The Cornell University press release about this is here. As discussed therein, German scientists probably knew about the paper (which was in German) and have likely also translated it before. The particular German copy in question was found at Cornell, translated into English, and then posted on the arXiv. What this means, of course, is that Einstein has posted to the arXiv (with help, of course) after his death just like L. Ron Hubbard continues to write new chapters of Dianetics after his death. (This gives me hope that maybe I can get some PRLs after I die?)
The paper in question is about superconductivity. Here are the words of the press release:
"The paper contains nothing revolutionary from the point of view of today's researchers in superconductivity, but it is, Ashcroft said, "a totally charming paper," with significant insights for its time. Among other things, Ashcroft said, Einstein correctly predicted that a strong magnetic field would destroy superconductivity, something verified later by experiment."
(Natural, the Ashcroft in question is the famous one---well, famous within the solid state physics community.)
I heard former Attorney General Ashcroft tried to make his own contribution to condensed matter physics by replacing the Nearly Free Electron Model with the Secretly Detained Electron Model, but this was not well-received by the community.
ReplyDeleteClearly, it's because he forgot the 'because of Jesus' part of the model.
ReplyDeleteI slept through a talk by Ashcroft (the solid state one) two summers ago. He was very nice about it.
ReplyDelete...the more distinguished the speaker, the less likely I am to remain awake. Kip Throne put me under in about 5 seconds.