Paul+Dirac

PAUL DIRAC

Life Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was born in Bristol England, on August 8th, 1902. His father was a successful Swiss merchant and his mother an English housewife. Dirac went to the University of Bristol where he earned a degree in mathematical engineering in 1921. He later went to Cambridge as a student of mathematics and received his PhD in mathematics in 1926. Over his career, Dirac wrote and published numerous papers and writings on mathematics and more specifically, quantum mechanics. He gained world renown with his books, //The Quantum Theory of the Electron,// and //The Principles of Quantum Mechanics.// Dirac was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. He married Margaret Wigner in 1937. Dirac died on the 20th of October, 1984, at the age of 82.

Contribution to the Atomic Theory Dirac contributed many ideas to the field of mathematics and quantum physics, but his most enduring, and influential work was the proposition of the existance of a positively charged photon in the atom. Dirac proposed that in order to keep the atom’s structure stable, another, positively charge particle(s) must also exist to counteract the negative charge of the electrons. Dirac's theory of the proton, radically altered scientists' understanding of the structure of the atom.

__Improvements:__ The Dirac redicts somEquation improved upon past models by proposing the existence of antiparticles such as the positron.

__Flaws:__ The flaw with this model is that it pre actions of electrons which electrons do not do. In order to fix this, other theories such as the hole theory have to be used in conjunction with the Dirac Equation in order for it to work in different circumstances.

Additional facts:
 * he proved the existence of anti-matter
 * Introduced special relativity into Shrodinger's equation.

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