OUTLINE OF SCHRODINGER'S THEORY 211 



I suspect, partly because it is the only one of the three 

 that is simple enough to be misunderstood. Rather 

 against my better judgment I will try to give a rough 

 impression of the theory. It would probably be wiser 

 to nail up over the door of the new quantum theory a 

 notice, "Structural alterations in progress — No admit- 

 tance except on business", and particularly to warn the 

 doorkeeper to keep out prying philosophers. I will, 

 however, content myself with the protest that, whilst 

 Schrodinger's theory is guiding us to sound and rapid 

 progress in many of the mathematical problems con- 

 fronting us and is indispensable in its practical utility, 

 I do not see the least likelihood that his ideas will sur- 

 vive long in their present form. 



Outline of Schrodinger's Theory. Imagine a sub-aether 

 whose surface is covered with ripples. The oscillations 

 of the ripples are a million times faster than those of 

 visible light — too fast to come within the scope of our 

 gross experience. Individual ripples are beyond our 

 ken; what we can appreciate is a combined effect — when 

 by convergence and coalescence the waves conspire to 

 create a disturbed area of extent large compared with 

 individual ripples but small from our own Brobding- 

 nagian point of view. Such a disturbed area is recog- 

 nised as a material particle; in particular it can be an 

 electron. 



The sub-aether is a dispersive medium, that is to say 

 the ripples do not all travel with the same velocity; like 

 water-ripples their speed depends on their wave-length 

 or period. Those of shorter period travel faster. More- 

 over the speed may be modified by local conditions. 

 This modification is the counterpart in Schrodinger's 

 theory of a field of force in classical physics. It will 



