View source for Biography:Hendrik Lorentz

{{short description|Dutch physicist (1853–1928)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name        = Hendrik Lorentz
| image       = File:Nobelprijswinnaars. H.A. Lorentz (cropped).jpg
| image_size  = 220px
| caption     = Lorentz in 1902
| birth_name  = Hendrik Antoon Lorentz
| birth_place = Arnhem, Netherlands
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1928|2|4|1853|7|18|df=y}}
| death_place = Haarlem, Netherlands
| field       = [[Physics:Physics|Physics]]
| alma_mater  = University of Leiden
| workplaces  = University of Leiden
| doctoral_advisor  = Pieter Rijke
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* Geertruida L. de Haas-Lorentz
* Adriaan Fokker
* [[Biography:Leonard Ornstein|Leonard Ornstein]]
* Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen}}
| known_for   = {{Plainlist|
* Lorentz contraction
* [[Lorentz covariance]]
* [[Physics:Lorentz ether theory|Lorentz ether theory]]
* [[Lorentz factor]]
* [[Physics:Lorentz force|Lorentz force]]
* [[Physics:Reciprocity (electromagnetism)|Lorentz reciprocity]]
* [[Physics:Combining rules#Lorentz-Berthelot rules|Lorentz rule]]
* [[Physics:Lorentz oscillator model|Lorentz oscillator model]]
* Lorentzian metric
* [[Physics:Lorentz transformation|Lorentz transformation]]
* [[Physics:Abraham–Lorentz force|Abraham–Lorentz force]]
* Cauchy–Lorentz distribution
* [[Physics:Drude model|Drude–Lorentz model]]
* [[Physics:Clausius–Mossotti relation#Lorentz–Lorenz equation|Lorentz–Lorenz equation]]
* [[Physics:Rayleigh–Lorentz pendulum|Rayleigh–Lorentz pendulum]]
* [[Stokes flow|Stokeslet]]
* Theory of EM radiation}}
| prizes      = {{Plainlist|
* Nobel Prize for Physics (1902)
* ForMemRS (1905)<ref name=frs/>
* Rumford Medal (1908) 
* Franklin Medal (1917) 
* [[Physics:Copley Medal|Copley Medal]] (1918)}}
}}
[[File:Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, in 1916 geschilderd door Menso Kamelingh Onnes.jpg|thumb|Painting of Hendrik Lorentz by Menso Kamerlingh Onnes, 1916]]
[[File:Jan Veth05.jpg|thumb|Portrait by Jan Veth]]
[[File:H. A. Lorentz - Lorentz force, div E = ρ, div B = 0 - La théorie electromagnétique de Maxwell et son application aux corps mouvants, Archives néerlandaises, 1892 - p 451 - Eq. I, II, III.png|thumb|Lorentz' theory of electrons. Formulas for the Lorentz force (I) and the Maxwell equations for the [[Divergence|divergence]] of the electrical field E (II) and the magnetic field B (III), ''La théorie electromagnétique de Maxwell et son application aux corps mouvants'', 1892, p. 451. ''V'' is the velocity of light.]]
[[File:H. A. Lorentz - rot B, rot E - La théorie electromagnétique de Maxwell et son application aux corps mouvants, Archives néerlandaises, 1892 - p 452 - Eq. IV & V.png|thumb|Lorentz' theory of electrons. Formulas for the [[Curl (mathematics)|curl]] of the magnetic field (IV) and the electrical field E (V), ''La théorie electromagnétique de Maxwell et son application aux corps mouvants'', 1892, p. 452]]
'''Hendrik Antoon Lorentz''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɒr|ən|t|s}}; 18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch [[Physicist|physicist]] who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with [[Biography:Pieter Zeeman|Pieter Zeeman]] for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the [[Physics:Zeeman effect|Zeeman effect]]. He derived the [[Physics:Lorentz transformation|Lorentz transformation]] of the [[Physics:Special relativity|special theory of relativity]], as well as the [[Physics:Lorentz force|Lorentz force]], which describes the combined electric and magnetic forces acting on a charged particle in an [[Physics:Electromagnetic field|electromagnetic field]]. Lorentz was also responsible for the [[Physics:Lorentz oscillator model|Lorentz oscillator model]], a classical model used to describe the anomalous dispersion observed in dielectric materials when the driving frequency of the electric field was near the resonant frequency, resulting in abnormal refractive indices. 

According to the biography published by the Nobel Foundation, "It may well be said that Lorentz was regarded by all theoretical physicists as the world's leading spirit, who completed what was left unfinished by his predecessors and prepared the ground for the fruitful reception of the new ideas based on the [[Physics:Quantum mechanics|quantum theory]]."<ref>[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1902/lorentz/biographical/ Hendrik A. Lorentz – Biographical], Nobelprize.org ''(retrieved: 4 November 2015)''</ref> He received many other honours and distinctions, including a term as chairman of the [[Organization:International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation|International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation]],<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Grandjean |first=Martin |date=2018 |title=Les réseaux de la coopération intellectuelle. La Société des Nations comme actrice des échanges scientifiques et culturels dans l'entre-deux-guerres |trans-title=The Networks of Intellectual Cooperation. The League of Nations as an Actor of the Scientific and Cultural Exchanges in the Inter-War Period |url=https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01853903 |language=fr |location=Lausanne |publisher=Université de Lausanne|type=phdthesis }}</ref> the forerunner of [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]], between 1925 and 1928.

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Hendrik Lorentz was born in Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands, the son of Gerrit Frederik Lorentz (1822–1893), a well-off horticulturist, and Geertruida van Ginkel (1826–1861). In 1862, after his mother's death, his father married Luberta Hupkes. Despite being raised as a Protestant, he was a [[Philosophy:Freethought|freethinker]] in religious matters and regularly attended Catholic mass in his local French church.<ref group=B>{{cite web |title=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hendrik_Antoon_Lorentz.aspx |publisher=Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography |access-date=25 April 2012 |author=Russell McCormmach |quote=Although he grew up in Protestant circles, he was a freethinker in religious matters; he regularly attended the local French church to improve his French.}}</ref> From 1866 to 1869, he attended the "''Hogere Burgerschool''" in Arnhem, a new type of public high school recently established by [[Biography:Johan Rudolph Thorbecke|Johan Rudolph Thorbecke]]. His results in school were exemplary; not only did he excel in the physical sciences and mathematics, but also in English, French, and German. In 1870, he passed the exams in classical languages which were then required for admission to University.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011">{{cite journal |first=Anne J. |last=Kox |title=Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (in Dutch) |journal=Nederlands Tijdschirft voor Natuurkunde |volume=77 |issue=12 |page=441 |year=2011}}</ref>

Lorentz studied [[Physics:Physics|physics]] and [[Mathematics|mathematics]] at [[Organization:Leiden University|Leiden University]], where he was strongly influenced by the teaching of astronomy professor Frederik Kaiser; it was his influence that led him to become a physicist. After earning a bachelor's degree, he returned to Arnhem in 1871 to teach night school classes in mathematics, but he continued his studies in Leiden in addition to his teaching position. In 1875, Lorentz earned a doctoral degree under Pieter Rijke on a thesis entitled "''{{lang|nl|Over de theorie der terugkaatsing en breking van het licht}}''" (On the theory of reflection and refraction of light), in which he refined the electromagnetic theory of [[Biography:James Clerk Maxwell|James Clerk Maxwell]].<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/><ref>{{cite web |author=Hendrik Lorentz |url=http://ilorentz.org/history/proefschriften/sources/Lorentz_1875.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://ilorentz.org/history/proefschriften/sources/Lorentz_1875.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Over de theorie der terugkaatsing en breking van het licht |year=1875}}</ref>

===Career===

====Professor in Leiden====
On 17 November 1877, only 24 years of age, Lorentz was appointed to the newly established chair in theoretical physics at the University of Leiden. The position had initially been offered to [[Biography:Johannes Diderik van der Waals|Johan van der Waals]], but he accepted a position at the Universiteit van Amsterdam.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/> On 25 January 1878, Lorentz delivered his inaugural lecture on ''"{{lang|nl|De moleculaire theoriën in de natuurkunde}}"'' (The molecular theories in physics). In 1881, he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00001670 |title=Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853–1928) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=17 July 2015}}</ref>

During the first twenty years in Leiden, Lorentz was primarily interested in the electromagnetic theory of electricity, magnetism, and light. After that, he extended his research to a much wider area while still focusing on theoretical physics. Lorentz made significant contributions to fields ranging from [[Physics:Hydrodynamics|hydrodynamics]] to [[Physics:General relativity|general relativity]]. His most important contributions were in the area of electromagnetism, the electron theory, and relativity.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/>

Lorentz theorized that [[Physics:Atom|atom]]s might consist of charged particles and suggested that the oscillations of these charged particles were the source of light. When a colleague and former student of Lorentz's, [[Biography:Pieter Zeeman|Pieter Zeeman]], discovered the [[Physics:Zeeman effect|Zeeman effect]] in 1896, Lorentz supplied its theoretical interpretation. The experimental and theoretical work was honored with the Nobel prize in physics in 1902. Lorentz' name is now associated with the [[Physics:Lorentz–Lorenz equation|Lorentz–Lorenz equation]], the [[Physics:Lorentz force|Lorentz force]], the Lorentzian distribution, the [[Physics:Lorentz oscillator model|Lorentz oscillator model]] and the [[Physics:Lorentz transformation|Lorentz transformation]].

====Electrodynamics and relativity====

In 1892 and 1895, Lorentz worked on describing electromagnetic phenomena (the propagation of light) in reference frames that move relative to the postulated [[Physics:Luminiferous aether|luminiferous aether]].<ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1892
|title=La Théorie electromagnétique de Maxwell et son application aux corps mouvants
|url = https://archive.org/details/lathorielectrom00loregoog
|journal=Archives Néerlandaises des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles
|volume=25
|pages=363–552}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1895
|title=Versuch einer Theorie der electrischen und optischen Erscheinungen in bewegten Körpern
|location=Leiden
|publisher=E.J. Brill|title-link=s:de:Versuch einer Theorie der electrischen und optischen Erscheinungen in bewegten Körpern
}}
*English Wikisource translation: Attempt of a Theory of Electrical and Optical Phenomena in Moving Bodies</ref> He discovered that the transition from one to another reference frame could be simplified by using a new time variable that he called ''local time'' and which depended on universal time and the location under consideration. Although Lorentz did not give a detailed interpretation of the physical significance of local time, with it, he could explain the [[Astronomy:Aberration of light|aberration of light]] and the result of the [[Physics:Fizeau experiment|Fizeau experiment]]. In 1900 and 1904, [[Biography:Henri Poincaré|Henri Poincaré]] called local time Lorentz's "most ingenious idea" and illustrated it by showing that clocks in moving frames are synchronized by exchanging light signals that are assumed to travel at the same speed against and with the motion of the frame<ref>{{Citation
|author=Poincaré, Henri
|year=1900
|title=La théorie de Lorentz et le principe de réaction
|journal=Archives Néerlandaises des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles
|volume=5
|pages=252–278|title-link=s:fr:La théorie de Lorentz et le principe de réaction
}}. See also the [http://www.physicsinsights.org/poincare-1900.pdf English translation].</ref><ref>{{Citation
|author=Poincaré, Henri
|year=1904
|chapter=The Principles of Mathematical Physics
|title=Congress of arts and science, universal exposition, St. Louis, 1904
|volume=1
|pages=604–622
|publisher=Houghton, Mifflin and Company
|location=Boston and New York}}</ref> (see [[Physics:Einstein synchronisation|Einstein synchronisation]] and [[Physics:Relativity of simultaneity|Relativity of simultaneity]]). In 1892, with the attempt to explain the [[Physics:Michelson–Morley experiment|Michelson–Morley experiment]], Lorentz also proposed that moving bodies contract in the direction of motion (see [[Length contraction|length contraction]]; [[Biography:George Francis FitzGerald|George FitzGerald]] had already arrived at this conclusion in 1889).<ref>{{Citation
|last=Lorentz
|first=Hendrik Antoon
|year=1892b
|title=The Relative Motion of the Earth and the Aether
|journal=Zittingsverlag Akad. V. Wet.
|pages=74–79
|volume=1|title-link=s:Translation:The Relative Motion of the Earth and the Aether
}}</ref>

In 1899 and again in 1904, Lorentz added [[Physics:Time dilation|time dilation]] to his transformations and published what Poincaré in 1905 named Lorentz transformations.<ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1899
|title=Simplified Theory of Electrical and Optical Phenomena in Moving Systems
|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
|volume=1
|pages=427–442|title-link=s:Simplified Theory of Electrical and Optical Phenomena in Moving Systems
|bibcode=1898KNAB....1..427L
}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1904
|title=Electromagnetic phenomena in a system moving with any velocity smaller than that of light
|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
|volume=6
|pages=809–831|title-link=s:Electromagnetic phenomena
|bibcode=1903KNAB....6..809L
}}</ref>{{electromagnetism|Scientists}}
It was apparently unknown to Lorentz that [[Biography:Joseph Larmor|Joseph Larmor]] had used identical transformations to describe orbiting electrons in 1897. Larmor's and Lorentz's equations look somewhat dissimilar, but they are algebraically equivalent to those presented by Poincaré and Einstein in 1905.<ref name=Macrossan group=B /> Lorentz's 1904 paper includes the covariant formulation of electrodynamics, in which electrodynamic phenomena in different reference frames are described by identical equations with well defined transformation properties. The paper clearly recognizes the significance of this formulation, namely that the outcomes of electrodynamic experiments do not depend on the relative motion of the reference frame. The 1904 paper includes a detailed discussion of the increase of the inertial mass of rapidly moving objects in a useless attempt to make momentum look exactly like Newtonian momentum; it was also an attempt to explain the length contraction as the accumulation of "stuff" onto mass making it slow and contract.

====Lorentz and special relativity====
[[File:Einstein en Lorentz.jpg|thumb|Albert Einstein and Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, photographed by Ehrenfest in front of his home in Leiden in 1921.]]thumb|Lorentz (left) at the [[Organization:International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation|International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations, here with Albert Einstein.]]

[[File:Hendrik Antoon Lorentz - Lessen over theoretische natuurkunde - I. Stralingstheorie (1910-1911) - Titelpagina, 1919.jpg|thumb|His published university lectures in theoretical physics. Part 1. ''Stralingstheorie'' (1910-1911, ''Radiation theory'') in Dutch, edited by his student A. D. Fokker, 1919.]]

In 1905, Einstein would use many of the concepts, mathematical tools and results Lorentz discussed to write his paper entitled "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies",<ref>{{Citation
|author=Einstein, Albert
|year=1905
|title=Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper
|journal=Annalen der Physik
|volume=322
|issue=10
|pages=891–921
|url=http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/annalen/history/einstein-papers/1905_17_891-921.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/annalen/history/einstein-papers/1905_17_891-921.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live
|doi=10.1002/andp.19053221004|bibcode = 1905AnP...322..891E |doi-access=free
}}. See also: [http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/einstein/specrel/ English translation].</ref> known today as the special theory of relativity. Because Lorentz laid the fundamentals for the work by Einstein, this theory was originally called the ''Lorentz–Einstein theory''.<ref group=B>{{Cite book|author=Miller, Arthur I.|year=1981|title=Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. Emergence (1905) and early interpretation (1905–1911)|location=Reading|publisher=Addison–Wesley|isbn=978-0-201-04679-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/alberteinsteinss0000mill}}</ref>

In 1906, Lorentz's electron theory received a full-fledged treatment in [[Physics:Ernest Kempton Adams Lectures|his lectures]] at [[Organization:Columbia University|Columbia University]], published under the title The Theory of Electrons.

The increase of mass was the first prediction of Lorentz and Einstein to be tested, but some experiments by [[Biography:Walter Kaufmann (physicist)|Kaufmann]] appeared to show a slightly different mass increase; this led Lorentz to the famous remark that he was "au bout de mon latin" ("at the end of my [knowledge of] Latin" = at his wit's end)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/poincare/chp/text/lorentz1.html |title=Lorentz à Poincaré |access-date=31 March 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050221211608/http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/poincare/chp/text/lorentz1.html |archive-date=21 February 2005 }}</ref>  The confirmation of his prediction had to wait until 1908 and later (see Kaufmann–Bucherer–Neumann experiments).

Lorentz published a series of papers dealing with what he called "Einstein's principle of relativity". For instance, in 1909,<ref name=lor09>{{citation |first = Hendrik Antoon |last = Lorentz |title = The theory of electrons and its applications to the phenomena of light and radiant heat; a course of lectures delivered in Columbia University, New York, in March and April 1906 |place = New York|publisher = Columbia University Press |year = 1916 | url= https://archive.org/details/electronstheory00lorerich}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2018}} 1910,<ref name=lor10>{{Cite book|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1910|orig-year=1913|chapter=Das Relativitätsprinzip und seine Anwendung auf einige besondere physikalische Erscheinungen|title=Das Relativitätsprinzip. Eine Sammlung von Abhandlungen|editor=Blumenthal, Otto |editor2=Sommerfeld, Arnold|pages=74–89}}
*English Wikisource translation: The Principle of Relativity and its Application to some Special Physical Phenomena</ref><ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1931|orig-year=1910
|title=Lectures on theoretical physics, Vol. 3
|publisher=MacMillan
|location=London}}</ref> 1914.<ref>{{Cite book
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon|year=1914|title=Das Relativitätsprinzip. Drei Vorlesungen gehalten in Teylers Stiftung zu Haarlem (1913)|publisher=B.G. Teubner
|location=Leipzig and Berlin|title-link=s:de:Das Relativitätsprinzip (Lorentz)}}</ref> In his 1906 lectures published with additions in 1909 in the book "The theory of electrons" (updated in 1915), he spoke affirmatively of Einstein's theory:<ref name=lor09 />

{{Blockquote|It will be clear by what has been said that the impressions received by the two observers A0 and A would be alike in all respects. It would be impossible to decide which of them moves or stands still with respect to the ether, and there would be no reason for preferring the times and lengths measured by the one to those determined by the other, nor for saying that either of them is in possession of the "true" times or the "true" lengths. This is a point which Einstein has laid particular stress on, in a theory in which he starts from what he calls the principle of relativity, I cannot speak here of the many highly interesting applications which Einstein has made of this principle. His results concerning electromagnetic and optical phenomena agree in the main with those which we have obtained in the preceding pages, the chief difference being that Einstein simply postulates what we have deduced, with some difficulty and not altogether satisfactorily, from the fundamental equations of the electromagnetic field. By doing so, he may certainly take credit for making us see in the negative result of experiments like those of Michelson, Rayleigh and Brace, not a fortuitous compensation of opposing effects, but the manifestation of a general and fundamental principle. It would be unjust not to add that, besides the fascinating boldness of its starting point, Einstein's theory has another marked advantage over mine. Whereas I have not been able to obtain for the equations referred to moving axes ''exactly'' the same form as for those which apply to a stationary system, Einstein has accomplished this by means of a system of new variables slightly different from those which I have introduced.|author=|title=|source=}}

Though Lorentz still maintained that there is an (undetectable) aether in which resting clocks indicate the "true time":

{{Blockquote|1909: Yet, I think, something may also be claimed in favour of the form in which I have presented the theory. I cannot but regard the ether, which can be the seat of an electromagnetic field with its energy and its vibrations, as endowed with a certain degree of substantiality, however different it may be from all ordinary matter.<ref name=lor09 /><br /> 1910: Provided that there is an aether, then under all systems x, y, z, t, one is preferred by the fact, that the coordinate axes as well as the clocks are resting in the aether. If one connects with this the idea (which I would abandon only reluctantly) that space and time are completely different things, and that there is a "true time" (simultaneity thus would be independent of the location, in agreement with the circumstance that we can have the idea of infinitely great velocities), then it can be easily seen that this true time should be indicated by clocks at rest in the aether. However, if the relativity principle had general validity in nature, one wouldn't be in the position to determine, whether the reference system just used is the preferred one. Then one comes to the same results, as if one (following Einstein and Minkowski) deny the existence of the aether and of true time, and to see all reference systems as equally valid. Which of these two ways of thinking one is following, can surely be left to the individual.<ref name=lor10 />}}

Lorentz also gave credit to Poincaré's contributions to relativity.<ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1921|orig-year=1914
|title=Deux Mémoires de Henri Poincaré sur la Physique Mathématique
|journal=Acta Mathematica
|volume=38
|issue=1
|pages=293–308
|doi=10.1007/BF02392073|title-link=s:fr:Deux Mémoires de Henri Poincaré sur la Physique Mathématique|doi-access=free
}}
*English Wikisource translation: Two Papers of Henri Poincaré on Mathematical Physics</ref>

{{Blockquote|Indeed, for some of the physical quantities which enter the formulas, I did not indicate the transformation which suits best. That was done by Poincaré and then by Mr. Einstein and Minkowski. I did not succeed in obtaining the exact invariance of the equations. Poincaré, on the contrary, obtained a perfect invariance of the equations of electrodynamics, and he formulated the "postulate of relativity", terms which he was the first to employ. Let us add that by correcting the imperfections of my work he never reproached me for them.|author=|title=|source=}}

====Lorentz and general relativity====
Lorentz was one of few scientists who supported Einstein's search for [[Physics:General relativity|general relativity]] from the beginning – he wrote several research papers and discussed with Einstein personally and by letter.<ref group=B>{{Cite journal|author=Kox, A.J.|year=1993|title= Einstein, Lorentz, Leiden and general relativity|journal=Class. Quantum Grav.|volume=10|pages=S187–S191|doi= 10.1088/0264-9381/10/S/020|bibcode = 1993CQGra..10S.187K |s2cid=250884975 }}</ref> For instance, he attempted to combine Einstein's formalism with [[Hamilton's principle]] (1915),<ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1915
|title=On Hamilton's principle in Einstein's theory of gravitation
|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
|volume=19
|pages=751–765|title-link=s:On Hamilton's principle in Einstein's theory of gravitation
|bibcode=1917KNAB...19..751L
}}</ref>
and to reformulate it in a [[Coordinate-free|coordinate-free]] way (1916).<ref>{{Citation
|author=Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
|year=1916
|title=On Einstein's Theory of gravitation I–IV
|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
|volume=19/20
|pages=1341–1361, 2–34|title-link=s:On Einstein's Theory of gravitation
}}</ref><ref group=B>{{Cite book|author=Janssen, M.|year=1992|chapter=H. A. Lorentz's Attempt to Give a Coordinate-free Formulation of the General. Theory of Relativity.|title=Studies in the History of General Relativity|publisher=Birkhäuser|location=Boston|isbn=978-0817634797|pages=344–363}}</ref> Lorentz wrote in 1919:<ref>{{citation | first=Hendrik Antoon | last=Lorentz | title=The Einstein Theory of Relativity | location=New York | publisher=Bentano's | year=1920| title-link=s:The Einstein Theory of Relativity }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The total eclipse of the sun of May 29, resulted in a striking confirmation of the new theory of the universal attractive power of gravitation developed by Albert Einstein, and thus reinforced the conviction that the defining of this theory is one of the most important steps ever taken in the domain of natural science.}}

====Lorentz and quantum mechanics====

Lorentz gave a series of lectures in the fall of 1926 at [[Organization:Cornell University|Cornell University]] on the new [[Physics:Quantum mechanics|quantum mechanics]]; in these he presented [[Biography:Erwin Schrödinger|Erwin Schrödinger]]'s [[Physics:Schrödinger equation|wave mechanics]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lorentz|first1=H. A.|title=The New Quantum Theory|date=1926|publisher=Typescript of Lecture Notes|location=Ithaca, NY |url=http://labs.plantbio.cornell.edu/wayne/pdfs/TheQuantumTheory.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://labs.plantbio.cornell.edu/wayne/pdfs/TheQuantumTheory.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=12 August 2016}}</ref>

====Assessments====
[[File:Lorentz-monument Park sonsbeek Arnhem Nederland, Netherlands Hendrik Antoon Lorentz Ludwig Oswald Wenckebach.jpg|thumb|Lorentz-monument Park Sonsbeek in Arnhem, the Netherlands]]
Einstein wrote of Lorentz:

{{Blockquote|1928: The enormous significance of his work consisted therein, that it forms the basis for the theory of atoms and for the general and special theories of relativity. The special theory was a more detailed expose of those concepts which are found in Lorentz's research of 1895.<ref group=B>{{Citation
|author=Pais, Abraham
|year=1982
|title= Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein
|location= New York
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|isbn=978-0-19-520438-4}}</ref><br /> 1953: For me personally he meant more than all the others I have met on my life's journey.<ref group=B>{{cite book|author=Justin Wintle|title=Makers of Nineteenth Century Culture: 1800–1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EF2fKDpp8S8C&pg=PA375|access-date=25 July 2012|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-26584-3|pages=375–}}</ref>}}

Poincaré (1902) said of Lorentz's theory of electrodynamics:<ref>{{Citation
|author=Poincaré, Henri
|year=1902
|title=Science and Hypothesis
|location=London and Newcastle-on-Cyne
|publisher=The Walter Scott publishing Co.|title-link=Science and Hypothesis
}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The most satisfactory theory is that of Lorentz; it is unquestionably the theory that best explains the known facts, the one that throws into relief the greatest number of known relations. It is due to Lorentz that the results of Fizeau on the optics of moving bodies, the laws of normal and abnormal dispersion and of absorption are connected with each other. Look at the ease with which the new [[Physics:Zeeman effect|Zeeman phenomenon]] found its place, and even aided the classification of Faraday's magnetic rotation, which had defied all [[Biography:James Clerk Maxwell|Maxwell's]] efforts.|author=|title=|source=}}

[[Biography:Paul Langevin|Paul Langevin]] (1911) said of Lorentz:<ref group=B>{{citation |first = P. |last = Langevin |author-link = Paul Langevin
|title =  The evolution of space and time
|journal = Scientia |volume = X |pages = 31–54 |year = 1911|url=http://amshistorica.unibo.it/diglib.php?inv=7&int_ptnum=108&term_ptnum=302}} (translated by J. B. Sykes, 1973).</ref>

{{Blockquote|It will be Lorentz's main claim to fame that he demonstrated that the fundamental equations of electromagnetism also allow of a group of transformations that enables them to resume the same form when a transition is made from one reference system to another. ''This group differs fundamentally from the above group as regards transformations of space and time.''''}}

Lorentz and Emil Wiechert had an interesting correspondence on the topics of electromagnetism and the theory of relativity, and Lorentz explained his ideas in letters to Wiechert.<ref group=B>(Arch. ex. hist. Sci, 1984).</ref>

Lorentz was chairman of the first Solvay Conference held in Brussels in the autumn of 1911. Shortly after the conference, Poincaré wrote an essay on quantum physics which gives an indication of Lorentz's status at the time:<ref>{{Citation
|author=Poincaré, Henri
|year=1913
|title=Last Essays
|location=New York}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|At every moment the twenty physicists from different countries could be heard talking of the [quantum mechanics] which they contrasted with the old mechanics. Now what was the old mechanics? Was it that of Newton, the one which still reigned uncontested at the close of the nineteenth century? No, it was the mechanics of Lorentz, the one dealing with the principle of relativity; the one which, hardly five years ago, seemed to be the height of boldness.|author=|title=|source=}}

====Change of priorities====
In 1910, Lorentz decided to reorganize his life. His teaching and management duties at Leiden University were taking up too much of his time, leaving him little time for research. In 1912, he resigned from his chair of theoretical physics to become curator of the "Physics Cabinet" at Teylers Museum in Haarlem. He remained connected to Leiden University as an external professor, and his "Monday morning lectures" on new developments in theoretical physics soon became legendary.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/>

Lorentz initially asked Einstein to succeed him as professor of theoretical physics at Leiden. However, Einstein could not accept because he had just accepted a position at [[Organization:ETH Zurich|ETH Zurich]]. Einstein had no regrets in this matter, since the prospect of having to fill Lorentz's shoes made him shiver. Instead Lorentz appointed Paul Ehrenfest as his successor in the chair of theoretical  physics at the Leiden University, who would found the Institute for Theoretical Physics which would become known as the Lorentz Institute.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/>

====Civil work====
After World War I, Lorentz was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the "Wetenschappelijke Commissie van Advies en Onderzoek in het Belang van Volkswelvaart en Weerbaarheid", a committee which was to harness the scientific potential united in the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for solving civil problems such as food shortage which had resulted from the war. Lorentz was appointed chair of the committee. However, despite the best efforts of many of the participants the committee would harvest little success. The only exception being that it ultimately resulted in the founding of TNO, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/>

Lorentz was also asked by the Dutch government to chair a committee to calculate some of the effects of the proposed Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dam) flood control dam on water levels in the Waddenzee. [[Engineering:Hydraulic engineering|Hydraulic engineering]] was mainly an empirical science at that time, but the disturbance of the tidal flow caused by the Afsluitdijk was so unprecedented that the empirical rules could not be trusted. Originally Lorentz was only supposed to have a coordinating role in the committee, but it quickly became apparent that Lorentz was the only physicist to have any fundamental traction on the problem. In the period 1918 till 1926, Lorentz invested a large portion of his time in the problem.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radionetherlandsarchives.org/lorentz-the-grand-old-man-of-physics/|title=Lorentz: the Grand Old Man of Physics|date=13 March 2000}}</ref> Lorentz proposed to start from the basic hydrodynamic equations of motion and solve the problem numerically. This was feasible for a "[[Human computer|human computer]]", because of the quasi-one-dimensional nature of the water flow in the Waddenzee. The Afsluitdijk was completed in 1932, and the predictions of Lorentz and his committee turned out to be remarkably accurate.<ref group=B>{{cite web|url=http://ilorentz.org/history/zuiderzee/zuiderzee.html |title=Carlo Beenakker |publisher=Ilorentz.org |access-date=1 February 2012}}</ref><ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/> One of the two sets of locks in the Afsluitdijk was named after him.

===Family life===
In 1881, Lorentz married Aletta Catharina Kaiser. Her father was J.W. Kaiser, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. He was the Director of the museum which later became the well-known Rijksmuseum (National Gallery). He also was the designer of the first postage stamps of The Netherlands.

There were two daughters, and one son from this marriage.

Dr. Geertruida Luberta Lorentz, the eldest daughter, was a physicist. She married Professor Wander Johannes de Haas, who was the Director of the Cryogenic Laboratory at the University of Leiden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1902/lorentz/biographical/|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1902|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref>

===Death===
In January 1928, Lorentz became seriously ill, and died shortly after on 4 February.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/> The respect in which he was held in the Netherlands is apparent from [[Biography:Owen Willans Richardson|Owen Willans Richardson]]'s description of his funeral:

{{Blockquote|text=The funeral took place at Haarlem at noon on Friday, February 10. At the stroke of twelve the State telegraph and telephone services of Holland were suspended for three minutes as a revered tribute to the greatest man the Netherlands has produced in our time. It was attended by many colleagues and distinguished physicists from foreign countries. The President, [[Biography:Ernest Rutherford|Sir Ernest Rutherford]], represented the Royal Society and made an appreciative oration by the graveside. |author=O. W.  Richardson<ref group=B name=richardson/>}}

Unique 1928 film footage of the funeral procession with a lead carriage followed by ten mourners, followed by a carriage with the coffin, followed in turn by at least four more carriages, passing by a crowd at the Grote Markt, Haarlem, from the Zijlstraat to the Smedestraat, and then back again through the Grote Houtstraat towards the Barteljorisstraat, on the way to the "Algemene Begraafplaats" at the Kleverlaan (northern Haarlem cemetery), has been digitized on [[Company:YouTube|YouTube]].<ref group=B>{{YouTube|H2VtrJD0xJk|Funeral procession}} Hendrik Lorentz</ref> Amongst others, the funeral was attended by Albert Einstein and [[Biography:Marie Curie|Marie Curie]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Treffende begrafenis van Lorentz |trans-title=Striking funeral of Lorentz |language=nl |url=http://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:110565430:mpeg21:p005 |newspaper=De Telegraaf |location=Haarlem |date=9 February 1928 |quote=''Mme. Curie uit Parijs; ... prof. dr. A. Einstein uit Berlijn;''}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Lorentz is considered one of the prime representatives of the "Second Dutch Golden Age", a period of several decades surrounding 1900 in which the natural sciences flourished in the Netherlands.<ref group=B name="NtvN2011"/>

Richardson describes Lorentz as:

<blockquote>A man of remarkable intellectual powers. Although steeped in his own investigation of the moment, he always seemed to have in his immediate grasp its ramifications into every corner of the universe. The singular clearness of his writings provides a striking reflection of his wonderful powers in this respect. He possessed and successfully employed the mental vivacity which is necessary to follow the interplay of discussion, the insight which is required to extract those statements which illuminate the real difficulties, and the wisdom to lead the discussion among fruitful channels, and he did this so skillfully that the process was hardly perceptible.<ref group=B name=richardson /></blockquote>

[[Biography:Martin J. Klein|M. J. Klein]] (1967) wrote of Lorentz's reputation in the 1920s:

<blockquote>For many years physicists had always been eager "to hear what Lorentz will say about it" when a new theory was advanced, and, even at seventy-two, he did not disappoint them.<ref group=B name=Przibram/></blockquote>

In addition to the Nobel prize, Lorentz received a great many honours for his outstanding work. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1905.<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316060617/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/|archive-date=16 March 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/|publisher=Royal Society|location=London|title=Fellows of the Royal Society}}</ref> The Society awarded him their Rumford Medal in 1908 and their [[Physics:Copley Medal|Copley Medal]] in 1918. He was elected an Honorary Member of the Netherlands Chemical Society in 1912.<ref>[https://en.kncv.nl/kncv/honorary-members Honorary members] – website of the Royal Netherlands Chemical Society</ref> He was an International Member of the American Philosophical Society, the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Hendrik+A.+Lorentz&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hendrik Lorentz |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001346.html |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Hendrik Antoon Lorentz |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/hendrik-antoon-lorentz |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{cols}}
* List of things named after Hendrik Antoon Lorentz
* [[Physics:Lorentz oscillator model|Lorentz oscillator model]]
* [[Lorentz covariance]]
* [[Physics:Modern searches for Lorentz violation|Modern searches for Lorentz violation]]
* [[Physics:Heaviside–Lorentz units|Heaviside–Lorentz units]]
* [[Physics:Lorentz-violating electrodynamics|Lorentz-violating electrodynamics]]
* Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz
* [[Astronomy:Lorentz (crater)|Lorentz (crater)]]
* [[Physics:Lorentz Medal|Lorentz Medal]]
* [[Physics:Trouton–Noble experiment|Trouton–Noble experiment]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Primary sources===
* Many papers by Lorentz (mostly in English) are available for online viewing [http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/toegangen/digital-library-knaw/?pagetype=publist&search_author=PE00001670 in the Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science, Amsterdam].
* {{citation | first=Hendrik Antoon | last=Lorentz | title=Considerations on Gravitation | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Considerations_on_Gravitation | journal=Proc. Acad. Science Amsterdam | volume=2 | pages=559–74 | year=1900|ref=none}}
* {{citation | first=Hendrik Antoon | last=Lorentz | title=Lectures on Theoretical Physics (vol. I–III) | place=New York | publisher=Macmillan & Co. | year=1927–1931|ref=none}}, ([https://archive.org/details/lecturesontheore031600mbp Vol. I online])

===Secondary sources===
{{Reflist|35em|group=B|refs=
<ref name=Macrossan>{{citation |first = Michael N. |last = Macrossan |title = A note on relativity before Einstein |url = http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view.php?pid=UQ:9560 |journal =  Br. J. Philos. Sci. |volume = 37|issue=2 |pages = 232–34 |year = 1986|doi=10.1093/bjps/37.2.232|citeseerx = 10.1.1.679.5898 }}</ref>

<ref name=Przibram>{{citation  |editor-first1 = Karl|editor-last1 = Przibram |translator-first = Martin J. |translator-last = Klein |title = Letters of wave mechanics: Schrödinger, Planck, Einstein, Lorentz. Edited by Karl Przibram for the Austrian Academy of Sciences |place = New York |publisher =  Philosophical Library |year = 1967}}</ref>

<ref name=richardson>{{citation |doi = 10.1112/jlms/s1-4.3.183 |first = O. W. |last = Richardson |title = Hendrik Antoon Lorentz |journal = J. London Math. Soc. |volume = 4 |issue = 1 |pages = 183–92 |year = 1929}}. The biography which refers to this article (but gives no pagination details other than those of the article itself) is {{MacTutor Biography|id=Lorentz}}</ref>
}}
*{{citation |first1 = Geertruida L. |last1 = de Haas-Lorentz |first2 = Joh. C. (trans.) |last2 = Fagginger Auer  |title = H.A. Lorentz: impressions of his life and work |year = 1957  |place= Amsterdam |publisher= North-Holland Pub. Co.|ref=none}}
*{{citation |first = Paul |last = Langevin |title =  L'évolution de l'espace et du temps |journal = Scientia |volume = X |pages = 31–54 |year = 1911 |ref=none}} 
*{{citation |first = Henri |last = Poincaré |title =  La théorie de Lorentz et le principe de réaction |journal = Archives Néerlandaises des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles |volume = V |pages =  253–78 |year = 1900 |ref=none}} See [http://www.physicsinsights.org/poincare-1900.pdf English translation].
*{{citation |first = Henri |last = Poincaré |title = La science et l'hypothèse |place = Paris|publisher = Ernest Flammarion |year = 1902|title-link = La science et l'hypothèse|ref=none }} : n.p.. The quotation is from the English translation ({{citation |first = Henri |last = Poincaré |author-link = Henri Poincaré |title = Science and hypothesis |place = New York|publisher = Dover Publications |page = 175 |year = 1952|title-link = Science and hypothesis|ref=none }})
*{{citation |first = Henri |last = Poincaré |title = Dernières pensées |place = Paris|publisher = Ernest Flammarion |year = 1913|ref=none}} :n.p.. The quotation in the article is from the English translation: ({{citation |first1 = Henri |last1 = Poincaré |author-link = Henri Poincaré
 |first2 = John W. (trans.) |last2 = Bolduc  |title =  Mathematics and science: last essays |place = New York |publisher = Dover Publications |year = 1963|ref=none}} :n.p.)
* Sri Kantha, S. Einstein and Lorentz. ''Nature'', 13 July 1995; 376: 111. (Letter)

==External links==
* [http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/IL-publications/Lorentz.html Scanned publications of H. A. Lorentz]
* [http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/IL-publications/dissertations/lorentz.html Scanned Ph.D. theses] of the students of Lorentz.
* {{Nobelprize}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=3944| name=Hendrik Antoon Lorentz}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Hendrik Antoon Lorentz}}
* {{Librivox author}}
* {{citation |first = Carlo |last = Beenakker |title = Lorentz and the Zuiderzee project |url = http://ilorentz.org/history/zuiderzee/zuiderzee.html |place = Leiden, [The Netherlands] |publisher = Instituut Lorentz, University of Leiden|ref=none}}
* {{citation |first = Albert |last = van Helden |contribution = Hendrik Antoon Lorentz 1853–1928 |url = http://www.historyofscience.nl/author.cfm?RecordId=5|editor1-first = Klaas |editor1-last = van Berkel |editor2-first = Albert |editor2-last = van Helden |editor3-first = Lodewijk|editor3-last = Palm  |title = A History of Science in The Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference |place = Leiden, [The Netherlands] |publisher = Brill |pages = 514–518 |year = 1999 |isbn = 978-90-04-10006-0 |ref=none}}
* {{citation |first1 = John J. |last1 = O'Connor |first2 = Edmund F. |last2 = Robertson |title = Hendrik Lorentz, MacTutor History of Mathematics archive  |url = http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lorentz.html |access-date = 1 May 2008 |ref=none}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051231104701/http://www.vpro.nl/programma/zomergasten/afleveringen/22708246/items/23535592/ Movie of Lorentz's funeral]
* {{PM20}}

{{Relativity}}
{{Copley Medallists 1901-1950}}
{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{1902 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Nobel Prize laureates from The Netherlands|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon}}
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:Relativity theorists]]
[[Category:Theoretical physicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Hendrik Lorentz}}