View source for Biography:Erwin Schrödinger

{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Erwin Schrödinger
| image             = Erwin Schrödinger - Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (1-E-939).jpg
| caption           = Schrödinger in 1933
| birth_name        = Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1887|8|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Place:Vienna|Vienna]], [[Place:Austria-Hungary|Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1961|01|04|1887|08|12|df=yes}}
| death_place       = Vienna, Austria
| citizenship       = {{Plain list|
* Austria
* Ireland (from 1948)}}
| education         = [[Organization:University of Vienna|University of Vienna]] <br/> (Dr. phil., Dr. habil.)
| known_for         = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Physics:Schrödinger's cat|Schrödinger's cat]]
* [[Schrödinger equation]]
* [[Physics:Schrödinger field|Schrödinger field]]
* [[Physics:Schrödinger group|Schrödinger group]]
* [[Physics:Schrödinger picture|Schrödinger picture]]
* [[Schrödinger–HJW theorem]]
* [[Quantum entanglement]]}}
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Annemarie Bertel|1920}}
| children          = 1
| father            = Rudolf Schrödinger
| relatives         = [[Biography:Terry Rudolph|Terry Rudolph]] (grandson)
| awards            = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Physics:Matteucci Medal|Matteucci Medal]] (1927)
* Nobel Prize in Physics (1933)
* Max Planck Medal (1937)
* Erwin Schrödinger Prize (1956)}}
| fields            = [[Physics:Quantum physics|Quantum physics]]
| work_institutions = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Organization:University of Zurich|University of Zurich]] <br/> (1921–1927)
* University of Berlin <br/> (1927–1933)
* [[Organization:Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College, Oxford]] (1933–1936)
* University of Graz <br/> (1936–1938)
* DIAS (1940–1955)}}
| thesis_title      = Über die Leitung der Elektrizität auf der Oberfläche von Isolatoren an feuchter Luft
| thesis_url        = https://www.univie.ac.at/zbph/ausstellung/schroedinger/dokumente/dissertationpromotion.htm
| thesis_year       = 1910
| doctoral_advisor  = Friedrich Hasenöhrl
| academic_advisors = Franz Exner
| notable_students  = {{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|''See list''}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Erwin Schrödinger - Physics Tree|url=https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=1954|website=academictree.org|access-date=6 August 2025}}</ref>
 | Nándor Balázs
 | Bruno Bertotti
 | [[Biography:Cécile DeWitt-Morette|Cécile DeWitt-Morette]]
 | [[Biography:James Hamilton (physicist)|James Hamilton]]
 | [[Biography:Walter Heitler|Walter Heitler]]
 | [[Biography:Frank C. Hoyt|Frank C. Hoyt]]
 | [[Biography:Fritz London|Fritz London]]
 | [[Biography:Francis Wheeler Loomis|Francis W. Loomis]]
 | Harry Messel
 | [[Biography:Linus Pauling|Linus Pauling]]
 | [[Biography:Peng Huanwu|Huanwu Peng]]
 | Brendan Scaife
 | [[Biography:Walter Thirring|Walter Thirring]]
 }}
| module={{Infobox writer|embed= yes
| subject           = [[Biology:Genetics|Genetics]]
| notable_works     = ''What is Life?'' (1944)
| signature         = Erwin Schrödinger signature.svg
}}
}}

'''Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|r|oʊ|d|ɪ|ŋ|ər}} {{Respell|SHROH|ding|er}};<ref>{{Cite dictionary|title=Schrödinger|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schrodinger|url-status=live|dictionary=Dictionary.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251008020056/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schrodinger|archive-date=8 October 2025|access-date=26 May 2025}}</ref> {{IPA|de|ˈʃʁøːdɪŋɐ|lang|De-Schrödinger.ogg}}; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as ''' ''' or '''{{not a typo|Schrodinger}} [[Theoretical physicist|theoretical physicist]] who developed fundamental results in [[Quantum field theory|quantum theory]]. In particular, he is recognized for devising the [[Schrödinger equation]], an equation that provides a way to calculate the [[Wave function|wave function]] of a system and how it changes dynamically in time. He coined the term "[[Quantum entanglement|quantum entanglement]]" in 1935.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bub |first=Jeffrey |title=Quantum Entanglement and Information |date=2023 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2023/entries/qt-entangle/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |access-date=22 October 2023 |edition=Summer 2023 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |editor2-last=Nodelman |editor2-first=Uri}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gribbin |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/erwinschrodinger0000grib_z4a7/page/259 |title=Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution |publisher=Trade Paper Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1118299265 |pages=259 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arianrhod |first=Robyn |date=5 October 2017 |title=Einstein, Bohr and the origins of entanglement |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/einstein-bohr-and-the-origins-of-entanglement/ |access-date=22 October 2023 |website=cosmosmagazine.com |language=en-AU |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024044329/https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/physics/einstein-bohr-and-the-origins-of-entanglement/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Schrödinger shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics with [[Biography:Paul Dirac|Paul Dirac]] "for the discovery of new productive forms of [[Physics:Atomic theory|atomic theory]]."<ref name=Nobel1933>{{Cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1933|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1933/summary/|url-status=live|publisher=Nobel Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017213324/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1933/index.html|archive-date=2008-10-17|access-date=2008-10-09}}</ref>

In addition, Schrödinger wrote many works on various aspects of [[HandWiki:Physics|physics]]: [[Physics:Statistical mechanics|statistical mechanics]] and [[Physics:Thermodynamics|thermodynamics]], physics of [[Physics:Dielectric|dielectric]]s, [[Color theory|color theory]], [[Electrodynamics|electrodynamics]], [[Physics:General relativity|general relativity]], and [[Philosophy:Cosmology|cosmology]], and he made several attempts to construct a [[Physics:Unified field theory|unified field theory]]. In his book, ''[[Philosophy:What Is Life?|What Is Life?]]'', Schrödinger addressed the problems of [[Biology:Genetics|genetics]], looking at the phenomenon of life from the point of view of physics. He also paid great attention to the philosophical aspects of science, ancient and oriental philosophical concepts, ethics, and religion.<ref name="frs">{{cite journal |last1=Heitler |first1=W. |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1961.0017 |title=Erwin Schrodinger. 1887–1961 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=7 |pages=221–226 |year=1961 |jstor=769408 |doi-access=}}</ref> He also wrote on philosophy and theoretical biology. In popular culture, he is best known for his "[[Physics:Schrödinger's cat|Schrödinger's cat]]" [[Thought experiment|thought experiment]].<ref>Walter J. Moore. ''Schrödinger: Life and Thought''. Cambridge, England, UK: Press Syndicate of Cambridge University Press, 1989. p.194.</ref><ref name=mactutorA>{{MacTutor|id=Schrodinger}}</ref> He and Dirac tied for eighth in a ''Physics World'' poll of the greatest physicists of all time.<ref>{{cite news| title=Physics: past, present, future| work=Physics World| date=December 6, 1999| url=https://physicsworld.com/a/physics-past-present-future/}}</ref>

In his personal life, he lived with both his wife and his mistress which may have led to problems causing him to leave his position at [[Organization:University of Oxford|Oxford]]. Subsequently, until 1938, he had a position in Graz, Austria, until the Nazi takeover when he fled, finally finding a long-term arrangement in [[Place:Dublin|Dublin]], Ireland, where he remained until retirement in 1955.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Heitler|first1=W.|year=1961|title=Erwin Schrödinger, 1887-1961|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume=7|pages=221–228|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1961.0017}}</ref>  He returned to Vienna in 1956, with an emeritus professor position, and died of tuberculosis in 1961.  In 1989, allegations of sexual abuse of several minors emerged.

== Early life and education ==
Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was born on 12 August 1887 in [[Place:Vienna|Vienna]], the only child of Rudolf Schrödinger, a botanist,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schrodinger |first1=Rudolf |title=The International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/?q=author%20std%3ASchr%C3%B6dinger |publisher=IPNI |access-date=13 August 2016 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813223013/https://www.ipni.org/?q=author%20std:Schr%C3%B6dinger |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The Nobel Prize in Physics 1933">{{Cite book |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1933/schrodinger/biographical/ |title=Physics 1922-1941 |publisher=Elsevier Publishing Company |year=1965 |series=Nobel Lectures |location=Amsterdam |at=Erwin Schrödinger Biographical |language=en-US |via=nobelprize.org |access-date=19 February 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307163835/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1933/schrodinger/biographical/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and Georgine Emilia Brenda Bauer, the daughter of a chemistry professor at TU Wien.{{sfn|Moore|1994|pp=13–18}} His mother was of half Austrian and half English descent. His father was [[Organization:Catholic Church|Catholic]] and his mother was [[Religion:Lutheranism|Lutheran]]. Although Schrödinger was an atheist,<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1994|pages=289–290}} Quote: "In one respect, however, he is not a romantic: he does not idealize the person of the beloved, his highest praise is to consider her his equal. 'When you feel your own equal in the body of a beautiful woman, just as ready to forget the world for you as you for her – oh my good Lord – who can describe what happiness then. You can live it, now and again – you cannot speak of it.' Of course, he does speak of it, and almost always with religious imagery. Yet at this time he also wrote, 'By the way, I never realized that to be non-believing, to be an atheist, was a thing to be proud of. It went without saying as it were.' And in another place at about this same time: 'Our creed is indeed a queer creed. You others, Christians (and similar people), consider our ethics much inferior, indeed abominable. There is that little difference. We adhere to ours in practice, you don't.'"</ref> he had strong interests in Eastern religions and [[Philosophy:Pantheism|pantheism]], and used religious symbolism in his works.<ref>{{cite book|title=Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat|year=2015|publisher=Perseus Books Group|isbn=978-0-465-07571-3|first=Paul|last=Halpern|page=157|quote="In the presentation of a scientific problem, the other player is the good Lord. He has not only set the problem but also has devised the rules of the game--but they are not completely known, half of them are left for you to discover or deduce. I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world around me is very deficient. It gives a lot of factual information, puts all our experience in a magnificently consistent order, but is ghastly silent about all that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously. I shall quite briefly mention here the notorious atheism of science. The theists reproach it for this again and again. Unjustly. A personal God cannot be encountered in a world picture that becomes accessible only at the price that everything personal is excluded from it. We know that whenever God is experienced, it is an experience exactly as real as a direct sense impression, as real as one's own personality. As such He must be missing from the space-time picture. "I do not meet with God in space and time", so says the honest scientific thinker, and for that reason he is reproached by those in whose catechism it is nevertheless stated: "God is a Spirit." Whence came I and whither go I? That is the great unfathomable question, the same for every one of us. Science has no answer for it"}}</ref> He believed his scientific work was an approach to divinity in an intellectual sense.<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1992|p=4}} Quote: "He rejected traditional religious beliefs (Jewish, Christian, and Islamic) not on the basis of any reasoned argument, nor even with an expression of emotional antipathy, for he loved to use religious expressions and metaphors, but simply by saying that they are naive." ... "He claimed to be an atheist, but he always used religious symbolism and believed his scientific work was an approach to the godhead."</ref>

Schrödinger was also able to learn English outside school, as his maternal grandmother was British.<ref name="hof1">{{cite book|author=Hoffman, D.|title=Эрвин Шрёдингер|publisher=Мир |year=1987 |pages=13–17}}</ref> From 1906 to 1910, he studied under Franz S. Exner and Friedrich Hasenöhrl at the [[Organization:University of Vienna|University of Vienna]]. He received his [[Ph.D.]] under Hasenöhrl in 1910. He also conducted experimental work with Karl Wilhelm Friedrich "Fritz" Kohlrausch. The following year, he became an assistant to Exner, under whom he completed his [[Social:Habilitation|habilitation]] (''venia legendi'') in 1914.<ref name="The Nobel Prize in Physics 1933" />

== Career ==
[[File:Erwin Schrodinger2.jpg|thumb|upright|Schrödinger as a young man, {{circa|1914}}]]

From 1914 to 1918, Schödinger participated in war work as a commissioned officer in the Austrian fortress artillery (Gorizia, Duino, Sistiana, Prosecco, Vienna). In 1920, he became an assistant to [[Biography:Max Wien|Max Wien]] at the University of Jena, and in September attained the position of ''ausserordentlicher Professor'' (associate professor) at the [[Organization:University of Stuttgart|University of Stuttgart]]. The following year, he became ''ordentlicher Professor'' (full professor) at the University of Breslau.<ref name="The Nobel Prize in Physics 1933"/>

In 1921, Schrödinger moved to the [[Organization:University of Zurich|University of Zurich]]. In 1927, he succeeded [[Biography:Max Planck|Max Planck]] at the University of Berlin. In 1933, he decided to leave Germany because he strongly disapproved of the Nazis' antisemitism. He became a Fellow of [[Organization:Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College, Oxford]]. Soon after arriving, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with [[Biography:Paul Dirac|Paul Dirac]]. His position at Oxford did not work out well; his unconventional domestic arrangements, sharing living quarters with two women,{{sfn|Moore|1992|pp=278 ff.}} were not met with acceptance. In 1934, he lectured at [[Organization:Princeton University|Princeton University]]; he was offered a permanent position there, but did not accept it. Again, his wish to set up house with his wife and his mistress may have created a problem.<ref>[https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz106819.html "Schrödinger, Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427042804/https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz106819.html |date=27 April 2011 }} in ''Deutsche Biographie''</ref> He had the prospect of a position at the [[Organization:University of Edinburgh|University of Edinburgh]], but visa delays occurred, and in the end he took up a position at the University of Graz in 1936. He had also accepted the offer of chair position at the Department of Physics at Allahabad University in India.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jta.org/1940/05/20/archive/bombay-university-names-refugee-scientist-to-faculty |title=Bombay University Names Refugee Scientist to Faculty |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=20 May 1940 |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-date=27 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027074754/http://www.jta.org/1940/05/20/archive/bombay-university-names-refugee-scientist-to-faculty |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the midst of these tenure issues in 1935, after extensive correspondence with [[Biography:Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein]], Schrödinger proposed what is now called the "[[Physics:Schrödinger's cat|Schrödinger's cat]]" [[Thought experiment|thought experiment]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bhaumik |first1=Mani L. |title=Is Schrödinger's Cat Alive? |journal=Quanta |date=2017 |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=75 |doi=10.12743/quanta.v6i1.68 |doi-access=free|arxiv=2211.17086 }}</ref>

In 1938, after the ''Anschluss'' (the Nazi German annexation of Austria), Schrödinger had problems in Graz because of his flight from Germany in 1933 and his known opposition to [[Social:Nazism|Nazism]].<ref name="Lakhtakia1996">{{cite book|first=Akhlesh|last=Lakhtakia|title=Models and Modelers of Hydrogen: Thales, Thomson, Rutherford, Bohr, Sommerfeld, Goudsmit, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Dirac, Sallhofer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lC6IG7NXmcC&pg=PA147|year=1996|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-02-2302-1|pages=147–}}</ref> He issued a statement recanting this opposition,<ref name="mactutorB" /> which he later regretted, explaining to Einstein: "I wanted to remain free – and could not do so without great duplicity".<ref name=mactutorB>{{cite web |title=Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Schrodinger/ |publisher=[[MacTutor History of Mathematics archive]] |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-date=4 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104063158/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Printonly/Schrodinger.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this did not fully appease the new dispensation, and the University of Graz dismissed him from his post for "political unreliability". He suffered harassment and was instructed not to leave the country, but fled to Italy with his wife. From there, he took up visiting positions at [[Organization:University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[Organization:Ghent University|Ghent]] universities.<ref name="mactutorB" /><ref name="Lakhtakia1996"/>

=== Dublin ===
[[File:DIAS 1942 photo.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Schrödinger (front row 2nd from right) and De Valera (front row 4th from left) at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1942]]

In 1939, Schrödinger received a personal invitation from Éamon de Valera, Ireland's {{Lang|ga|Taoiseach}}, to reside in [[Place:Dublin|Dublin]]. The following year, he joined the newly-established Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies as Director of the School of Theoretical Physics, a position he held until his retirement in 1955.<ref>{{cite web |first=Brian |last=Daugherty |title=Brief Chronology |work=Erwin Schrödinger |url=http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/berlin/schrodinger.html |access-date=10 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309141433/http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/berlin/schrodinger.html |archive-date=9 March 2012}}</ref> He lived modestly on Kincora Road, Clontarf; a plaque has been erected at his Clontarf residence and at the address of his workplace in Merrion Square.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-quantum-leap-to-clontarf-1.454580 |title=A quantum leap to Clontarf |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=27 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927225530/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-quantum-leap-to-clontarf-1.454580 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=he_UDAAAQBAJ&q=erwin+schr%C3%B6dinger+plaque+dublin&pg=PT13 |title=Treasure Palaces: Great Writers Visit Great Museums |first=Maggie |last=Fergusson |date=10 November 2016 |publisher=Profile |isbn=978-1-78283-278-2 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://openplaques.org/plaques/9190 |title=Erwin Schrödinger blue plaque |website=openplaques.org |access-date=10 June 2020 |archive-date=10 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610214232/https://openplaques.org/plaques/9190 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Schrödinger believed that, as an Austrian, he had a unique relationship with Ireland; in October 1940, a writer from the ''Irish Press'' interviewed Schrödinger, who spoke of the Celtic heritage of Austrians, saying: "I believe there is a deeper connection between us Austrians and the Celts. Names of places in the Austrian Alps are said to be of Celtic origin."{{sfn|Moore|1992|p=373}} He became a naturalized Irish citizen in 1948, but also retained his Austrian citizenship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clary |first=David C. |title=Foreign Membership of the Royal Society: Schrödinger and Heisenberg? |journal=Notes and Records: The Royal Society Journal of the History of Science |year=2022 |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=513–536 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2021.0082|s2cid=247599443 |doi-access=free }}</ref> He published about fifty further papers on various topics, including his explorations of [[Physics:Classical unified field theories|unified field theory]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Erwin Schrödinger - Important Scientists – The Physics of the Universe |url=https://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_schrodinger.html |access-date=19 February 2023 |website=www.physicsoftheuniverse.com |archive-date=19 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219112213/https://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_schrodinger.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1943, Schrödinger gave a series of three major lectures at Trinity College Dublin which remain highly influential at the university. The series began annual conferences in his name,{{clarify|reason=wording implies the conferences already existed and that each began with one of the lectures, as opposed to the lectures being instituted because of the lecture series|date=March 2025}} and buildings at the College were named after him.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://universitytimes.ie/2018/02/fifty-years-after-a-famous-talk-schrodinger-is-still-teaching-trinity-lessons|title=Seventy-Five Years After a Famous Talk, Schrodinger is Still Teaching Trinity Lessons|first1=Dillon|last1=Hennessy|year=2018|publisher=University Times|location=Dublin}}</ref>

In 1944, Schrödinger wrote ''[[Philosophy:What Is Life?|What Is Life?]]'', which contains a discussion of [[Negentropy|negentropy]] and the concept of a complex [[Physics:Molecule|molecule]] with the genetic code for living [[Biology:Organism|organism]]s. According to James D. Watson's memoir, ''DNA, the Secret of Life'', Schrödinger's book gave Watson the inspiration to research the [[Biology:Gene|gene]], which led to the discovery of the [[Biology:DNA|DNA]] double helix structure in 1953.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Watson |first1=James D. |title=The double helix: a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA |last2=Stent |first2=Gunther S. |date=1998 |publisher=Scribner |isbn=978-0-684-85279-9 |edition=1st Scribner |location=New York}}</ref> Similarly, [[Biography:Francis Crick|Francis Crick]], in his autobiographical book ''What Mad Pursuit'', described how he was influenced by Schrödinger's speculations about how genetic information might be stored in molecules.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crick |first=Francis |title=What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery |publisher=Basic Books |year=1988 |isbn=0-465-09137-7 |location=New York}}</ref>

A manuscript "Fragment from an unpublished dialogue of [[Biography:Galileo Galilei|Galileo]]"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130418015552/http://www.kingshospital.ie/thekingshospital/Files/Schroedinger%20Bluecoat.pdf "Fragment from an unpublished dialogue of Galileo"] manuscript</ref> from this time resurfaced at The King's Hospital boarding school, Dublin,<ref>Ahlstrom, Dick (18 April 2012) [http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0418/1224314875355.html 'Quantum humour' beams back after absence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418061601/https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0418/1224314875355.html |date=18 April 2012 }}. ''The Irish Times''</ref> after it was written for the school's 1955 edition of their Blue Coat, Schrödinger's last year in Dublin.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ahlstrom|first=Dick|title='Quantum humour' beams back after absence|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/quantum-humour-beams-back-after-absence-1.503342|access-date=17 December 2021|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116191431/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/quantum-humour-beams-back-after-absence-1.503342|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Later life and death ==
[[File:Grave Schroedinger.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Annemarie and Erwin Schrödinger's gravesite; above the name plate [[Schrödinger equation|Schrödinger's quantum mechanical wave equation]] is inscribed on a circular plaque:{{Equation box 1|equation=<math>i \hbar \dot \Psi = H \Psi</math>}}]]

In 1956, following the neutralization of Austria in 1955, Schödinger returned to [[Place:Vienna|Vienna]] to become a professor emeritus at the University of Vienna.

At an important lecture during the World Power Conference, Schrödinger refused to speak on [[Physics:Nuclear power|nuclear power]] because of his scepticism about it and gave a philosophical lecture instead. During this period, he turned from mainstream quantum mechanics' definition of [[Physics:Wave–particle duality|wave–particle duality]] and promoted the [[Physics:Wave–particle duality#Wave-only view|wave idea alone]], causing much controversy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/biographies/bio_schrodinger-erwin.html|title=Nuclear Files: Library: Biographies: Erwin Schrödinger|access-date=14 September 2021|archive-date=19 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219131850/http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/biographies/bio_schrodinger-erwin.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Schrödinger, Are There Quantum Jumps, 1952. http://www.ub.edu/hcub/hfq/sites/default/files/Quantum_Jumps_I.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411004001/http://www.ub.edu/hcub/hfq/sites/default/files/Quantum_Jumps_I.pdf |date=11 April 2021 }}</ref>

Schrödinger suffered from [[Medicine:Tuberculosis|tuberculosis]]  and several times in the 1920s stayed at a sanatorium in Arosa, Switzerland. It was there that he formulated his wave equation.{{sfn|Moore|1992|p=194}}

Schrödinger died of tuberculosis on 4 January 1961 in Vienna at the age of 73.{{sfn|Moore|1992|p=10}} Although not Catholic, he was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Alpbach, after the priest in charge of the cemetery learnt Schrödinger was a Member of the [[Religion:Pontifical Academy of Sciences|Pontifical Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1992|p=482}}: "There was some problem about burial in the churchyard since Erwin was not a Catholic, but the priest relented when informed that he was a member in good standing of the Papal Academy, and a plot was made available at the edge of the Friedhof."</ref>

== Research and interests ==
Early in his life, Schrödinger experimented in the fields of [[Electrical engineering|electrical engineering]], [[Physics:Atmospheric electricity|atmospheric electricity]], and atmospheric radioactivity, but he usually worked with his former teacher Franz Exner. He also studied [[Physics:Molecular vibration|vibrational]] theory, the theory of [[Brownian motion]], and [[Mathematical statistics|mathematical statistics]]. In 1912, at the request of the editors of the ''Handbook of Electricity and Magnetism'', he wrote an article titled ''Dielectrism''. That same year, he gave a theoretical estimate of the probable height distribution of radioactive substances, which is required to explain the observed radioactivity of the atmosphere, and in August 1913 executed several experiments in Zeehame that confirmed his theoretical estimate and those of [[Biography:Victor Hess|Victor Hess]]. For this work, he was awarded the Haitinger Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1920.<ref name="Mehra">{{cite book|last1=Mehra |first1=J. |last2=Rechenberg |first2=H. |author-link2=Helmut Rechenberg |year=1987 |title=Erwin Schrödinger and the Rise of Wave Mechanics |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-387-95179-9 |oclc=692702783}}</ref> Other experimental studies conducted by the young researcher in 1914 were checking formulas for capillary pressure in gas bubbles and the study of the properties of soft beta radiation produced by gamma rays striking a metal surface. The last work he performed together with his friend Fritz Kohlrausch. In 1919, he performed his last physical experiment on coherent light and subsequently focused on theoretical studies. 
=== Quantum mechanics ===
==== New quantum theory ====
In the first years of his career, Schrödinger became acquainted with the ideas of the [[Physics:Old quantum theory|old quantum theory]], developed in the works of Einstein, [[Biography:Max Planck|Max Planck]], [[Biography:Niels Bohr|Niels Bohr]], [[Biography:Arnold Sommerfeld|Arnold Sommerfeld]], and others. This knowledge helped him work on some problems in [[Physics:Theoretical physics|theoretical physics]], but the Austrian scientist at the time was not yet ready to part with the traditional methods of [[Physics:Classical physics|classical physics]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fischer |first=Earnst Peter |date=Autumn 1984 |title=We Are All Aspects of One Single Being: An Introduction to Erwin Schrödinger |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40970963 |journal=Social Research |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=809–835 |jstor=40970963 |pmid=11616408 |via=JSTORE |jstor-access= |access-date=6 February 2024 |archive-date=6 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206162904/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40970963 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Schrödinger's first publications about [[Physics:Atomic theory|atomic theory]] and the theory of spectra began to emerge only from the beginning of the 1920s, after his personal acquaintance with Sommerfeld and [[Biography:Wolfgang Pauli|Wolfgang Pauli]] and his move to Germany. In January 1921, Schrödinger finished his first article on this subject, about the framework of the Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization of the interaction of electrons on some features of the spectra of the alkali metals. Of particular interest to him was the introduction of relativistic considerations in quantum theory. In autumn 1922, he analyzed the electron orbits in an atom from a geometric point of view, using methods developed by his friend [[Biography:Hermann Weyl|Hermann Weyl]]. This work, in which it was shown that quantum orbits are associated with certain geometric properties, was an important step in predicting some of the features of wave mechanics. Earlier in the same year, he created the Schrödinger equation of the [[Physics:Relativistic Doppler effect|relativistic Doppler effect]] for spectral lines, based on the hypothesis of light quanta and considerations of energy and momentum. He liked the idea of his teacher Exner on the statistical nature of the conservation laws, so he enthusiastically embraced the [[Physics:BKS theory|BKS theory]] of Bohr, [[Biography:Hans Kramers|Hans Kramers]], and [[Biography:John C. Slater|John C. Slater]], which suggested the possibility of violation of these laws in individual atomic processes (for example, in the process of emission of radiation). Although the [[Physics:Bothe–Geiger coincidence experiment|Bothe–Geiger coincidence experiment]] soon cast doubt on this, the idea of energy as a statistical concept was a lifelong attraction for Schrödinger, and he discussed it in some reports and publications.<ref name=jammer>{{cite book|first=Max |last=Jammer |title=The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics |location=New York |publisher=American Institute of Physics |orig-year=1966 |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-88318-617-6 |oclc=300417620}}</ref>

==== Wave mechanics ====
In January 1926, Schrödinger published in ''[[Physics:Annalen der Physik|Annalen der Physik]]'' the paper "{{Lang|de|Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem}}" (Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schrodinger|first=Erwin|title=Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem|journal=[[Physics:Annalen der Physik|Annalen der Physik]]|year=1926|volume=384|issue=4|pages=273–376|doi=10.1002/andp.19263840404|bibcode=1926AnP...384..361S|doi-access=}}</ref> on wave mechanics and presented what is now known as the Schrödinger equation. In this paper, he gave a "derivation" of the wave equation for time-independent systems and showed that it gave the correct energy eigenvalues for a hydrogen-like atom. This paper has been universally celebrated as one of the most important achievements of the twentieth century and created a revolution in most areas of quantum mechanics and indeed of all physics and chemistry. A second paper was submitted just four weeks later that solved the [[Physics:Quantum harmonic oscillator|quantum harmonic oscillator]], [[Rigid rotor|rigid rotor]], and [[Chemistry:Diatomic molecule|diatomic molecule]] problems and gave a new derivation of the Schrödinger equation. A third paper, published in May, showed the equivalence of his approach to that of [[Biography:Werner Heisenberg|Werner Heisenberg]]'s [[Physics:Matrix mechanics|matrix mechanics]] and gave the treatment of the [[Physics:Stark effect|Stark effect]]. A fourth paper in this series showed how to treat problems in which the system changes with time, as in scattering problems. In this paper, he introduced a complex solution to the wave equation in order to prevent the occurrence of fourth- and sixth-order differential equations. Schrödinger ultimately reduced the order of the equation to one.<ref>''The Dreams That Stuff Is Made Of: The Most Astounding Papers of Quantum Physics—and How They Shook the Scientific World'', [[Biography:Stephen Hawking|Stephen Hawking]], (editor), the papers by Schrödinger.</ref>

Building on a paper by Einstein, [[Biography:Boris Podolsky|Boris Podolsky]], and [[Biography:Nathan Rosen|Nathan Rosen]], which introduced the thought-experiment now known as the [[Physics:EPR paradox|EPR paradox]], Schrödinger published in 1935 a paper that codified the concept of [[Quantum entanglement|quantum entanglement]].<ref name="Schroeder-2017">{{cite journal |last=Schroeder |first=Daniel V. |date=1 November 2017 |title=Entanglement isn't just for spin |url=https://pubs.aip.org/ajp/article/85/11/812/1057936/Entanglement-isn-t-just-for-spin |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=85 |issue=11 |pages=812–820 |arxiv=1703.10620 |doi=10.1119/1.5003808 |bibcode=2017AmJPh..85..812S }}</ref> He deemed this quantum phenomenon "the one that enforces its entire departure from [[Physics:Classical mechanics|classical]] lines of thought."<ref name="Schrödinger1935">{{cite journal |author=Schrödinger |first=Erwin |year=1935 |title=Discussion of probability relations between separated systems |journal=Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=555–563 |bibcode=1935PCPS...31..555S |doi=10.1017/S0305004100013554}}</ref>

Schrödinger was not entirely comfortable with the implications of quantum theory referring to his theory as "wave mechanics".<ref>Beller, Mara. "Matrix Theory before Schrodinger: Philosophy, Problems, Consequences." Isis, vol. 74, no. 4, [The University of Chicago Press, The History of Science Society], 1983, pp. 469–91, http://www.jstor.org/stable/232208 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006103703/https://www.jstor.org/stable/232208 |date=6 October 2021 }}. "The Gottingen-Copenhagen physicists, however, presented a united front. They cooperated intimately, each contributing extensively to the emergence of the new philosophy. The distribution of talents in the Gottingen-Copenhagen group could not have been better. The youthful vigor and brilliance of Heisenberg, together with the mathematical virtuosity of Dirac, Jordan, and Born, were balanced by Bohr's philosophical profundity and Pauli's penetrating critical mind."</ref><ref>Stone, A. Douglas (2013). "Confusion and Then Uncertainty." ''Einstein and the Quantum: The Quest of the Valiant Swabian''. Princeton University Press, pp. 268–78, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fgxvv.32."Ironically, Schrödinger was correct; his method was much more intuitive and visualizable than that of Heisenberg and Born, and it has become the overwhelmingly preferred method for presenting the subject. But with Born's probabilistic interpretation of the wave-function, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and Bohr's mysterious complementarity principle, the 'Copenhagen interpretation' reigned supreme, and the term 'wave mechanics' disappeared; it was all quantum mechanics."</ref> He wrote about the probability interpretation of quantum mechanics, saying, "I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it." (In order to ridicule the [[Physics:Copenhagen interpretation|viewpoints of Bohr and Heisenberg]] on quantum mechanics, he contrived the famous thought experiment called the [[Physics:Schrödinger's cat|Schrödinger's cat]] paradox.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/26/science/a-quantum-sampler.html |work=The New York Times |title=A Quantum Sampler |date=26 December 2005 |access-date=13 August 2021 |archive-date=15 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915080006/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/26/science/a-quantum-sampler.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was said to have angrily complained to his students that "''now the damned Göttingen physicists use my beautiful wave mechanics for calculating their shitty matrix elements.''"<ref>[[Biography:Helmut Rechenberg|Rechenberg, Helmut]]. "Werner Heisenberg: Die Sprache der Atome" Springer-Verlag, 2010, pp. 485, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-69222-5 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528034502/https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-69222-5 |date=28 May 2022 }}. "Noch drastischer sollte Schrödinger seine Meinung im Züricher Seminar nach einem Vortrag über eine neue Arbeit der Konkurrenten ausgedrückt haben. Er setzte sich nachher leicht verzweifelt und verärgert auf die Straße und sagte: "''Jetzt benützen die verdammten Göttinger meine schöne Wellenmechanik zur Ausrechnung ihrer Scheiß-Matrixelemente.''"</ref>)

==== Unified field theory ====
Following his work on quantum mechanics, Schrödinger devoted considerable effort to working on a [[Physics:Unified field theory|unified field theory]] that would unite [[Company:Gravity|gravity]], [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetism]], and nuclear forces within the basic framework of [[Physics:General relativity|general relativity]], doing the work with an extended correspondence with Albert Einstein.<ref name="Halpern">{{Cite web |last=Halpern |first=Paul |date=1 April 2015 |title=Battle of the Nobel Laureates |url=https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/battle-of-the-nobel-laureates-712d444610d3 |access-date=13 October 2023 |website=Starts With A Bang! |language=en |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107011418/https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/battle-of-the-nobel-laureates-712d444610d3 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1947, he announced a result, "Affine Field Theory",<ref>Schrödinger, E., ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'', Vol. 51A (1947), [http://einstein-schrodinger.com/schrodingerI.html pp. 163–171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406052716/http://einstein-schrodinger.com/schrodingerI.html |date=6 April 2015 }}. (accessed 3 November 2017)</ref> in a talk at the Royal Irish Academy, but the announcement was criticized by Einstein as "preliminary" and failed to lead to the desired unified theory.<ref name="Halpern" /> Following the failure of his attempt at unification, Schrödinger gave up his work on unification and turned to other topics. Additionally, Schrödinger reportedly never collaborated with a major physicist for the remainder of his career.<ref name="Halpern" />

=== Color ===
[[File:Erwin Schrodinger.jpg|thumb|Schrödinger, photographed by [[Francis Simon]]]]
Schrödinger had a strong interest in [[Social:Psychology|psychology]], in particular color perception and [[Physics:Colorimetry|colorimetry]] (German: ''{{Lang|de|Farbenmetrik}}''). He spent quite a few years of his life working on these questions and published a series of papers in this area:
* "Theorie der Pigmente von größter Leuchtkraft", ''[[Physics:Annalen der Physik|Annalen der Physik]]'', (4), 62, (1920), 603–22 (Theory of Pigments with Highest Luminosity)
* "Grundlinien einer Theorie der Farbenmetrik im Tagessehen", ''Annalen der Physik'', (4), 63, (1920), 397–456; 481–520 (Outline of a theory of colour measurement for daylight vision)
* "Farbenmetrik", ''[[Physics:Zeitschrift für Physik|Zeitschrift für Physik]]'', 1, (1920), 459–66 (Colour measurement).
* "Über das Verhältnis der Vierfarben- zur Dreifarben-Theorie", ''Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse'', Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, 134, 471, (On The Relationship of Four-Color Theory to Three-Color Theory).
* "Lehre von der strahlenden Energie", ''[[Biography:Johann Heinrich Jakob Müller|Müller]]-[[Biography:Claude Pouillet|Pouillets]] Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologie'', Vol 2, Part 1 (1926) (Thresholds of Color Differences).

His work on the psychology of color perception follows the step of [[Biography:Isaac Newton|Isaac Newton]], [[Biography:James Clerk Maxwell|James Clerk Maxwell]] and [[Biography:Hermann von Helmholtz|Hermann von Helmholtz]] in the same area. Some of these papers have been translated into English and can be found in: ''Sources of Colour Science'', Ed. David L. MacAdam, MIT Press (1970) and in ''Erwin Schrödinger’s Color Theory, Translated with Modern Commentary'', Ed. Keith K. Niall, Springer (2017). {{ISBN|978-3-319-64619-0}} {{doi|10.1007/978-3-319-64621-3}}.

=== Philosophy ===
Schrödinger had a deep interest in philosophy, and was influenced by the works of [[Biography:Arthur Schopenhauer|Arthur Schopenhauer]] and [[Biography:Baruch Spinoza|Baruch Spinoza]]. In his 1956 lecture "Mind and Matter", he said that "The world extended in space and time is but our [[Philosophy:Mental representation|representation]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schrödinger |first=Erwin |title=What is life? : the physical aspect of the living cell; with Mind and matter; & Autobiographical sketches |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-511-00114-2 |location=Cambridge |oclc=47010639|page=136}}</ref> This is a repetition of the first words of Schopenhauer's main work. Schopenhauer's works also introduced him to [[Philosophy:Indian philosophy|Indian philosophy]], more specifically to the [[Religion:Upanishads|Upanishads]] and [[Philosophy:Advaita Vedanta|Advaita Vedanta]]’s interpretation. He once took on a particular line of thought: "If the world is indeed created by our act of observation, there should be billions of such worlds, one for each of us. How come your world and my world are the same? If something happens in my world, does it happen in your world, too? What causes all these worlds to synchronize with each other?"

<blockquote>There is obviously only one alternative, namely the unification of minds or consciousnesses. Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads.<ref name="Schrödinger">Schrödinger, Erwin. What is life? Epilogue: On Determinism and Free Will</ref></blockquote>Schrödinger discussed topics such as [[Philosophy:Consciousness|consciousness]], the [[Philosophy:Mind–body problem|mind–body problem]], sense perception, [[Philosophy:Free will|free will]], and objective reality in his lectures and writings.<ref name="Schrödinger" /><ref>Schrödinger, Erwin.Mind and Matter</ref><ref>Schrödinger, Erwin. My View of the World</ref>

Schrödinger's attitude with respect to the relations between Eastern and Western thought was one of prudence, expressing appreciation for Eastern philosophy while also admitting that some of the ideas did not fit with empirical approaches to natural philosophy.<ref name="Bitbol">{{Cite journal|last=Bitbol|first=Michel|title=Schrödinger and Indian Philosophy|url=http://michel.bitbol.pagesperso-orange.fr/Schrodinger_India.pdf|journal=Cahiers du service culturel de l'ambassade de France en Inde, Allahabad, August 1999|pages=20|access-date=22 January 2022|archive-date=7 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307163951/http://michel.bitbol.pagesperso-orange.fr/Schrodinger_India.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Some commentators have suggested that Schrödinger was so deeply immersed in a non-dualist Vedântic-like view that it may have served as a broad framework or subliminal inspiration for much of his work including that in theoretical physics.<ref name="Bitbol" /> Schrödinger expressed sympathy for the idea of ''tat tvam asi'', stating "you can throw yourself flat on the ground, stretched out upon [[Religion:Mother Nature|Mother Earth]], with the certain conviction that you are one with her and she with you."<ref>Schrödinger, Erwin. ''My View of the World'', chapter iv, and ''What Is life?''</ref>

Schrödinger said that "Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else."<ref>"General Scientific and Popular Papers." In ''Collected Papers'', Vol. 4. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences. Braunschweig/Wiesbaden: Vieweg & Sohn. p. 334.</ref>

He also anticipated the [[Physics:Many-worlds interpretation|many-worlds interpretation]] of quantum mechanics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deutsch |first=David |url=https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/Saunders,%20Barry%20-%20Many%20Worlds,%20Everett,Quantum,Theory%20and%20Reality.pdf |title=Many Worlds?: Everett, Quantum Theory, and Reality |date=2010 |publisher=[[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-956056-1 |editor-last=Saunders |editor-first=Simon |edition=1 |pages=544 |language=en |chapter=Apart from Universes |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560561.001.0001 |editor-last2=Barrett |editor-first2=Jonathan |editor-last3=Kent |editor-first3=Adrian |editor-last4=Wallace |editor-first4=David}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Allori |first1=Valia |last2=Goldstein |first2=Sheldon |last3=Tumulka |first3=Roderich |last4=Zanghì |first4=Nino |date=1 March 2011 |title=Many Worlds and Schrödinger's First Quantum Theory |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1093/bjps/axp053 |journal=The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science |language=en |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=1–27 |arxiv=0903.2211 |doi=10.1093/bjps/axp053 |issn=0007-0882}}</ref> In 1952, he suggested that the different terms of a superposition evolving under the Schrödinger equation are "not alternatives but all really happen simultaneously".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schrödinger |first1=Erwin |title=The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: Dublin Seminars (1949–1955) and other unpublished essays |date=1996 |publisher=OxBow Press |editor1-last=Bitbol |editor1-first=Michel}}</ref> Schrödinger's later writings also contain elements resembling the modal interpretation originated by [[Biography:Bas van Fraassen|Bas van Fraassen]]. Because Schrödinger subscribed to a kind of post-[[Biography:Ernst Mach|Machian]] [[Philosophy:Neutral monism|neutral monism]], in which "matter" and "mind" are only different aspects or arrangements of the same common elements, treating the wavefunction as physical and treating it as information became interchangeable.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bitbol |first=Michel |author-link=Michel Bitbol |title=Schrödinger's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics |date=1996 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-94-009-1772-9 |location=Dordrecht |oclc=851376153}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
On 6 April 1920, Schrödinger married Annemarie (Anny) Bertel.{{sfn|Moore|1992|p=10}}<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1992}} discusses Schrödinger's unconventional relationships, including his affair with Hildegunde March, in chapters seven and eight, "Berlin" and "Exile in Oxford".</ref>

When Schrödinger immigrated to Ireland in 1938, he obtained visas for himself, his wife and also another woman, Hilde March. March was the wife of an Austrian colleague Arthur March and Schrödinger had fathered a daughter with her in 1934.<ref name="ReferenceA">Ronan Fanning, ''Éamon de Valera: A Will to Power'', Faber & Faber, 2015</ref> Schrödinger wrote to the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, personally, so as to obtain a visa for March. In October 1939 the ''[[Ménage à trois|ménage à trois]]'' duly took up residence in Dublin.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> His wife, Anny (born 3 December 1896), died on 3 October 1965.

One of Schrödinger's grandchildren, [[Biography:Terry Rudolph|Terry Rudolph]], has followed in his footsteps as a quantum physicist, and teaches at [[Organization:Imperial College London|Imperial College London]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Searching for the Man Behind the Cat |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2013/06/books/searching-for-the-man-behind-the-cat |author=Ryan, Greg |date=3 June 2013 |journal=The Brooklyn Rail |access-date=11 February 2017 |archive-date=29 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829164321/https://brooklynrail.org/2013/06/books/searching-for-the-man-behind-the-cat |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Gribbin|2012|p={{page needed|date=January 2019}}}}

=== Sexual abuse allegations ===
Around 1926, at the age of 39, Schrödinger tutored a 14-year-old girl named Itha "Ithi" Junger. Walter Moore relates in his 1989 biography of Schrödinger that the lessons "included 'a fair amount of petting and cuddling{{'"}} and Schrödinger "had fallen in love with his pupil".<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1989|p=224}}</ref> Moore further relates that "not long after her seventeenth birthday, they became lovers". The relationship continued and in 1932 she became pregnant (then aged 20<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taschwer |first=Klaus |date=20 October 2022 |title=Schrödingers verlorene Ehre – und ein Versuch ihrer Wiederherstellung |url=https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000140122217/schroedingers-verlorene-ehre-und-ein-versuch-ihrer-wiederherstellung |access-date=23 March 2024 |website=Der Standard |language=de-AT}}</ref>). "Erwin tried to persuade her to have the child; he said he would take care of it, but he did not offer to divorce [his wife] Anny ... in desperation, Ithi arranged for an abortion."<ref>{{harvnb|Moore|1989|p=255}}</ref>

Moore describes Schrödinger having a "Lolita complex." He quotes from Schrödinger's diary from the time where he said that "men of strong, genuine intellectuality are immensely attracted only by women who, forming the very beginning of the intellectual series, are as nearly connected to the preferred springs of nature as they." A 2021 ''Irish Times'' article summarized this as a "predilection for teenage girls", and denounced Schrödinger as "a serial abuser whose behaviour fitted the profile of a paedophile in the widely understood sense of that term."<ref name="Humphreys">{{Cite news |last=Humphreys |first=Joe |title=How Erwin Schrödinger indulged his 'Lolita complex' in Ireland |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/how-erwin-schr%C3%B6dinger-indulged-his-lolita-complex-in-ireland-1.4749204 |url-access=subscription|date=11 December 2021 |access-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230227041053/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/how-erwin-schr%C3%B6dinger-indulged-his-lolita-complex-in-ireland-1.4749204|archive-date=27 February 2023|url-status=live|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en}}</ref> Schrödinger's grandson and his mother were unhappy with the accusation made by Moore, and once the biography was published, their family broke off contact with him.<ref name="derstandard" />

[[Biography:Carlo Rovelli|Carlo Rovelli]] notes in his book ''Helgoland'' that Schrödinger "always kept a number of relationships going at once – and made no secret of his fascination with preadolescent girls." In Ireland, Rovelli writes, he fathered children from two students<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rovelli |first=Carlo |title=Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution |date=2021 |translator-first1=Erica |translator-last1=Segre |translator-first2=Simon |page=20 |translator-last2=Carnell |isbn=978-0-593-32888-0  | publisher=Penguin |location=New York |oclc=1202306074}}</ref> identified in a ''Der Standard'' article as being a 26-year-old and a married political activist of unknown age.<ref name="derstandard">{{Cite web |title=Erwin Schrödinger: Missbrauchstäter und/oder Rufmordopfer? |url=https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000132657725/erwin-schroedinger-missbrauchstaeter-undoder-rufmordopfer |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=Der Standard |language=de-AT |archive-date=6 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206152925/https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000132657725/erwin-schroedinger-missbrauchstaeter-undoder-rufmordopfer |url-status=live }}</ref> Moore's book described both of these episodes, giving the name Kate Nolan as a pseudonym for the first and naming the other as Sheila May, though neither was a student.{{sfn|Moore|1989|loc=chapter 10-11}} The book also described an episode of Schrödinger being "infatuated" with a twelve-year-old girl, Barbara MacEntee, while in Ireland. He desisted from attentions after a "serious word" from someone, and later "listed her among the unrequited loves of his life."{{sfn|Moore|1989|loc=chapter 10}} This episode from the book was highlighted by the ''Irish Times'' article and others.<ref name="derstandard"/>

Walter Moore stated that Schrödinger's attitude towards women was "that of a male supremacist,"{{sfn|Moore|1989|loc=chapter 8}} but that he disliked the "official misogyny" at Oxford which socially excluded women. [[Biography:Helge Kragh|Helge Kragh]], in his review of Moore's biography, said the "conquest of women, especially very young women, was the salt of life for this sincere romantic and male chauvinist."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kragh |first=Helge |date=1990 |title=Review of Schrödinger. Life and Thought |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4026738 |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=231–233 |jstor=4026738 |issn=0007-0874 |access-date=7 February 2022 |archive-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202020613/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4026738 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The physics department of Trinity College Dublin announced in January 2022 that they would recommend a lecture theatre that had been named for Schrödinger since the 1990s be renamed in light of his history of sexual abuse,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Corr |first=Julianne |title=Trinity to drop Schrödinger lecture theatre name over sex abuse |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/trinity-to-drop-schroedinger-lecture-theatre-name-over-sex-abuse-52t3v06vq |work=The Times |date=25 January 2022 |access-date=7 February 2022 |issn=0140-0460 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307163939/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trinity-to-drop-schroedinger-lecture-theatre-name-over-sex-abuse-52t3v06vq |url-status=live }}</ref> while a picture of the scientist would be removed, and the renaming of an eponymous lecture series would be considered.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salerno |first=Bella |date=8 February 2022 |title=Schrödinger Lecture Theatre to be renamed the Physics Lecture Theater |work=Trinity News |url=https://trinitynews.ie/2022/02/schrodinger-lecture-theatre-to-be-renamed-the-physics-lecture-theatre/ |access-date=9 February 2022 |quote=The Schrödinger Lecture Theatre is to be renamed the Physics Lecture Theatre, as it was known during the early to mid 20th century. ... "...it was clear that a large majority of both staff and students now favour changing the name [of] the lecture theatre in the Fitzgerald Building that has borne his name since the 1990s" ... "The current approach continues to honour the indisputable scientific contribution of Erwin Schrödinger, while acknowledging disturbing information – much of it from Schrödinger’s own diaries – which is now also known." ... a portrait of Schrödinger will be removed from the Fitzgerald building. |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307163942/https://trinitynews.ie/2022/02/schrodinger-lecture-theatre-to-be-renamed-the-physics-lecture-theatre/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Recognition ==
=== Awards ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Year
! Institute
! Award
! Citation
! {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| {{Flagdeco|Kingdom of Italy}} [[History:Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]
| 1927
| Accademia dei XL
| [[Physics:Matteucci Medal|Matteucci Medal]]
|
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Medals|url=https://www.accademiaxl.it/en/activities/medals/|publisher=Accademia dei XL|access-date=4 November 2025}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|Sweden}}
| 1933
| Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
| Nobel Prize in Physics
| "For the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory" (with [[Biography:Paul Dirac|Paul Dirac]])
| <ref name=Nobel1933/>
|-
| {{Flagdeco|Germany|1935}} [[Place:Nazi Germany|Germany]]
| 1937
| German Physical Society
| Max Planck Medal
|
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Max Planck Medal recipients|url=https://www.dpg-physik.de/auszeichnungen/dpg-preise/max-planck-medaille/preistraeger|url-status=live|language=de|publisher=German Physical Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251009202127/https://www.dpg-physik.de/auszeichnungen/dpg-preise/max-planck-medaille/preistraeger|archive-date=9 October 2025|access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|Austria}}
| 1956
| Austrian Academy of Sciences
| Erwin Schrödinger Prize
|
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Erwin Schrödinger Prize recipients|url=http://stipendien.oeaw.ac.at/de/preistr%C3%A4ger-und-preistr%C3%A4gerinnen-des-erwin-schr%C3%B6dinger-preises|url-status=dead|language=German|publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702024726/http://stipendien.oeaw.ac.at/de/preistr%C3%A4ger-und-preistr%C3%A4gerinnen-des-erwin-schr%C3%B6dinger-preises|archive-date=2 July 2017|access-date=22 August 2011}}</ref>
|}

=== Memberships ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Year
! Institute
! Type
! {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| {{Flag|Vatican City}}
| 1936
| [[Religion:Pontifical Academy of Sciences|Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]
| Academician
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Erwin Schrödinger|url=https://www.pas.va/en/academicians/deceased/schroedinger.html|url-status=live|publisher=[[Religion:Pontifical Academy of Sciences|Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250806153731/https://www.pas.va/en/academicians/deceased/schroedinger.html|archive-date=6 August 2025|access-date=30 November 2025}}</ref>
|-
| {{Flag|United Kingdom}}
| 1949
| Royal Society
| Foreign Member
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Search past Fellows|url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA7665&pos=1|publisher=Royal Society|access-date=30 November 2025}}</ref>
|}

=== Chivalric orders ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{Flag|West Germany}}
!scope="col"| Year
!scope="col"| President
!scope="col"| Order
!scope="col"| {{Reference column heading}}
|-
| 1956
| Theodor Heuss
| Pour le Mérite
| <ref>{{Cite web|title=Erwin Schrödinger|url=https://www.orden-pourlemerite.de/mitglieder/erwin-schroedinger|language=de|website=www.orden-pourlemerite.de|access-date=30 November 2025}}</ref>
|}

== Commemorations ==
[[File:Erwin Schrodinger at U Vienna.JPG|thumb|upright|Bust of Schrödinger, in the courtyard arcade of the main building, [[Organization:University of Vienna|University of Vienna]], Austria]]

The philosophical issues raised by Schrödinger's cat are still debated today and remain his most enduring legacy in popular science, while Schrödinger's equation is his most enduring legacy at a more technical level. Schrödinger is one of several individuals who have been called "the father of quantum mechanics".

[[Astronomy:Schrödinger (crater)|Schrödinger crater]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=GeoHack – Schrödinger|url=https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=List_of_craters_on_the_Moon:_R%E2%80%93S&params=74.73_S_132.93_E_globe:moon_type:landmark&title=Schr%C3%B6dinger|access-date=26 May 2021|website=geohack.toolforge.org|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029173913/https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=List_of_craters_on_the_Moon:_R%E2%80%93S&params=74.73_S_132.93_E_globe:moon_type:landmark&title=Schr%C3%B6dinger|url-status=live}}</ref> on the [[Astronomy:Far side of the Moon|far side of the Moon]] is named after him. The [[Organization:Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics|Erwin Schrödinger International Institute for Mathematical Physics]] was founded in Vienna in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESI: About the Institute |url=https://www.esi.ac.at/about/the-institute |access-date=29 July 2023 |website=www.esi.ac.at |archive-date=3 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230803233335/https://www.esi.ac.at/about/the-institute |url-status=live }}</ref>

Schrödinger's portrait was the main feature of the design of the 1983–97 Austrian 1000-schilling banknote, the second-highest denomination.<ref>[https://www.oenb.at/Ueber-Uns/Geldmuseum/Sammlungen/Oesterreichische-Banknoten/Schilling-Banknoten-der-Oesterreichischen-Nationalbank-1945-2002.html "Schilling-Banknoten der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank 1945–2002"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421103038/https://www.oenb.at/Ueber-Uns/Geldmuseum/Sammlungen/Oesterreichische-Banknoten/Schilling-Banknoten-der-Oesterreichischen-Nationalbank-1945-2002.html |date=21 April 2021 }}, from the Austrian National Bank</ref>

A building is named after him at the University of Limerick in Ireland,<ref>{{cite web |title=Buildings at A Glance |publisher=University of Limerick |url=http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/Services/Buildings_and_Estates/At_A_Glance |access-date=17 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330072324/http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/Services/Buildings_and_Estates/At_A_Glance |archive-date=30 March 2013}}</ref> as is the Erwin Schrödinger Zentrum in Adlershof, Berlin<ref name="EYCNDA">{{cite web|url=http://www.europeanyoungchemists.eu/index.php?page=venue|title=EYCN Delegates Assembly|year=2015|access-date=13 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027060050/http://www.europeanyoungchemists.eu/index.php?page=venue|archive-date=27 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Route Schrödinger at [[Organization:CERN|CERN]], Prévessin, France.

Schrödinger's 126th birthday anniversary in 2013 was celebrated with a Google Doodle.<ref>{{cite news|title=Physicist Erwin Schrödinger's Google doodle marks quantum mechanics work|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/12/erwin-schrodinger-google-doodle|access-date=25 August 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=13 August 2013|archive-date=27 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827003413/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/12/erwin-schrodinger-google-doodle|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Rob|title=Google Doodle honours quantum physicist Erwin Schrödinger (and his theoretical cat)|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-doodle-honours-quantum-physicist-erwin-schrodinger-and-his-theoretical-cat-8756744.html|access-date=25 August 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=12 August 2013|location=London|archive-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009070208/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-doodle-honours-quantum-physicist-erwin-schr-dinger-and-his-theoretical-cat-8756744.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Publications ==
* ''Science and the human temperament'', Allen & Unwin (1935), translated and introduced by James Murphy, with a foreword by [[Biography:Ernest Rutherford|Ernest Rutherford]].
* ''Nature and the Greeks'' and ''Science and Humanism'', Cambridge University Press (1996) {{ISBN|978-0-521-57550-8}}.
* ''The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics'', Ox Bow Press (1995) {{ISBN|978-1-881987-09-3}}.
* ''Statistical Thermodynamics'', Dover Publications (1989) {{ISBN|978-0-486-66101-8}}.
* ''Collected papers'', Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn (1984) {{ISBN|978-3-7001-0573-2}}.
* ''My View of the World'', Ox Bow Press (1983) {{ISBN|978-0-918024-30-5}}.
* ''Expanding Universes'', Cambridge University Press (1956).
* ''Space-Time Structure'', Cambridge University Press (1950) {{ISBN|978-0-521-31520-3}}.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Taub, A.|title=Review: ''Space-time structure'' by Erwin Schrödinger|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|year=1951|volume=57|issue=3|pages=205–206|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1951-57-03/S0002-9904-1951-09494-X/S0002-9904-1951-09494-X.pdf|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1951-09494-x|access-date=28 April 2021|archive-date=21 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621233643/https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1951-57-03/S0002-9904-1951-09494-X/S0002-9904-1951-09494-X.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Philosophy:What Is Life?|What Is Life?]]'', Macmillan (1944).
* ''What Is Life? & Mind and Matter'', Cambridge University Press (1974) {{ISBN|978-0-521-09397-2}}.

See also the [http://www.zbp.univie.ac.at/schrodinger/ebibliographie/publications.htm list of Erwin Schrödinger's publications] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029234511/https://www.zbp.univie.ac.at/schrodinger/ebibliographie/publications.htm |date=29 October 2019 }}), compiled by [[Biography:Auguste Dick|Auguste Dick]], Gabriele Kerber, Wolfgang Kerber and Karl von Meyenn.

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |first=Walter J[ohn] |last=Moore|title=Schrödinger – Life and Thought|url=https://www.biblio.com/9780521354349|access-date=23 January 2024|year=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-43767-7}}
* {{Cite book |first=Walter J[ohn] |last=Moore|title=Schrödinger – Life and Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-YF1glKWLoC |access-date=7 November 2011|year=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-43767-7}}
* {{Cite book |first=Walter J[ohn] |last=Moore |title=A Life of Erwin Schrödinger |publisher=Cambridge University Press |edition=Canto |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-521-46934-0 |bibcode=1994les..book.....M |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeoferwinschro0000moor |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |title=Erwin Schrödinger and the Quantum Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0zc32HdrN4C |last=Gribbin |first=John |year=2012 |publisher=Transworld |isbn=978-1-4464-6571-4 |access-date=11 February 2017}}

==External links==
* [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/money1.htm Erwin Schrödinger and others on Austrian banknotes]
* {{YouTube|8GZdZUouzBY|1927 Solvay video with opening shot of Schrödinger}}
* "''[https://www.univie.ac.at/zbph/ausstellung/schroedinger/bio/bio1.htm biographie]''" (in German) or
* "''[https://www.univie.ac.at/zbph/ausstellung/schroedinger/ebio/bio1.htm Biography from the Austrian Central Library for Physics]''" (in English)
* [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Schrodinger Encyclopædia Britannica article on Erwin Schrödinger]
* {{Nobelprize}} with his Nobel Lecture, 12 December 1933 ''The Fundamental Idea of Wave Mechanics''
* Vallabhan, C. P. Girija, "''[https://web.archive.org/web/20030816185613/http://www.photonics.cusat.edu/article2.html Indian influences on Quantum Dynamics]''" [''ed.'' Schrödinger's interest in [[Philosophy:Vedanta|Vedanta]]]
* [http://watoc.net/watoc.schroedinger.html Schrödinger Medal] of the World Association of Theoretically Oriented Chemists (WATOC)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051219215407/http://holiker.narod.ru/four/schrodinger-speech.html ''The Discovery of New Productive Forms of Atomic Theory'' Nobel Banquet speech] (in German)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190502072205/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FSchr%C3%B6dinger%2C+Erwin Annotated bibliography for Erwin Schrödinger from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* {{in lang|it}} [https://disf.org/abbiamo-studiato-per-voi/9788845911248 Critical interdisciplinary review of Schrödinger's "What Is life?"]
* {{20th Century Press Archives|FID=pe/028043}}
* [https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/12661 ''Schrödinger in Oxford by Sir David C Clary '' ], World Scientific, 2022

{{Nobel Prize in Physics}}
{{1933 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schrodinger, Erwin}}
[[Category:Mathematical physicists]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:Optical physicists]]
[[Category:Philosophers of science]]
[[Category:Quantum physicists]]
[[Category:Theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:Thermodynamicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Erwin Schrödinger}}