Emil Rupp

Emil Rupp, actually Philipp Heinrich Emil Rupp, ( born July 1, 1898 in rows (today district of Sinsheim ), † 1979) was 1926-1935 one of the most famous German physicist whose alleged experiments and publications, however, were fully recognized falsified later than.

Career

Emil Rupp studied physics in Göttingen and Heidelberg, where he was a student of Philipp Lenard, where he received his doctorate in 1920 with summa cum laude. Despite his brilliant statements he was "only" a job as an industrial physicist at AEG. There, however, he continued to work hard to finally achieve by startling (even in the titles ) works a Habilitation and professorship.

Manipulated work

Albert Einstein in 1926 at Rupp attention after its Habilitationsschrift interference studies had been published on canal rays in the journal Annals of Physics (Volume 79). Rupp experiments appeared in a distinct manner Einstein's theoretical concept of wave -particle duality on photons meet. On the border of the then experimentally possible Rupp suggested beyond with his experiments, that clear evidence of the new quantum mechanical problems are already present. Although other physicists experiments patrols could not understand and partially questioned his seriousness already in question, and although sometimes doubts arose even with Einstein, however, succeeded in Rupp again and again that he was able to publish in reputable publications of further and thus maintain its great reputation. Elaborate repetition of his experiments, which were initiated by Wilhelm Wien of the University of Munich, were not successful.

Detection of counterfeits

From 1932 published Rupp " sensational " Experiments on the positron, which had been discovered only shortly before. Some of his colleagues at the AEG but soon realized that Rupp could have been no such high energies are available, as they would have been necessary for such experiments, and that it must therefore be either scientific forgeries. After an internal investigation, the AEG Rupp then lost his job in 1935.

1935 published Walther Gerlach and Eduard Rüchardt in the annals of physics an essay in which they debunked patrols electron diffraction experiments as a forgery. After Rupp countered critical objections repeatedly eg by new X-ray diffraction photographs, finally realized that Einstein, in his publication a sign incorrectly used that Rupp had 'confirmed' in his experiments. Now Rupp presented a document created by Victor -Emil von Gebsattel psychological report was confirmed in the that Rupp had " dream-like states" since 1932, and therefore also his publications would have been only fictitious since 1932. A corresponding note with statements of this report he published - a unique case in the history of physics - even in the Zeitschrift für Physik. This should probably be veiled, that already used his 1926 habilitation dissertation consistently fake experiments.

In an interview on 18 February 1963, the physicist Walther Gerlach said to Thomas S. Kuhn: " Rupp was considered in the late twenties and early thirties as the most important and most competent experimental physicist at all. He did incredible things. [ ... ] But was later realized that everything he had ever published, was all fake. This went on for over ten years, ten years! "(Quoted by van Dongen, translated from English. )

Aftereffect

Although in the case squads is one of the greatest scientific forgeries of the 20th century, his name soon disappeared from the consciousness of physicists, so it was hardly noticed by historians of science for a long time for him as his nowhere mentioned.

The English writer and physicist CP Snow used 1960 Details of fraud for his novel about a fictional science fraudsters at the University of Cambridge ( The Affair ).