Statistical Mechanics Paper I
Publishes an early paper developing the kinetic theory of thermal equilibrium using statistical methods.
Albert Einstein · Place
Bern
38 Einstein records associated with Bern.
Swiss Patent Office Appointment
Appointed Technical Expert, third class, at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern.
Foundations of Thermodynamics
Publishes further work on the foundations of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
Radiation Energy Fluctuations
Studies fluctuations in radiation energy, an important precursor to his later quantum work.
Gas Ionization Considered with Light Quanta
Einstein discussed photoionization as another possible application of localized radiation quanta, connecting the frequency of light with the energy needed to remove charged particles from matter.
Light Frequency Linked to Electron Energy
Einstein distinguished brightness from frequency by predicting that raising the frequency of incident light increases the energy of individual photoelectrons rather than merely increasing their number.
Light Intensity Linked to Photoelectron Number
Einstein's quantum account implied that increasing light intensity at fixed frequency mainly increases the number of available energy quanta and therefore the number of emitted electrons.
Light-Quantum Energy Frequency Relation Applied
Einstein applied the relation between quantum energy and radiation frequency to individual light quanta, giving each localized packet an energy proportional to its frequency.
Light-Quantum Hypothesis Introduced
Einstein proposed that under appropriate conditions electromagnetic radiation behaves as independently localized energy quanta, extending Planck's quantum relation from material oscillators to light itself.
Localized Radiation Energy Challenges Wave Picture
Einstein explicitly contrasted spatially localized light quanta with a purely continuous wave description, creating a fundamental tension that later developed into wave-particle duality.
Photoelectric Quantum Explanation
Explains photoelectric emission by proposing that light transfers energy in discrete quanta to electrons.
Photoelectric Threshold Frequency Law
Einstein explained that photoelectron emission requires incident light above a material-dependent threshold frequency, regardless of how intense lower-frequency illumination becomes.
Photoelectron Maximum Energy Equation
Einstein related the maximum kinetic energy of emitted electrons to the incident light frequency minus the work required to free an electron from the material.
Radiation Entropy Compared with Particle Gas
Einstein compared the entropy of high-frequency radiation with that of a dilute gas and found a formal similarity that supported treating radiation energy as independently distributed quanta.
Stokes Rule Interpreted through Light Quanta
Einstein used the light-quantum hypothesis to interpret Stokes's rule for fluorescence, arguing that emitted light normally cannot carry a higher quantum energy than the absorbed radiation.
Photoelectric Effect Paper Submitted
Sends his light-quantum paper to Annalen der Physik, using quanta to explain the photoelectric effect.
Brownian Motion Paper Received
Annalen der Physik receives Einstein's paper explaining Brownian motion through molecular collisions.
Special Relativity
Submits On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, establishing the special theory of relativity.
Mass-Energy Equivalence
Submits the paper deriving the relation between mass and energy from special relativity.
Inertia of Energy Conservation
Publishes a relativistic analysis linking conservation of centre-of-gravity motion with the inertia carried by energy, extending the implications of mass-energy equivalence.
Light Production and Absorption Paper
Publishes work extending the light-quantum hypothesis to the production and absorption of radiation.
Matter-Radiation Energy Exchange Treated as Discrete
Einstein's continuing work on radiation treated elementary exchanges between matter and electromagnetic energy as discrete processes rather than continuously divisible transfers.
Planck Radiation Law Reinterpreted with Quanta
Einstein re-examined Planck's radiation theory and emphasized that its success could be understood more naturally if radiation exchanged energy with matter in finite quantum amounts.
Quantized Radiation Emission Reconsidered
Einstein examined how material resonators exchange energy with radiation and strengthened the case that emission as well as absorption must be connected with discrete quantum transfers.
Quantized Resonance Absorption Analysis
Einstein extended his quantum reasoning to resonant interactions between matter and radiation, treating absorption as an energy exchange constrained by discrete radiation quanta.
Molecular Dimensions Paper Published
His revised dissertation on molecular dimensions is published in Annalen der Physik.
Second Brownian Motion Paper Published
Publishes a follow-up analysis refining his theory of Brownian motion.
Patent Office Promotion
Promoted to Technical Expert, second class, at the Swiss Patent Office.
Accelerated Clock Rate Argument
Using accelerated reference frames, Einstein concluded that clocks at different gravitational potentials should not run at identical rates, linking gravity directly with the measurement of time.
Accelerated Frames and Gravitation
Extends special-relativistic reasoning to accelerated motion and concludes that gravitation must alter measurements of time, frequency and the propagation of light.
Equivalence Principle
Recognises that a uniformly accelerated frame is locally equivalent to a homogeneous gravitational field, establishing the conceptual starting point for general relativity.
Free-Fall Frame Insight for Gravitation
Einstein recognised that an observer in sufficiently small free fall can describe local physics without an apparent gravitational force, an insight that became central to his equivalence principle.
Gravitational Redshift
Predicts that gravity should shift the frequency of light, later called gravitational redshift.
Gravity and Light Propagation from Equivalence
Einstein's equivalence reasoning implied that a gravitational field must influence light propagation, opening a path from special relativity toward a relativistic theory of gravitation.
Quantum Theory of Specific Heat
Applies quantum ideas to the specific heat of solids, an early success of quantum theory.
Privatdozent at Bern
Begins teaching at the University of Bern as a Privatdozent.
Relativistic Electrodynamics with Laub
Works with Jakob Laub on electromagnetic equations for moving bodies, reformulating electrodynamics in a way consistent with the special theory of relativity.
Relativity Principle Review
Publishes a broad review of the relativity principle and its consequences, clarifying how the theory changes traditional concepts of space, time and dynamics.