frisch]], correctly interpreted Hahn's and Strassmann's results as being [[nuclear fission]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Meitner, Lise|s2cid=4113262 |title=Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction |journal=Nature |volume=143 |issue=3615 |pages=239–240 |date=11 February 1939|doi=10.1038/143239a0 |bibcode=1939Natur.143..239M }} The paper is dated 16 January 1939. Meitner is identified as being at the Physical Institute, Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. Frisch is identified as being at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Copenhagen.</ref> Frisch confirmed this experimentally on 13 January 1939.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Frisch, O.R. |s2cid=4076376 |title=Physical Evidence for the Division of Heavy Nuclei under Neutron Bombardment |journal=Nature |volume=143 |issue=3616 |page=276 |date=18 February 1939|doi=10.1038/143276a0 |bibcode=1939Natur.143..276F |doi-access=free }} The [http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Frisch-Fission-1939.html paper] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123165907/http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Frisch-Fission-1939.html |date=23 January 2009 }} is dated 17 January 1939. [The experiment for this letter to the editor was conducted on 13 January 1939; see Richard Rhodes ''The Making of the Atomic Bomb'' 263 and 268 (Simon and Schuster, 1986).]</ref>

In June and July 1939, Heisenberg traveled to the United States visiting [[Samuel Abraham Goudsmit]] at the [[University of Michigan]] in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]]. However, Heisenberg refused an invitation to emigrate to the United States. He did not see Goudsmit again until six years later, when Goudsmit was the chief scientific advisor to the American [[Operation Alsos]] at the close of World War II.<ref name=Cassidy/><ref>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996|p=387}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Goudsmit|1986|p= picture facing p. 124}}</ref>

===Membership in the Uranverein===
The [[German nuclear weapons program]], known as ''Uranverein'', was formed on 1 September 1939, the day [[World War II]] began in Europe. The ''Heereswaffenamt'' (HWA, Army Ordnance Office) had squeezed the ''[[Reichsforschungsrat]]'' (RFR, Reich Research Council) out of the ''[[Reichserziehungsministerium]]'' (REM, Reich Ministry of Education) and started the formal German nuclear energy project under military auspices. The project had its first meeting on 16 September 1939. The meeting was organized by [[Kurt Diebner]], advisor to the HWA, and held in Berlin. The invitees included [[Walther Bothe]], [[Siegfried Flügge]], [[Hans Geiger]], [[Otto Hahn]], [[Paul Harteck]], [[Gerhard Hoffmann (physicist)|Gerhard Hoffmann]], [[Josef Mattauch]] and [[Georg Stetter]]. A second meeting was held soon thereafter and included Heisenberg, [[Klaus Clusius]], [[Robert Döpel]] and [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]]. The ''Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik'' (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics) in [[Dahlem (Berlin)|Berlin-Dahlem]], was placed under HWA authority, with Diebner as the administrative director, and the military control of the nuclear research commenced.<ref name=Macrakis164>{{harvnb|Macrakis|1993|pp = 164–169}}</ref><ref name=Rechenberg>{{cite book |last1=Mehra |first1=Jagdish |first2=Helmut |last2=Rechenberg |title=Volume 6. The Completion of Quantum Mechanics 1926–1941. Part 2. The Conceptual Completion and Extension of Quantum Mechanics 1932–1941. Epilogue: Aspects of the Further Development of Quantum Theory 1942–1999 |series=The Historical Development of Quantum Theory |publisher=Springer |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-387-95086-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/completionofquan0000mehr |pages=1010–1011}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996|pp=363–364, Appendix F;}} see the entries for Diebner and Döpel. See also the entry for the KWIP in Appendix A and the entry for the HWA in Appendix B.</ref> During the period when Diebner administered the KWIP under the HWA program, considerable personal and professional animosity developed between Diebner and Heisenberg's inner circle, which included [[Karl Wirtz]] and [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]].<ref name=Cassidy/><ref name=Walker94>{{harvnb|Walker|1989|pp=19, 94–95}}</ref>

[[File:UFission.gif|upright=1.15|right|thumb|A visual representation of an induced nuclear fission event where a slow-moving neutron is absorbed by the nucleus of a uranium-235 atom, which fissions into two fast-moving lighter elements (fission products) and additional neutrons. Most of the energy released is in the form of the kinetic velocities of the fission products and the neutrons.]]
At a scientific conference on 26–28 February 1942 at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, called by the Army Weapons Office, Heisenberg presented a lecture to Reich officials on energy acquisition from nuclear fission.<ref>[http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p14.htm American Institute for Physics, Center for History of Physics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917202704/http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/p14.htm |date=17 September 2008 }}</ref> The lecture, entitled "Die theoretischen Grundlagen für die Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung" ("The theoretical basis for energy generation from uranium fission") was, as Heisenberg wrote after the Second World War in a letter to [[Samuel Goudsmit]], "adapted to the intelligence level of a Reich Minister".<ref>{{harvnb|Macrakis|1993|p = 244}}</ref> Heisenberg lectured on the enormous energy potential of nuclear fission, stating that 250 million electron volts could be released through the fission of an atomic nucleus. Heisenberg stressed that pure U-235 had to be obtained to achieve a chain reaction. He explored various ways of obtaining isotope {{nuclide|U|235}} in its pure form, including uranium enrichment and an alternative layered method of normal uranium and a moderator in a machine. This machine, he noted, could be used in practical ways to fuel vehicles, ships and submarines. Heisenberg stressed the importance of the Army Weapons Office's financial and material support for this scientific endeavour.

A second scientific conference followed. Lectures were heard on problems of modern physics with decisive importance for the national defense and economy. The conference was attended by [[Bernhard Rust]], the Reich Minister of Science, Education and National Culture. At the conference, Reich Minister Rust decided to take the nuclear project away from the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, and give it to the Reich Research Council.<ref>{{harvnb|Macrakis|1993|p = 171}}</ref>

In April 1942 the army returned the Physics Institute to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, naming Heisenberg as Director at the Institute.<ref name=Macrakis172/> [[Peter Debye]] was still director of the institute, but had gone on leave to the United States after he had refused to become a German citizen when the HWA took administrative control of the KWIP. Heisenberg still also had his department of physics at the University of Leipzig where work had been done for the ''Uranverein'' by [[Robert Döpel]] and his wife [[Klara Döpel]].<ref name=Cassidy/><ref name=Walker94/>

On 4 June 1942, Heisenberg was summoned to report to [[Albert Speer]], Germany's Minister of Armaments, on the prospects for converting the Uranverein's research toward developing [[nuclear weapon]]s. During the meeting, Heisenberg told Speer that a bomb could not be built before 1945, because it would require significant monetary resources and number of personnel.<ref>Albert Speer, [[Inside the Third Reich]], Macmillan, 1970, pp. 225ff.</ref><ref>[http://www.stanford.edu/~njenkins/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I662&ged=auden-bicknell.ged Prof. Werner Carl Heisenberg (I662)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615112426/http://www.stanford.edu/~njenkins/cgi-bin/auden/individual.php?pid=I662&ged=auden-bicknell.ged |date=15 June 2008 }}. Stanford.edu</ref>

After the Uranverein project was placed under the leadership of the Reich Research Council, it focused on [[nuclear power]] production and thus maintained its ''kriegswichtig'' (importance for the war) status; funding therefore continued from the military. The nuclear power project was broken down into the following main areas: [[uranium]] and [[heavy water]] production, uranium [[isotope separation]] and the ''Uranmaschine'' (uranium machine, i.e., [[nuclear reactor]]). The project was then essentially split up between a number of institutes, where the directors dominated the research and set their own research agendas.<ref name=Macrakis164/><ref>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996}}; see the entry for the KWIP in Appendix A and the entries for the HWA and the RFR in Appendix B. Also see p. 372 and footnote #50 on p. 372.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Walker|1989|pp=49–53}}</ref> The point in 1942, when the army relinquished its control of the German nuclear weapons program, was the zenith of the project relative to the number of personnel. About 70 scientists worked for the program, with about 40 devoting more than half their time to nuclear fission research. After 1942, the number of scientists working on applied nuclear fission diminished dramatically. Many of the scientists not working with the main institutes stopped working on nuclear fission and devoted their efforts to more pressing war-related work.<ref>{{harvnb|Walker|1989|pp=52, Reference #40 on p. 262}}</ref>

In September 1942, Heisenberg submitted his first paper of a three-part series on the scattering matrix, or [[S-matrix]], in elementary [[particle physics]]. The first two papers were published in 1943<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=120706757 |title=Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. I |journal=[[Z. Phys.]] |volume=120 |pages=513–538 |year=1943 |doi=10.1007/BF01329800 |issue=7–10 |bibcode=1943ZPhy..120..513H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=124531901 |title=Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. II |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=120 |pages=673–702 |year=1943 |doi=10.1007/BF01336936 |issue=11–12 |bibcode=1943ZPhy..120..673H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> and the third in 1944.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=123698415 |title=Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. III |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=123 |issue=1–2 |pages=93–112 |year=1944 |doi=10.1007/BF01375146 |bibcode=1944ZPhy..123...93H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> The S-matrix described only the states of incident particles in a collision process, the states of those emerging from the collision, and stable [[bound state]]s; there would be no reference to the intervening states. This was the same precedent as he followed in 1925 in what turned out to be the foundation of the matrix formulation of quantum mechanics through only the use of observables.<ref name=Cassidy/><ref name=MottPeierls77_231 />

In February 1943, Heisenberg was appointed to the Chair for Theoretical Physics at the ''Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität'' (today, the [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin]]). In April, his election to the ''Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften'' ([[Prussian Academy of Sciences]]) was approved. That same month, he moved his family to their retreat in [[:de:Urfeld am Walchensee|Urfeld]] as Allied bombing increased in Berlin. In the summer, he dispatched the first of his staff at the ''Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik'' to [[Hechingen]] and its neighboring town of [[Haigerloch]], on the edge of the [[Black Forest]], for the same reasons. From 18–26 October, he travelled to [[German-occupied Netherlands]]. In December 1943, Heisenberg visited [[History of Poland (1939–1945)|German-occupied Poland]].<ref name=Cassidy/><ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein|2004|pp=300–304}}</ref>

From 24 January to 4 February 1944, Heisenberg travelled to occupied Copenhagen, after the German army confiscated [[Bohr's Institute of Theoretical Physics]]. He made a short return trip in April. In December, Heisenberg lectured in [[Switzerland during the World Wars#World War II|neutral Switzerland]].<ref name=Cassidy/> The United States [[Office of Strategic Services]] sent agent [[Moe Berg]] to attend the lecture carrying a pistol, with orders to shoot Heisenberg if his lecture indicated that Germany was close to completing an atomic bomb.<ref>{{citation|url=http://bos.sagepub.com/content/68/1/61.full|journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]|title=Nuclear scientists as assassination targets|author=Tobey, William |s2cid=145583391|doi=10.1177/0096340211433019|date=January–February 2012|volume=68|issue=1|pages=63–64|bibcode=2012BuAtS..68a..61T|access-date=18 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723003531/http://bos.sagepub.com/content/68/1/61.full|archive-date=23 July 2014|url-status=live}}, citing [[Thomas Powers]] 1993 book "Heisenberg's War".</ref>

In January 1945, Heisenberg, with most of the rest of his staff, moved from the ''Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik'' to the facilities in the Black Forest.<ref name=Cassidy/>

==Post-Second World War==
===1945: Alsos Mission===
{{Main|Alsos Mission}}
[[File:Haigerloch-nuclear-reactor ArM.JPG|thumb|upright=1.15|right|Replica of the German experimental nuclear reactor captured and dismantled at Haigerloch]]
The Alsos Mission was an Allied effort to determine whether the Germans had an atomic bomb program and to exploit German atomic-related facilities, research, material resources, and scientific personnel for the benefit of the US. Personnel on this operation generally swept into areas that had just come under control of the Allied military forces, but sometimes they operated in areas still under control by German forces.<ref>{{harvnb|Goudsmit|1986|p= x}}</ref><ref name=pash>[[Boris Pash|Pash, Boris T.]] (1969) ''The Alsos Mission''. Award. pp. 219–241.</ref><ref name=Cassidy1992_491_5000>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|pp=491–500}}</ref> Berlin had been a location of many German scientific research facilities. To limit casualties and loss of equipment, many of these facilities were dispersed to other locations in the latter years of the war. The ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik'' (KWIP, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics) had been bombed so it had mostly been moved in 1943 and 1944 to [[Hechingen]] and its neighbouring town of [[Haigerloch]], on the edge of the [[Black Forest]], which eventually became included in the French occupation zone. This allowed the American task force of the Alsos Mission to take into custody a large number of German scientists associated with nuclear research.<ref>[[Norman Naimark|Naimark, Norman M.]] (1995) ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949''. Belkanp. pp. 208–209. {{ISBN|978-0-674-78406-2}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein|2001|pp=49–52}}</ref>

On 30 March, the Alsos Mission reached [[Heidelberg]],<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Mahoney |first=Leo J. |title=A History of the War Department Scientific Intelligence Mission (ALSOS), 1943–1945 |degree=PhD |publisher=Kent State University |year=1981 |oclc=223804966 |page=298}}</ref> where important scientists were captured including [[Walther Bothe]], [[Richard Kuhn]], [[Philipp Lenard]], and [[Wolfgang Gentner]].<ref>{{harvnb|Goudsmit|1986|pp= 77–84}}</ref> Their interrogation revealed that Otto Hahn was at his laboratory in Tailfingen, while Heisenberg and [[Max von Laue]] were at Heisenberg's laboratory in [[Hechingen]], and that the experimental natural uranium reactor that Heisenberg's team had built in Berlin had been moved to Haigerloch. Thereafter, the main focus of the Alsos Mission was on these nuclear facilities in the [[Württemberg]] area.<ref name="Groves-1962">{{cite book |last=Groves|first=Leslie |author-link=Leslie Groves |title=Now it Can be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project |url=https://archive.org/details/nowitcanbetolds00grov|url-access=registration|location=New York |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1962 |oclc=537684 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nowitcanbetolds00grov/page/231 231]|isbn=978-0-306-70738-4}}</ref> Heisenberg was smuggled out from Urfeld, on 3 May 1945, in an alpine operation in territory still under control by elite German forces. He was taken to Heidelberg, where, on 5 May, he met Goudsmit for the first time since the Ann Arbor visit in 1939. Germany surrendered just two days later. Heisenberg would not see his family again for eight months, as he was moved across France and Belgium and flown to England on 3 July 1945.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|1992|pp=491–510}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein|2001|p=60}}</ref><ref name=pash/>

===1945: Reaction to Hiroshima===
Nine of the prominent German scientists who published reports in ''[[Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte|Nuclear Physics Research Reports]]'' as members of the ''Uranverein''<ref>{{harvnb|Walker|1989|pp=268–274, Reference #40 on p. 262}}</ref> were captured by Operation Alsos and incarcerated in England under [[Operation Epsilon]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein|2001|pp=50, 363–365}}</ref> Ten German scientists, including Heisenberg, were held at Farm Hall in England. The facility had been a [[safe house]] of the British foreign intelligence [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]]. During their detention, their conversations were recorded. Conversations thought to be of intelligence value were transcribed and translated into English. The transcripts were released in 1992.<ref>[[Frederick Charles Frank|Frank, Charles]] (1993) ''Operation Epsilon: The Farm Hall Transcripts''. University of California Press.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein|2001|pp=xvii–xix}}</ref> On 6 August 1945, the scientists at Farm Hall learned from media reports that the US had dropped an atomic bomb in [[Hiroshima]], [[Japan]]. At first, there was disbelief that a bomb had been built and dropped. In the weeks that followed, the German scientists discussed how the United States might have built the bomb.<ref>{{harvnb|Macrakis|1993|p = 143}}</ref>

The [[Farm Hall transcripts]] reveal that Heisenberg, along with other physicists interned at Farm Hall including Otto Hahn and [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]], were glad the Allies had won World War II.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bernstein|first1=Jeremy|title=Hitler's Uranium Club|date=1996|publisher=AIP Press|location=Woodbury NY|page=139}}</ref> Heisenberg told other scientists that he had never contemplated a bomb, only an atomic pile to produce energy. The morality of creating a bomb for the [[Nazi Party|Nazis]] was also discussed. Only a few of the scientists expressed genuine horror at the prospect of nuclear weapons, and Heisenberg himself was cautious in discussing the matter.<ref>{{cite web|title=Transcript of Surreptitiously Taped Conversations among German Nuclear Physicists at Farm Hall (August 6–7, 1945)|url=http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/English101.pdf|publisher=German History in Documents and Images|access-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519001219/http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/English101.pdf|archive-date=19 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Sartori|first1=Leo|title=Reviews|url=https://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/2000/october/roct00.html|publisher=American Physical Society|access-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915232546/http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/2000/october/roct00.html|archive-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> On the failure of the German nuclear weapons program to build an atomic bomb, Heisenberg remarked, "We wouldn't have had the moral courage to recommend to the government in the spring of 1942 that they should employ 120,000 men just for building the thing up."<ref>{{harvnb|Macrakis|1993|p = 144}}</ref>

When in 1992 the transcripts were declassified, German physicist [[:de:Manfred Popp|Manfred Popp]] analyzed the transcripts, as well as the documentation of Uranverein. When the German scientists heard about the Hiroshima bomb, Heisenberg admitted that he had never calculated the critical mass of an atomic bomb before. When he subsequently attempted to calculate the mass, he made serious calculation errors. [[Edward Teller]] and [[Hans Bethe]] saw the transcript, and drew the conclusion that Heisenberg had done it for the first time as he made similar errors as they had. Only a week later Heisenberg gave a lecture about the physics of the bomb. He correctly recognized many essential aspects, including the efficiency of the bomb, although he still underestimated it. For Popp, this is proof that Heisenberg did not spend time on a nuclear weapon during the war; on the contrary, he avoided even thinking about it.<ref>{{Cite news |last=POPP |first=Manfred |date=2017-01-04 |title=Darum hatte Hitler keine Atombombe |url=https://www.zeit.de/wissen/geschichte/2016-12/ns-zeit-adolf-hitler-atombombe-entwicklung-werner-heisenberg-kernphysik/komplettansicht |website=Die Zeit.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Teller |first=Edward |title=Heisenberg, Bohr and the atomic bomb |url=https://www.webofstories.com/people/edward.teller/34?o=SH |access-date=2023-08-02 |language=en}}</ref>

==Post-war research career==
[[File:Werner Heisenberg bust.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Heisenberg in his old age, on display at the [[Max Planck Society]] campus in [[Garching bei München]] ]]

===Executive positions at German research institutions===
On 3 January 1946, the ten Operation Epsilon detainees were transported to [[Alswede]] in Germany. Heisenberg settled in Göttingen, which was in the British zone of [[Allied-occupied Germany]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bernstein|2004|p=326}}</ref> Heisenberg immediately began to promote scientific research in Germany. Following the [[Kaiser Wilhelm Society]]'s dissolution by the [[Allied Control Council]] and the establishment of the [[Max Planck Society]] in the British zone, Heisenberg became the director of the [[Max Planck Institute for Physics]]. [[Max von Laue]] was appointed vice director, while [[Karl Wirtz]], [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]] and [[Ludwig Biermann]] joined to help Heisenberg establish the institute. [[Heinz Billing]] joined in 1950 to promote the development of electronic [[computing]]. The core research focus of the institute was [[cosmic radiation]]. The institute held a colloquium every Saturday morning.<ref name=Springer>{{Cite book|title=Fundamental Physics – Heisenberg and Beyond: Werner Heisenberg Centennial Symposium "Developments in Modern Physics"|editor1=Gerd W. Buschhorn |editor2=Julius Wess|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012|isbn=978-3-642-18623-3 |page=18}}</ref>

Heisenberg together with {{ill|Hermann Rein|de}} was instrumental in the establishment of the [[Forschungsrat]] (research council). Heisenberg envisaged this council to promote the dialogue between the newly founded [[Federal Republic of Germany]] and the scientific community, based in Germany.<ref name=Springer/> Heisenberg was appointed president of the ''Forschungsrat''. In 1951, the organization was fused with the [[Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft]] (Emergency Association of German Science) and that same year renamed the [[Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft]] (German Research Foundation). Following the merger, Heisenberg was appointed to the presidium.<ref name=Cassidy/>

In 1958, the [[Max Planck Institute for Physics|Max-Planck-Institut für Physik]] was moved to Munich, expanded, and renamed [[Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics|Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik]] (MPIFA). In the interim, Heisenberg and the astrophysicist [[Ludwig Biermann]] were co-directors of MPIFA. Heisenberg also became an ''ordentlicher Professor'' (ordinarius professor) at the [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich|Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München]]. Heisenberg was the sole director of MPIFA from 1960 to 1970. Heisenberg resigned his directorship of the MPIFA on 31 December 1970.<ref name=Hentschel/><ref name=Cassidy/>

===Promotion of international scientific cooperation===
In 1951, Heisenberg agreed to become the scientific representative of the [[Federal Republic of Germany]] at the [[UNESCO]] conference, with the aim of establishing a European laboratory for nuclear physics. Heisenberg's aim was to build a large [[particle accelerator]], drawing on the resources and technical skills of scientists across the [[Western Bloc]]. On 1 July 1953 Heisenberg signed the convention that established [[CERN]] on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. Although he was asked to become CERN's founding scientific director, he declined. Instead, he was appointed chair of CERN's science policy committee and went on to determine the scientific program at CERN.<ref name="Reference">{{Cite book|title=Fundamental Physics – Heisenberg and Beyond: Werner Heisenberg Centennial Symposium "Developments in Modern Physics"|editor1=Gerd W. Buschhorn |editor2=Julius Wess|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012|isbn=978-3-642-18623-3 |page=21}}</ref>

In December 1953, Heisenberg became the president of the [[Alexander von Humboldt Foundation]].<ref name="Reference"/> During his tenure as president 550 Humboldt scholars from 78 nations received scientific research grants. Heisenberg resigned as president shortly before his death.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fundamental Physics – Heisenberg and Beyond: Werner Heisenberg Centennial Symposium "Developments in Modern Physics"|editor1=Gerd W. Buschhorn |editor2=Julius Wess|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012|isbn=978-3-642-18623-3 |page=22}}</ref>

===Research interests===
In 1946, the German scientist [[Heinz Pose]], head of Laboratory V in [[Obninsk]], wrote a letter to Heisenberg inviting him to work in the USSR. The letter lauded the working conditions in the USSR and the available resources, as well as the favorable attitude of the Soviets towards German scientists. A courier hand delivered the recruitment letter, dated 18 July 1946, to Heisenberg; Heisenberg politely declined.<ref>{{harvnb|Walker|1989|pp=184–185}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Oleynikov |first=Pavel V. |s2cid=144392252 |title=German Scientists in the Soviet Atomic Project |journal=The Nonproliferation Review |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–30 [14] |year=2000 |url=http://cns.miis.edu/npr/pdfs/72pavel.pdf |doi=10.1080/10736700008436807}}</ref> In 1947, Heisenberg presented lectures in [[Cambridge]], [[Edinburgh]] and [[Bristol]]. Heisenberg contributed to the understanding of the phenomenon of [[superconductivity]] with a paper in 1947<ref>{{cite journal | author = Werner Heisenberg |title=Zur Theorie der Supraleitung |journal=Forsch. Fortschr. |volume=21/23 |pages=243–244 |year=1947 }}; {{cite journal |journal=Z. Naturforsch. |volume=2a |issue=4 |pages=185–201 |year=1947 |title=Zur Theorie der Supraleitung | author=Heisenberg, W.|doi=10.1515/zna-1947-0401 |bibcode=1947ZNatA...2..185H |s2cid=93679759 |doi-access=free }} cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> and two papers in 1948,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Das elektrodynamische Verhalten der Supraleiter |journal=Z. Naturforsch. |volume=3a |issue=2 |pages=65–75 |year=1948 |doi=10.1515/zna-1948-0201 |bibcode=1948ZNatA...3...65H |doi-access=free }} cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Heisenberg, W.|title=Das Barlowsche Rad aus supraleitendem Material |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=124 |pages=514–518 |year=1948| author2= M.V. Laue|s2cid=121271077 |issue=7–12 |doi=10.1007/BF01668888 |bibcode=1948ZPhy..124..514H }} cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> one of them with [[Max von Laue]].<ref name=Cassidy/><ref>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|pp=238–239}}</ref>

In the period shortly after World War II, Heisenberg briefly returned to the subject of his doctoral thesis, turbulence. Three papers were published in 1948<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186223726 |title=Zur statistischen Theorie der Tubulenz |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=124 |pages=628–657 |year=1948 |issue=7–12|doi=10.1007/BF01668899 |bibcode=1948ZPhy..124..628H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=On the theory of statistical and isotropic turbulence |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society A]] |volume=195 |pages=402–406 |year=1948 |issue=1042|doi=10.1098/rspa.1948.0127 |bibcode=1948RSPSA.195..402H |doi-access=free }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=202047340 |title=Bemerkungen um Turbulenzproblem |journal=Z. Naturforsch. |volume=3a |issue=8–11 |pages=434–437 |year=1948 |doi=10.1515/zna-1948-8-1103 |bibcode=1948ZNatA...3..434H |doi-access=free }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> and one in 1950.<ref name=MottPeierls77_217/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=w. |title=On the stability of laminar flow |journal=Proc. International Congress Mathematicians |volume=II |pages=292–296 |date=1950 }}, as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> In the post-war period Heisenberg continued his interests in cosmic-ray showers with considerations on multiple production of [[meson]]s. He published three papers<ref>{{cite journal | author=Heisenberg, W. |s2cid=4043099 |title=Production of mesons showers |journal=Nature |volume=164 |pages=65–67 |year=1949 |issue=4158|doi=10.1038/164065c0 |pmid=18228928 |bibcode=1949Natur.164...65H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=122006877 |title=Die Erzeugung von Mesonen in Vielfachprozessen |journal=Nuovo Cimento |volume=6 |issue=Suppl |pages=493–497 |year=1949 |doi=10.1007/BF02822044 |bibcode=1949NCim....6S.493H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=120410676 |title=Über die Entstehung von Mesonen in Vielfachprozessen |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=126 |pages=569–582 |year=1949 |issue=6|doi=10.1007/BF01330108 |bibcode=1949ZPhy..126..569H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=245}}</ref> in 1949, two<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=41323295 |title=Bermerkungen zur Theorie der Vielfacherzeugung von Mesonen |journal=[[Die Naturwissenschaften]] |volume=39 |page=69 |year=1952|issue=3 |doi=10.1007/BF00596818 |bibcode=1952NW.....39...69H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=246}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author= Heisenberg, W.| s2cid=124271377 | title=Mesonenerzeugung als Stosswellenproblem |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=133 |issue=1–2 |pages=65–79 |year=1952| doi=10.1007/BF01948683 | bibcode=1952ZPhy..133...65H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=246}}</ref> in 1952, and one<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=121970196 |title=The production of mesons in very high energy collisions |journal=Nuovo Cimento |volume=12 |issue=Suppl |pages=96–103 |year=1955 |doi=10.1007/BF02746079 |bibcode=1955NCim....2S..96H }} as cited in {{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=246}}</ref> in 1955.<ref>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|p=238}}</ref>

In late 1955 to early 1956, Heisenberg gave the [[Gifford Lectures]] at [[University of St Andrews|St Andrews University]], in Scotland, on the [[intellectual history]] of physics. The lectures were later published as ''Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science''.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2009|p=262}}</ref> During 1956 and 1957, Heisenberg was the chairman of the ''Arbeitskreis Kernphysik'' (Nuclear Physics Working Group) of the ''Fachkommission II "Forschung und Nachwuchs"'' (Commission II "Research and Growth") of the ''Deutsche Atomkommission'' (DAtK, German Atomic Energy Commission). Other members of the Nuclear Physics Working Group in both 1956 and 1957 were: [[Walther Bothe]], [[Hans Kopfermann]] (vice-chairman), [[Fritz Bopp]], [[Wolfgang Gentner]], [[Otto Haxel]], [[Willibald Jentschke]], [[Heinz Maier-Leibnitz]], [[Josef Mattauch]], {{ill|Wolfgang Riezler|de|Wolfgang Riezler}}, [[Wilhelm Walcher]] and [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]]. [[Wolfgang Paul]] was also a member of the group during 1957.<ref>Horst Kant ''Werner Heisenberg and the German Uranium Project / Otto Hahn and the Declarations of Mainau and Göttingen'', Preprint 203 (Max-Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, [http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/Preprints/P203.PDF 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205050454/http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/Preprints/P203.PDF |date=5 February 2012 }}).</ref>

In 1957, Heisenberg was a signatory of the [[Göttinger Manifest]], taking a public stand against the [[Federal Republic of Germany]] arming itself with [[nuclear weapons]]. Heisenberg, like [[Pascual Jordan]], thought politicians would ignore this statement by nuclear scientists. But Heisenberg believed that the Göttinger Manifest would "influence public opinion" which politicians would have to take into account. He wrote to [[Walther Gerlach]]: "We will probably have to keep coming back to this question in public for a long time because of the danger that public opinion will slacken."<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=329}}</ref> In 1961 Heisenberg signed the [[Memorandum of Tübingen]] alongside a group of scientists who had been brought together by [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker]] and [[Ludwig Raiser]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=334}}</ref> A public discussion between scientists and politicians ensued.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|pp=335–336}}</ref> As prominent politicians, authors and socialites joined the debate on nuclear weapons, the signatories of the memorandum took a stand against "the full-time intellectual nonconformists".<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=339}}</ref>

From 1957 onwards, Heisenberg was interested in [[plasma physics]] and the process of [[nuclear fusion]]. He also collaborated with the International Institute of Atomic Physics in [[Geneva]]. He was a member of the Institute's scientific policy committee, and for several years was the Committee's chair.<ref name=Biography/> He was one of the eight signatories of the [[Memorandum of Tübingen]] which called for the recognition of the [[Oder–Neisse line|Oder–Neiße line]] as the official border between [[Germany]] and [[Poland]] and spoke against a possible nuclear armament of [[West Germany]].<ref name=Donhoff>{{cite news|author=Dönhoff, Marion |date=2 March 1962|title=Lobbyisten der Vernunft|trans-title=Lobbyists of reason|url=https://www.zeit.de/1962/09/lobbyisten-der-vernunft/komplettansicht|language=de|newspaper=Die Zeit|access-date=17 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118125801/https://www.zeit.de/1962/09/lobbyisten-der-vernunft/komplettansicht|archive-date=18 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1973, Heisenberg gave a lecture at [[Harvard University]] on the historical development of the concepts of [[Quantum mechanics|quantum theory]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=Werner |title=Development of concepts in the history of quantum theory |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=389–394 |year=1975|doi=10.1119/1.9833 |bibcode=1975AmJPh..43..389H }}</ref> On 24 March 1973 Heisenberg gave a speech before the Catholic Academy of Bavaria, accepting the Romano Guardini Prize. An English translation of his speech was published under the title "Scientific and Religious Truth", a quotation from which appears in a later section of this article.<ref name=atf74/>

==Philosophy and worldview==
Heisenberg admired [[Eastern philosophy]] and saw parallels between it and quantum mechanics, describing himself as in "complete agreement" with the book ''[[The Tao of Physics]]''. Heisenberg even went as far to state that after conversations with [[Rabindranath Tagore]] about [[Indian philosophy]] "some of the ideas that seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Capra |first=Fritjof |url=http://archive.org/details/uncommonwisdomco00capr/page/42 |title=Uncommon Wisdom: Conversations with Remarkable People |date=11 January 1989 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=9780553346107 |pages=43 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Regarding the [[Scientific law|laws of nature]] he remarked that "the concept of 'the law of nature' cannot be completely objective, the word 'law' being a purely human principle".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Labron |first1=Tim |title=Science and Religion in Wittgenstein's Fly-Bottle |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=75}}</ref>

Regarding the philosophy of [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], Heisenberg disliked ''[[Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus]]'' but he liked "very much the later ideas of Wittgenstein and his philosophy about language."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fdavidpeat.com/interviews/heisenberg.htm|title=Interview with Werner Heisenberg – F. David Peat|website=fdavidpeat.com}}</ref>

Heisenberg, a devout Christian,<ref>Moore, Lance (2019). ''A God Beyond Belief: Reclaiming Faith in a Quantum Age''. John Hunt Publishing, UK</ref><ref>Marganau, Henry (1985). "Why am I a Christian". ''Truth Journal'', Vol. I</ref> wrote: "We can console ourselves that the good Lord God would know the position of the [subatomic] particles, thus He would let the causality principle continue to have validity", in his last letter to Albert Einstein.<ref>Holton, Gerald (2005). ''Victory and Vexation in Science: Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg and Others''. Harvard University Press, London. p. 32. {{ISBN|978-0-674-01519-7}}</ref> Einstein continued to maintain that quantum physics must be incomplete because it implies that the universe is indeterminate at a fundamental level.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Pais|first1= Abraham|date= October 1979|title= Einstein and the quantum theory|url= http://ursula.chem.yale.edu/~batista/classes/vvv/RevModPhys.51.863.pdf|journal= Reviews of Modern Physics|volume= 51|issue= 4|pages= 863–914|doi= 10.1103/RevModPhys.51.863|bibcode= 1979RvMP...51..863P|archive-date= 29 August 2019|access-date= 28 May 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190829151347/http://ursula.chem.yale.edu/~batista/classes/vvv/RevModPhys.51.863.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref>

In lectures given in the 1950s and later published as ''Physics and Philosophy'', Heisenberg contended that scientific advances were leading to cultural conflicts. He stated that modern physics is "part of a general historical process that tends toward a unification and a widening of our present world".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJjuAAAAMAAJ |title=Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science – Werner Heisenberg |date=8 May 2007 |isbn=9780061209192 |access-date=19 February 2022|last1=Heisenberg |first1=Werner |publisher=HarperCollins }}</ref>

When Heisenberg accepted the {{ill|Romano Guardini Prize|de|Romano-Guardini-Preis}} in 1974, he gave a speech, which he later published under the title ''Scientific and Religious Truth''. He mused:

{{blockquote|In the history of science, ever since the famous [[Galileo affair|trial of Galileo]], it has repeatedly been claimed that scientific truth cannot be reconciled with the religious interpretation of the world. Although I am now convinced that scientific truth is unassailable in its own field, I have never found it possible to dismiss the content of religious thinking as simply part of an outmoded phase in the consciousness of mankind, a part we shall have to give up from now on. Thus in the course of my life I have repeatedly been compelled to ponder on the relationship of these two regions of thought, for I have never been able to doubt the reality of that to which they point.|Heisenberg 1974, 213<ref>Werner Heisenberg (1970) "Erste Gespräche über das Verhältnis von Naturwissenschaft und Religion" in ed. Werner Trutwin, "Religion-Wissenschaft-Weltbild" Duesseldorf: Patmos Verlag, pages 23–31</ref>}}

Heisenberg referred to nature as "God's second book" (the first being the Bible) and believed that "Physics is reflection on the divine
ideas of Creation; therefore physics is divine service". This was because "God created the world in accordance with his ideas of creation" and humans can understand the world because "Man was created as the spiritual image of God".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heisenberg |first1=Werner |title=Tradition in Science |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |date=1973 |volume=29 |issue=10|page=4 |doi=10.1080/00963402.1973.11455537 |bibcode=1973BuAtS..29j...4H }}</ref>

==Political stance==
Heisenberg never participated in explicit [[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|National Socialist propaganda]]. However, he fully supported Nazi Germany's project of [[New Order (Nazism)|European "renewal"]], which corresponded with his German-[[Imperialism|imperialist]] convictions.{{sfn|Walker|1989|pp=117–118}} The Dutch physicist [[Hendrik Casimir]] recalled hearing from Heisenberg in 1943 that German [[world domination]] was a historical necessity due to the weakness of Western [[Liberal democracy|liberal democracy]] and the alternative of [[History of communism in the Soviet Union|Soviet Communism]].{{sfn|Walker|1989|p=112}} According to the British-German physicist [[Rudolf Peierls]], while visiting England in 1947 Heisenberg told a colleague who had been forced to emigrate from Germany that after another fifty years in power the Nazis "would have become quite decent".{{sfn|Walker|2024|p=170}} The Austrian-Swedish physicist [[Lise Meitner]] quoted Heisenberg's 1948 reply to being confronted with German atrocities: "Unfortunately, every spiritual upheaval has always been accompanied by great cruelty".{{sfn|Walker|2024|p=170}}

Heisenberg, who did not leave Germany during the Nazi rule, was also unwilling to emigrate after the war. Responding to an offer of permanent [[Financial endowment|endowed]] employment at [[Yale University]] in 1951 conveyed by [[Gregory Breit]], he stated he would have considered it only if [[World War III]] had broken out and the [[Soviet Union]] had occupied Göttingen.{{sfn|Walker|2024|p=169}}

==Autobiography and death==
In his late sixties, Heisenberg penned his autobiography for the mass market. In 1969 the book was published in Germany, in early 1971 it was published in English and in the years thereafter in a string of other languages.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=145}}</ref> Heisenberg initiated the project in 1966, when his public lectures increasingly turned to the subjects of philosophy and religion. Heisenberg had sent the manuscript for a textbook on the [[unified field theory]] to Hirzel Verlag and [[John Wiley & Sons]] for publication. This manuscript, he wrote to one of his publishers, was the preparatory work for his autobiography. He structured his autobiography in themes, covering: 1) The goal of exact science, 2) The problematic of language in atomic physics, 3) Abstraction in mathematics and science, 4) The divisibility of matter or Kant's antinomy, 5) The basic symmetry and its substantiation, and 6) Science and religion.<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=147}}</ref>

Heisenberg wrote his memoirs as a chain of conversations, covering the course of his life. The book became a popular success, but was regarded as troublesome by historians of science. In the preface Heisenberg wrote that he had abridged historical events, to make them more concise. At the time of publication, it was reviewed by [[Paul Forman (historian)|Paul Forman]] in the journal ''Science'' with the comment "Now here is a memoir in the form of rationally reconstructed dialogue. And the dialogue as Galileo well knew, is itself a most insidious literary device: lively, entertaining, and especially suited for insinuating opinions while yet evading responsibility for them."<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|pp=145–146}}</ref> Few scientific memoirs had been published, but [[Konrad Lorenz]] and [[Adolf Portmann]] had penned popular books that conveyed scholarship to a wide audience. Heisenberg worked on his autobiography and published it with the [[Piper Verlag]] in Munich. Heisenberg initially proposed the title ''Gespräche im Umkreis der Atomphysik'' (''Conversations on Atomic Physics''). The autobiography was published eventually under the title ''Der Teil und das Ganze'' (''The Part and the Whole'').<ref>{{harvnb|Carson|2010|p=148}}</ref> The 1971 English translation was published under the title ''[[Physics and Beyond]]: Encounters and Conversations''.
[[File:Waldfriedhof Grabstelle Werner Heisenberg.jpg|alt=A gravestone surrounded by vegetation. On it are the four names and dates, with August and Annie at the top on either side of a large cross. Below the cross Werner and Elisabeth are listed.|thumb|The grave of the Heisenberg family in [[Munich Waldfriedhof]], including August Heisenberg (1869–1930), Annie Heisenberg (1879–1945), Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976), and Elisabeth Heisenberg (1914–1998)]]
Heisenberg died of kidney cancer at his home, on 1 February 1976.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2009|pp=262, 545}}</ref> The next evening, his colleagues and friends walked in remembrance from the Institute of Physics to his home, lit a candle and placed it in front of his door.<ref>{{harvnb|Cassidy|2009|p=545}}</ref> Heisenberg is buried in [[Munich Waldfriedhof]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Auswahl der auf den Münchner Friedhöfen bestatetten "berühmten Persönlichkeiten" |url=http://www.muenchen.de/cms/prod1/mde/_de/rubriken/Rathaus/70_rgu/09_friedhof_bestattung/pdf/beruehmte_verstorbene_liste_nach_fh.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419075052/http://www.muenchen.de/cms/prod1/mde/_de/rubriken/Rathaus/70_rgu/09_friedhof_bestattung/pdf/beruehmte_verstorbene_liste_nach_fh.pdf |archive-date=19 April 2009 |website=muenchen.de |language=de}}</ref>

In 1980 his widow, [[Elisabeth Heisenberg]], published ''Das politische Leben eines Unpolitischen'' (''The Political Life of an Apolitical Person''), in which she characterized Heisenberg as "first and foremost, a spontaneous person, thereafter a brilliant scientist, next a highly talented artist, and only in the fourth place, from a sense of duty, homo politicus".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fundamental Physics – Heisenberg and Beyond: Werner Heisenberg Centennial Symposium "Developments in Modern Physics"|editor1=Gerd W. Buschhorn |editor2=Julius Wess|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012|isbn=978-3-642-18623-3 |page=16}}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
Heisenberg was awarded a number of honors:<ref name=Biography/>
* [[Honorary degree|Honorary doctorates]] from the [[Université libre de Bruxelles|University of Brussels]], the [[Karlsruhe Institute of Technology|Technological University of Karlsruhe]], and [[Eötvös Loránd University]].
* [[Bavarian Order of Merit]]
* [[Romano Guardini]] Prize<ref name=atf74>{{cite book|author=Heizenberg, W.|chapter=Ch. 16 "Scientific and Religious Truth" |title=Across the Frontiers|year= 1974|publisher= Harper & Row|pages =213–229}}</ref>
* [[Bundesverdienstkreuz|Grand Cross for Federal Service with Star]]
* [[Pour le Mérite]] (Civil Class)
* Elected an International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1937,<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Werner+Heisenberg&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1955|Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1955]],<ref name=formemrs>{{harvnb|Mott|Peierls|1977|pp=212–251}}</ref> and an International Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1958.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Werner Karl Heisenberg |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/werner-karl-heisenberg |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>
* Member of the Academies of Sciences of Göttingen, Bavaria, Saxony, Prussia, Sweden, Romania, Norway, Spain, The Netherlands (1939),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00000761 |title=W.K. Heisenberg (1901–1976) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=24 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131001245/http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00000761 |archive-date=31 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rome (Pontifical), the ''[[German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina|Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina]]'' (Halle), the [[Accademia dei Lincei]] (Rome), and the American [[National Academy of Sciences|Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Werner Heisenberg |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001950.html |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=nasonline.org}}</ref>
* 1932 – [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, [[List of Latin phrases: I#inter alia|inter alia]], led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen".<ref name=nobelprize/>
* 1933 – ''[[Max Planck Medal|Max-Planck-Medaille]]'' of the ''[[Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft]]''

==Research reports on nuclear physics==
The following reports were published in ''[[Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte]]'' (''Research Reports in Nuclear Physics''), an internal publication of the German ''[[German nuclear energy project|Uranverein]]''. The reports were classified [[Top Secret]], they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied [[Operation Alsos]] and sent to the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission]] for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the [[Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe|Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center]] and the [[American Institute of Physics]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hentschel|Hentschel|1996|loc=Appendix E}}; see the entry for ''Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte''.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Walker|1989|pp=268–274}}</ref>
* Werner Heisenberg ''Die Möglichkeit der technischer Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung'' G-39 (6 December 1939)
* Werner Heisenberg ''Bericht über die Möglichkeit technischer Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung (II)'' G-40 (29 February 1940)
* Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg ''Bestimmung der Diffusionslänge thermischer Neutronen in schwerem Wasser'' G-23 (7 August 1940)
*[[Robert Döpel]], [[Klara Döpel|K. Döpel]], and Werner Heisenberg ''Bestimmung der Diffusionslänge thermischer Neutronen in Präparat 38''<ref>''Präparat 38'' was the cover name for [[Uranate|uranium oxide]]; see [http://www.deutsches-museum.de/archiv/archiv-online/geheimdokumente/forschungszentren/leipzig/schichtenanordnung-h2o/ Deutsches Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904031818/http://www.deutsches-museum.de/archiv/archiv-online/geheimdokumente/forschungszentren/leipzig/schichtenanordnung-h2o/ |date=4 September 2015 }}</ref> G-22 (5 December 1940)
* Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg ''Versuche mit Schichtenanordnungen von D<sub>2</sub>O und 38'' G-75 (28 October 1941)
* Werner Heisenberg ''Über die Möglichkeit der Energieerzeugung mit Hilfe des Isotops 238'' G-92 (1941)
* Werner Heisenberg ''Bericht über Versuche mit Schichtenanordnungen von Präparat 38 und Paraffin am Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physik in Berlin-Dahlem'' G-93 (May 1941)
*[[Fritz Bopp]], [[Erich Fischer]], Werner Heisenberg, [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker|Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker]], and [[Karl Wirtz]] ''Untersuchungen mit neuen Schichtenanordnungen aus U-metall und Paraffin'' G-127 (March 1942)
* Robert Döpel ''Bericht über Unfälle beim Umgang mit Uranmetall'' G-135 (9 July 1942)
* Werner Heisenberg ''Bemerkungen zu dem geplanten halbtechnischen Versuch mit 1,5 to D<sub>2</sub>O und 3 to 38-Metall'' G-161 (31 July 1942)
* Werner Heisenberg, Fritz Bopp, Erich Fischer, [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker|Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker]], and Karl Wirtz ''Messungen an Schichtenanordnungen aus 38-Metall und Paraffin'' G-162 (30 October 1942)
* Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg ''Der experimentelle Nachweis der effektiven Neutronenvermehrung in einem Kugel-Schichten-System aus D<sub>2</sub>O und Uran-Metall'' G-136 (July 1942)
* Werner Heisenberg ''Die Energiegewinnung aus der Atomkernspaltung'' G-217 (6 May 1943)
*[[Fritz Bopp]], [[Walther Bothe]], [[Erich Fischer]], Erwin Fünfer, Werner Heisenberg, [[Oskar Ritter|O. Ritter]], and [[Karl Wirtz]] ''Bericht über einen Versuch mit 1.5 to D<sub>2</sub>O und U und 40&nbsp;cm Kohlerückstreumantel (B7)'' G-300 (3 January 1945)
* Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg ''Die Neutronenvermehrung in einem D<sub>2</sub>O-38-Metallschichtensystem'' G-373 (March 1942)

==Other research publications==
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=A. |last1=Sommerfeld |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |s2cid=123083509 |title=Eine Bemerkung über relativistische Röntgendubletts und Linienschärfe |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=393–398 |year=1922 |bibcode=1922ZPhy...10..393S |doi=10.1007/BF01332582 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2288675 }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=A. |last1=Sommerfeld |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |s2cid=186227343 |title=Die Intensität der Mehrfachlinien und ihrer Zeeman-Komponenten |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=131–154 |year=1922 |doi=10.1007/BF01328408 |bibcode=1922ZPhy...11..131S |url=https://zenodo.org/record/2490040 }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=M. |last1=Born |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |s2cid=186228402 |title=Über Phasenbeziehungen bei den Bohrschen Modellen von Atomen und Molekeln |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=44–55 |year=1923 |doi=10.1007/BF01340032 |bibcode=1923ZPhy...14...44B }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=M. |last1=Born |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |title=Die Elektronenbahnen im angeregten Heliumatom |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=16 |pages=229–243 |year=1923 |doi=10.1002/andp.19243790902 |issue=9|bibcode=1924AnP...379....1B }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=M. |last1=Born |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |title=Zur Quantentheorie der Molekeln |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=1–31 |year=1924 |doi=10.1002/andp.19243790902 |bibcode=1924AnP...379....1B }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=M. |last1=Born |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |s2cid=186220818 |title=Über den Einfluss der Deformierbarkeit der Ionen auf optische und chemische Konstanten. I |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=388–410 |year=1924 |doi=10.1007/BF01327603 |bibcode=1924ZPhy...23..388B }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Über Stabilität und Turbulenz von Flüssigkeitsströmmen (Diss.) |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=577–627 |year=1924 |doi=10.1002/andp.19243791502 |author-mask=1 |bibcode=1924AnP...379..577H}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186215582 |title=Über eine Abänderung der formalin Regeln der Quantentheorie beim Problem der anomalen Zeeman-Effekte |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=291–307 |year=1924 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01327336|bibcode=1924ZPhy...26..291H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186238950 |title=Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=879–893 |year=1925 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01328377|bibcode=1925ZPhy...33..879H |title-link=Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen }} The paper was received on 29 July 1925. [English translation in: {{harvnb|van der Waerden|1968|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLMGqnZCDcC&pg=PA261 12 "Quantum-Theoretical Re-interpretation of Kinematic and Mechanical Relations"]}}] This is the first paper in the famous trilogy which launched the [[matrix mechanics]] formulation of quantum mechanics.
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=M. |last1=Born |first2=P. |last2=Jordan |s2cid=186114542 |title=Zur Quantenmechanik |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=858–888 |year=1925 |doi=10.1007/BF01328531 |bibcode=1925ZPhy...34..858B }} The paper was received on 27 September 1925. [English translation in: {{harvnb|van der Waerden|1968|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLMGqnZCDcC&pg=PA277 "On Quantum Mechanics"]}}] This is the second paper in the famous trilogy which launched the [[matrix mechanics]] formulation of quantum mechanics.
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first1=M. |last1=Born |last2=Heisenberg |first2=W. |first3=P. |last3=Jordan |s2cid=186237037 |title=Zur Quantenmechanik II |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=35 |pages=557–615 |year=1926 |bibcode=1926ZPhy...35..557B |doi=10.1007/BF01379806 |issue=8–9 }} The paper was received on 16 November 1925. [English translation in: {{harvnb|van der Waerden|1968|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLMGqnZCDcC&pg=PA321 15 "On Quantum Mechanics II"]}}] This is the third paper in the famous trilogy which launched the [[matrix mechanics]] formulation of quantum mechanics.
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=122763326 |title=Über den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinematik und Mechanik |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=43 |pages=172–198 |year=1927 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01397280 |issue=3–4 |bibcode=1927ZPhy...43..172H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=122524239 |title=Zur Theorie des Ferromagnetismus |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=49 |pages=619–636 |year=1928 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01328601 |issue=9–10 |bibcode=1928ZPhy...49..619H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |first2=W. |last2=Pauli |s2cid=121928597 |title=Zur Quantendynamik der Wellenfelder |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=56 |pages=1–61 |year=1929 |author-mask=1 |bibcode= 1929ZPhy...56....1H|doi=10.1007/BF01340129 |issue=1 }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |first2=W. |last2=Pauli |s2cid=186219228 |title=Zur Quantentheorie der Wellenfelder. II |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=59 |pages=168–190 |year=1930 |author-mask=1 |bibcode=1930ZPhy...59..168H |doi=10.1007/BF01341423 |issue=3–4 }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186218053 |title=Über den Bau der Atomkerne. I |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=77 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–11 |year=1932 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01342433 <!--|ref={{harvid|Heisenberg|1932 I}}-->|bibcode=1932ZPhy...77....1H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186221789 |title=Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=78 |pages=156–164 |year=1932 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01337585 |issue=3–4 <!--|ref={{harvid|Heisenberg|1932 II}}-->|bibcode=1932ZPhy...78..156H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=126422047 |title=Über den Bau der Atomkerne. III |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=80 |pages=587–596 |year=1933 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01335696 |issue=9–10 <!--|ref={{harvid|Heisenberg|1933 III}}-->|bibcode=1933ZPhy...80..587H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=Werner |s2cid=186232913 |title=Bemerkungen zur Diracschen Theorie des Positrons |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=90 |issue=3–4 |pages=209–231 |year=1934 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01333516 |bibcode=1934ZPhy...90..209H }} The author was cited as being at Leipzig. The paper was received on 21 June 1934.
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Über die 'Schauer' in der Kosmischen Strahlung |journal=Forsch. Fortscher. |volume=12 |pages=341–342 |year=1936 |author-mask=1 <!--|ref={{harvid|Heisenberg|1936 Forsch. Fortscher.}}-->}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |first2=H. |last2=Euler |s2cid=120354480 |title=Folgerungen aus der Diracschen Theorie des Positrons |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=98 |issue=11–12 |pages=714–732 |year=1936 |author-mask=1 |bibcode=1936ZPhy...98..714H |doi=10.1007/BF01343663 }} The authors were cited as being at Leipzig. The paper was received on 22 December 1935. A translation of this paper has been done by W. Korolevski and H. Kleinert: [[arxiv:physics/0605038v1|arXiv:physics/0605038v1]].
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186215469 |title=Zur Theorie der 'Schauer' in der Höhenstrahlung |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=101 |pages=533–540 |year=1936 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01349603 |issue=9–10 <!--|ref={{harvid|Heisenberg|1936 Z. Phys.}}-->|bibcode=1936ZPhy..101..533H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Der Durchgang sehr energiereicher Korpuskeln durch den Atomkern |journal=Die Naturwissenschaften |volume=25|issue=46 |pages=749–750 |year=1937 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01789574 |bibcode=1937NW.....25..749H|s2cid=39613897}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Theoretische Untersuchungen zur Ultrastrahlung |journal=Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges. |volume=18 |page=50 |year=1937 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |title=Die Absorption der durchdringenden Komponente der Höhenstrahlung |doi=10.1002/andp.19384250705 |year=1938 |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=425 |issue=7 |pages=594–599 |bibcode = 1938AnP...425..594H |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |year=1938 |title=Der Durchgang sehr energiereicher Korpuskeln durch den Atomkern |journal=Nuovo Cimento |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=31–34 |doi=10.1007/BF02958314 |bibcode=1938NCim...15...31H |s2cid=123209538 |author-mask=1}} {{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |year=1938 |title=Der Durchgang sehr energiereicher Korpuskeln durch den Atomkern |journal=Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges. |volume=19 |issue=2 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=120706757 |title=Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. I |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=120 |issue=7–10 |pages=513–538 |year=1943 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01329800 |bibcode=1943ZPhy..120..513H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=124531901 |title=Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. II |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=120 |issue=11–12 |pages=673–702 |year=1943 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01336936 |bibcode=1943ZPhy..120..673H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=123698415 |title=Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. III |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=123 |issue=1–2 |pages=93–112 |year=1944 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01375146 |bibcode=1944ZPhy..123...93H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Zur Theorie der Supraleitung |journal=Forsch. Fortschr. |volume=21/23 |pages=243–244 |year=1947 |author-mask=1}} {{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Zur Theorie der Supraleitung |journal=Z. Naturforsch. |volume=2a |issue=4 |pages=185–201 |year=1947 |doi=10.1515/zna-1947-0401 |bibcode=1947ZNatA...2..185H |author-mask=1|doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Das elektrodynamische Verhalten der Supraleiter |journal=Z. Naturforsch. |volume=3a |issue=2 |pages=65–75 |year=1948 |author-mask=1|bibcode=1948ZNatA...3...65H |doi=10.1515/zna-1948-0201 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |last2=von Laue |first2=M. |s2cid=121271077 |title=Das Barlowsche Rad aus supraleitendem Material |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=124 |issue=7–12 |pages=514–518 |year=1948 |author-mask=1 |bibcode=1948ZPhy..124..514H |doi=10.1007/BF01668888 }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186223726 |title=Zur statistischen Theorie der Tubulenz |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=124 |pages=628–657 |year=1948 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01668899 |issue=7–12|bibcode=1948ZPhy..124..628H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=On the theory of statistical and isotropic turbulence |journal=[[Proceedings of the Royal Society A]] |volume=195 |pages=402–406 |year=1948 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1948.0127 |issue=1042|bibcode=1948RSPSA.195..402H |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=202047340 |title=Bemerkungen um Turbulenzproblem |journal=Z. Naturforsch. |volume=3a |issue=8–11 |pages=434–7 |year=1948 |author-mask=1|bibcode=1948ZNatA...3..434H |doi=10.1515/zna-1948-8-1103 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |first=W. |last=Heisenberg |s2cid=4043099 |title=Production of mesons showers |journal=Nature |volume=164 |pages=65–67 |year=1949 |doi=10.1038/164065c0 |pmid=18228928 |author-mask=1 |issue=4158|bibcode=1949Natur.164...65H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=122006877 |title=Die Erzeugung von Mesonen in Vielfachprozessen |journal=Nuovo Cimento |volume=6 |issue=Suppl |pages=493–7 |year=1949 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF02822044|bibcode=1949NCim....6S.493H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=120410676 |title=Über die Entstehung von Mesonen in Vielfachprozessen |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=126 |pages=569–582 |year=1949 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF01330108 |issue=6|bibcode=1949ZPhy..126..569H }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=On the stability of laminar flow |journal=Proc. International Congress Mathematicians |volume=II |pages=292–296 |year=1950 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=41323295 |title=Bermerkungen zur Theorie der Vielfacherzeugung von Mesonen |journal=[[Die Naturwissenschaften]] |volume=39 |page=69 |year=1952 |author-mask=1 |doi=10.1007/BF00596818 |issue=3 |bibcode=1952NW.....39...69H}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=124271377 |title=Mesonenerzeugung als Stosswellenproblem |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=133 |issue=1–2 |pages=65–79 |year=1952 |author-mask=1 |bibcode=1952ZPhy..133...65H |doi=10.1007/BF01948683}}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=121970196 |title=The production of mesons in very high energy collisions |journal=Nuovo Cimento |volume=12 |issue=Suppl |pages=96–103 |year=1955 |author-mask=1|bibcode=1955NCim....2S..96H |doi=10.1007/BF02746079 }}
*{{cite journal|ref=none |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Development of concepts in the history of quantum theory |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=389–394 |year=1975 |author-mask=1 |bibcode=1975AmJPh..43..389H |doi=10.1119/1.9833}} The substance of this article was presented by Heisenberg in a lecture at Harvard University.

==Published books==
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory |url=https://archive.org/details/physicalprincipl00heis |url-access=registration |year=1949 |orig-year=1930 |publisher=Dover |author-mask=1 |others=Translators [[Carl Eckart|Eckart, Carl]]; Hoyt, F.C. }}  {{isbn|978-0-486-60113-7 }}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Nuclear Physics |year=1953 |publisher=Philosophical Library |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Das Naturbild der heutigen Physik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sm0YAAAAIAAJ |year=1955 |publisher=Rowohlt |author-mask=1 |series=Rowohlts Enzyklopädie |volume=8}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Physics and Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/physicsphilosoph0000heis_n9m9/page/n5/mode/1up?view=theater |year=1958 |publisher=Harper & Rowe |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Philosophic Problems of Nuclear Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AWs5PQAACAAJ |year=1966 |publisher=Fawcett |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations |url=https://archive.org/details/physicsbeyondenc00heisrich |url-access=registration |year=1971 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=9780061316227 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations |url=https://dokumen.pub/physics-and-beyond-encounters-and-conversations.html |year=1971|author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Tradition in der Wissenschaft. Reden und Aufsätze |year=1977 |location=Munich |publisher= Piper |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first1=Werner |last1=Heisenberg |first2=Jürgen |last2=Busche |title=Quantentheorie und Philosophie: Vorlesungen und Aufsätze |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtgWAQAAMAAJ |year=1979 |publisher=Reclam |isbn=978-3-15-009948-3 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Philosophical problems of quantum physics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC4pAAAAYAAJ |year=1979 |publisher=Ox Bow |isbn=978-0-918024-14-5 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Tradition in Science |year=1983 |publisher=Seabury Press. |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Physik und Philosophie: Weltperspektiven |year=1988 |publisher=Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg. |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Encounters with Einstein: And Other Essays on People, Places, and Particles |url=https://archive.org/details/encounterswithei00heis |url-access=registration |year=1989 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-02433-2 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first1=Werner |last1=Heisenberg |first2=Filmer |last2=Northrop |title=Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (Great Minds Series) |year=1999 |publisher=Prometheus |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Der Teil und das Ganze: Gespräche im Umkreis der Atomphysik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=28mmSwAACAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Piper |isbn=978-3-492-22297-6 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |editor1-first=Helmut |editor1-last=Rechenberg |editor-link=Helmut Rechenberg |title=Deutsche und Jüdische Physik |year=1992 |publisher=Piper |isbn=978-3-492-11676-3 |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Physik und Philosophie: Weltperspektiven |year=2007 |publisher=Hirzel. |author-mask=1}}
*{{cite book|ref=none |first=Werner |last=Heisenberg |title=Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJjuAAAAMAAJ |year=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-120919-2 |edition=reprint |author-mask=1 |series=Harper Perennial Modern Classics}} <small>([[iarchive:PhysicsPhilosophy|full text of 1958 version]]) </small>

==In popular culture==
Heisenberg's surname is used as the primary [[Secret identity|alias]] for [[Walter White (Breaking Bad)|Walter White]] (played by [[Bryan Cranston]]), the lead character in [[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]]'s crime drama series ''[[Breaking Bad]]'', throughout White's transformation from a high-school chemistry teacher into a [[methamphetamine|meth]] cook and a drug kingpin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/20/breaking-bad-10-years-on-tv-is-still-in-walter-whites-shadow|title=Breaking Bad: 10 years on, TV is still in Walter White's shadow|date=January 20, 2018|author=Paul MacInnes|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021232430/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/20/breaking-bad-10-years-on-tv-is-still-in-walter-whites-shadow|archive-date=October 21, 2020|url-status=live|access-date=October 21, 2020}}</ref> In the spin-off prequel series ''[[Better Call Saul]]'', a German character named Werner directs the construction of the meth lab belonging to antagonist [[Gus Fring]] that Walt cooks in for much of ''Breaking Bad''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/gallery/breaking-bad-cultural-references-z-guide/|title='Breaking Bad' Cultural References: An A-to-Z Guide|date=September 29, 2013|author1=Lanford Beard|author2=Hillary Busis|author3=Samantha Highfill|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021215557/https://ew.com/gallery/breaking-bad-cultural-references-z-guide/|archive-date=October 21, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

Heisenberg was the target of an assassination by spy [[Moe Berg]] in the film ''[[The Catcher Was a Spy (film)|The Catcher Was a Spy]]'', based on real events. Heisenberg is also credited with building the atomic bomb used by the Axis in the [[Amazon Prime Video|Amazon]] [[The Man in the High Castle (TV series)|TV series adaptation]] of the novel ''[[The Man in the High Castle]]'' by [[Philip K. Dick]]. Atomic bombs in this universe are referred to as Heisenberg Devices.

The 2015 TV film ''Kampen om Tungtvannet'' (''The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb'') <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3280150/episodes/?season=1 |title=The Heavy Water War: Stopping Hitler's Atomic Bomb (TV Mini Series 2015) - Episode list - IMDb |website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> directed by Per-Olav Sørensen, extensively features Werner Heisenberg and his career, including his nuclear research under the Nazis.   

[[Daniel Craig]] portrayed Heisenberg in the 2002 film ''[[Copenhagen (2002 film)|Copenhagen]],'' an adaptation of [[Michael Frayn]]'s [[Copenhagen (play)|play]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cozens |first=Claire |date=30 September 2002 |title=(Not so wonderful) Copenhagen for BBC4 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/sep/30/bbc.broadcasting1 |access-date=2 July 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [[Matthias Schweighöfer]] portrayed Heisenberg in the 2023 [[biopic]] ''[[Oppenheimer (film)|Oppenheimer]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lodderhose |first=Diana |date=14 May 2024 |title='Oppenheimer' Star Matthias Schweighöfer Teams With German Director Erik Schmitt For 'The Life Of Wishes' |url=https://deadline.com/2024/05/oppenheimer-star-matthias-schweighofer-german-director-erik-schmitt-for-the-life-of-wishes-1235912933/ |access-date=2 July 2025 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref>

Heisenberg is the namesake of ''[[Resident Evil Village]]'' secondary antagonist Karl Heisenberg. Heisenberg's research on ferromagnetism served as inspiration for the character's magnetic abilities.

In the television series ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', the "Heisenberg compensator" is an essential component of [[Transporter (Star Trek)|transporter]] technology to ensure the integrity of transported matter. The compensator counteracts effects of the applied characteristics identified in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. To accurately isolate matter prior to its entry into the transporter buffer, all particles must be located, their velocity observed, and tracked; the compensators allow this to happen.

==See also==
{{Portal|Physics|Biography}}
* [[List of things named after Werner Heisenberg]]
* [[List of German inventors and discoverers]]
* ''[[The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory]]''
* [[Haigerloch research reactor]]

==References==
'''Footnotes'''
{{notelist}}

'''Citations'''
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Jeremy |title=Hitler's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall |publisher=Copernicus |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-387-95089-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQ5K2PCj4V4C }}
* {{cite journal |last=Bernstein |first=Jeremy |title=Heisenberg in Poland |journal=Am. J. Phys. |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=300–304 |date=March 2004 |doi=10.1119/1.1630333 |bibcode=2004AmJPh..72..300B}}<br />{{*}}See also {{cite journal|ref=none |department=LETTER TO THE EDITOR |last=Gottstein |first=Klaus |title=Comment on 'Heisenberg in Poland' by Jeremy Bernstein [Am. J. Phys. 72 (3), 300–304 (2004)] |journal=Am. J. Phys. |year=2004 |volume=72 |issue=9 |pages=1143–1145 |doi=10.1119/1.1778397 |s2cid=119446738 |bibcode=2004AmJPh..72.1143G |arxiv=physics/0503167 |url=https://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0503/0503167.pdf }} <br>{{*}} Reply to Gottstein by Jeremy Bernstein.{{cite journal | last=Bernstein | first=Jeremy | title=Author's reply | journal=American Journal of Physics | volume=72 | issue=9 | date=2004b | issn=0002-9505 | doi=10.1119/1.1778398 | pages=1144–1145 | bibcode=2004AmJPh..72.1144B | url=https://pubs.aip.org/ajp/article/72/9/1144/532585/Author-s-reply | access-date=2025-08-17| url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Beyerchen |first=Alan D. |title=Scientists Under Hitler: Politics and the Physics Community in the Third Reich |publisher=Yale |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-300-01830-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/scientistsunderh00alan }}
*{{Cite book|title=Heisenberg in the Atomic Age: Science and the Public Sphere |last=Carson |first=Cathryn |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-82170-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Cassidy |first=David C. |title=[[Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg]] |publisher=Freeman |year=1992 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Cassidy |first=David C. |title=Heisenberg, German Science, and the Third Reich |journal=Social Research |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=643–661 |year=1992a }}
* {{cite book |last=Cassidy |first=David C. |title=[[Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb]] |publisher=Bellevue Literary Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-934137-28-4}}
*[[David Clary|Clary, David C.]] (2022). [https://doi.org/10.1142/12661 ''Schrödinger in Oxford'']. World Scientific Publishing. {{ISBN| 9789811251009}}.
* {{cite book |last=Goudsmit |first=Samuel A.|author-link=Samuel Goudsmit |title=Alsos |publisher=Tomash Publishers|year=1986|isbn=978-0-938228-09-7 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=122763326 |title=Über den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinematik und Mechanik |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=43 |pages=172–198 |year=1927 |doi=10.1007/BF01397280 |issue=3–4 |bibcode=1927ZPhy...43..172H }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=122524239 |title=Zur Theorie des Ferromagnetismus |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=49 |pages=619–636 |year=1928 |doi=10.1007/BF01328601 |issue=9–10 |bibcode=1928ZPhy...49..619H }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |first2=W. |last2=Pauli |s2cid=121928597 |title=Zur Quantendynamik der Wellenfelder |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=56 |pages=1–61 |year=1929 |bibcode= 1929ZPhy...56....1H|doi=10.1007/BF01340129 |issue=1 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |first2=W. |last2=Pauli |s2cid=186219228 |title=Zur Quantentheorie der Wellenfelder. II |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=59 |pages=168–190 |year=1930 |bibcode=1930ZPhy...59..168H |doi=10.1007/BF01341423 |issue=3–4 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186218053 |title=Über den Bau der Atomkerne. I |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=77 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–11 |year=1932a |doi=10.1007/BF01342433 |bibcode=1932ZPhy...77....1H }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186221789 |title=Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=78 |pages=156–164 |year=1932b |doi=10.1007/BF01337585 |issue=3–4 |bibcode=1932ZPhy...78..156H }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=126422047 |title=Über den Bau der Atomkerne. III |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=80 |pages=587–596 |year=1933 |doi=10.1007/BF01335696 |issue=9–10 |bibcode=1933ZPhy...80..587H }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186232913 |title=Bemerkungen zur Diracschen Theorie des Positrons |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=90 |issue=3–4 |pages=209–231 |year=1934 |doi=10.1007/BF01333516 |bibcode=1934ZPhy...90..209H }} The author was cited as being at Leipzig. The paper was received on 21 June 1934.
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |title=Über die 'Schauer' in der Kosmischen Strahlung |journal=Forsch. Fortscher. |volume=12 |pages=341–342 |year=1936a }}
*{{cite journal |last=Heisenberg |first=W. |s2cid=186215469 |title=Zur Theorie der 'Schauer' in der Höhenstrahlung |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=101 |pages=533–540 |year=1936b |doi=10.1007/BF01349603 |issue=9–10 |bibcode=1936ZPhy..101..533H }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Heisenberg |first1=W. |first2=H. |last2=Euler |s2cid=120354480 |title=Folgerungen aus der Diracschen Theorie des Positrons |journal=Z. Phys. |volume=98 |issue=11–12 |pages=714–732 |year=1936 |bibcode=1936ZPhy...98..714H |doi=10.1007/BF01343663 }} The authors were cited as being at Leipzig. The paper was received on 22 December 1935. A translation of this paper has been done by W. Korolevski and H. Kleinert: [[arxiv:physics/0605038v1|arXiv:physics/0605038v1]].
* {{cite book |editor1-first=Klaus |editor1-last=Hentschel | editor-link1=Klaus Hentschel | editor2-first=Ann M. |editor2-last=Hentschel |title=Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources |publisher=Birkhäuser |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8176-5312-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl69XGiohsoC }} [This book is a collection of 121 primary German documents relating to physics under National Socialism. The documents have been translated and annotated, and there is a lengthy introduction to put them into perspective.]
* {{Cite book|title = Surviving the Swastika: Scientific Research in Nazi Germany|last = Macrakis|first = Kristie|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 1993|isbn = 978-0-19-507010-1}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mott |first1=N. |last2=Peierls |first2=R. |s2cid=73128582 |title=Werner Heisenberg |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=23 |pages=213–251 |date=November 1977 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1977.0009 }}
* {{cite book |last=Powers |first=Thomas |title=Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb |url=https://archive.org/details/heisenbergswarse00powe_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=Knopf |year=1993 |isbn=9780394514116 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rose |first=Paul Lawrence |title=Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project: A Study in German Culture |publisher=University of California Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-520-22926-6 }}
* {{cite book |editor-link=Bartel Leendert van der Waerden |editor-last=van der Waerden |editor-first=B.L. |title=Sources of Quantum Mechanics |publisher=Dover |year=1968 |isbn=978-0-486-61881-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLMGqnZCDcC}}
* {{cite book |last=Walker |first=Mark |title=German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power 1939–1949 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-521-43804-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Walker |first=Mark |title=Hitler's Atomic Bomb: History, Legend, and the Twin Legacies of Auschwitz and Hiroshima |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9781009479288}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links||wikt=no|n=no|s=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no}}
* [http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people/Heisenberg,+Werner Annotated Bibliography for Werner Heisenberg] from the [[Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]]
* [[MacTutor History of Mathematics archive|MacTutor]] Biography: [http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Heisenberg.html Werner Karl Heisenberg]
* [http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/ Heisenberg/Uncertainty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016175541/http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/bibliography/contents.htm |date=16 October 2012 }} biographical exhibit by [[American Institute of Physics]].
* [http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/coll/pauling/bond/people/heisenberg.html Key Participants: Werner Heisenberg] – ''Linus Pauling and the Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History''
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html Nobelprize.org biography]
* [http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/ger/weap/wmd/nuc/sci/wh-ment30.html Werner Heisenberg: Atomic Physics Mentorees]
* {{cite web |title=Oral history interview transcript with Werner Heisenberg |date=16 June 1970 |publisher=American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives |url=http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/5027.html |access-date=23 October 2008 |archive-date=26 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126113055/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/5027.html |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |title=Oral history interview transcript with Werner Heisenberg |date=30 November 1962 |publisher=American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives |url=http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4661_1.html |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-date=26 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126121339/http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4661_1.html |url-status=dead }}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/007478}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1926-1950}}
{{1932 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heisenberg, Werner}}
[[Category:Werner Heisenberg| ]]
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:Scientists from Würzburg]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:German Lutherans]]
[[Category:German mountain climbers]]
[[Category:German Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Heisenberg family|Werner]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin]]
[[Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Max Planck Society people]]
[[Category:Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:20th-century German physicists]]
[[Category:Nuclear program of Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Scientists from the Kingdom of Bavaria]]
[[Category:German philosophers of science]]
[[Category:German quantum physicists]]
[[Category:German fluid dynamicists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Scouting and Guiding in Germany]]
[[Category:German theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Göttingen]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Leipzig University]]
[[Category:Burials at Munich Waldfriedhof]]
[[Category:Winners of the Max Planck Medal]]
[[Category:Niels Bohr International Gold Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Operation Epsilon]]
[[Category:People associated with CERN]]
[[Category:Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Matteucci Medal]]
[[Category:Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities]]
[[Category:20th-century Freikorps personnel]]
[[Category:Max Planck Institute directors]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]