| Authorised form of name | Schrödinger; Erwin (1887 - 1961); theoretical physicist |
| Other forms of surname | Schroedinger |
| Dates | 1887 - 1961 |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Place of birth | Erdberg, Vienna, Austria |
| Date of birth | 12 August 1887 |
| Place of death | Alpbach, Austria |
| Date of death | 04/01/1961 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial: Alpbach, Austria, in a Catholic cemetery. |
| Occupation | Theoretical physicist |
| Research field | General relativity |
| Electrodynamics |
| Physics |
| Quantum physics |
| Theoretical physics |
| Activity | Education:
University of Vienna 1906-1910; University of Zürich 1921
Career:
Participated in war work as a commissioned officer in the Austrian fortress artillery (1914-1918); assistant to Max Wien, Jena, Germany (1920); attained position of Reader, Stuttgart, Germany (1920); became Professor in Breslau [now Wrocław, Poland] (1921); moved to to the University of Zürich, Switzerland (1921); suceeded Max Planck at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, Berlin (1927); left Germany as he opposed the Nazis (1933); became a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford; lectured at Princeton University (1934); proposed his "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment (1935); took a position at the University of Graz, Austria and accepted the position of chair at Department of Physics, Allahabad University, India (1936); remained in Dublin until retirement (1955); returned to Vienna (1956); died of tuberculosis (1961).
Awards/Medals:
Haitinger Prize 1920
Matteucci Medal 1927
Nobel Prize (Physics) with Paul Dirac 1933
Max Planck Medal 1937 |
| Membership category | Foreign Member |
| Date of election | 12/05/1949 |
| Age at election | 62 |
| Proposer | Harold Davenport |
| William Edward Garner |
| John Desmond Bernal |
| Henry Gerard Thornton |
| Frank Leonard Engledow |
| Guy Frederic Marrian |
| Gordon Roy Cameron |
| Charles Halliley Kellaway |
| Alister Clavering Hardy |
| Arthur Elijah Trueman |
| Cecil Edgar Tilley |
| William Arthur Stanier |
| Thomas Ralph Merton |
| Edward James Salisbury |
| Edgar Douglas Adrian |
| David Brunt |
| Robert Robinson |
| Relationships | Parents: Rudolf Schrödinger and Georgine Emilia Brenda Schrödinger (née Bauer).
Spouse: Annemarie Bertel (m. 1920) |
| PublishedWorks | RCN 7290
RCN 20449
RCN 7291
RCN 7277
RCN 7293
RCN 43699
RCN 7292
RCN R81728
RCN 7275
RCN 7276
RCN 7278 |
| OtherInfo | Distinguished for his contributions to quantum theory, particularly in relation to wave theory.
Remembered for Schrödinger equation; Schrödinger's cat; Schrödinger–HJW theorem.
Coined the term "quantum entanglement" in 1935.
Wrote on other aspects of physics, including statistical mechanics; thermodynamics; physics of dielectrics; colour theory; electrodynamics; general relativity; and cosmology, and he made several attempts to construct a unified field theory.
Investigations of sexual abuse allegations and the discovery of diaries kept by Schrödinger himself, revealed he was a peadophile who groomed young girls. The Trinity School of Physics decided to rename the theatre bearing Schrödinger's name, reverting to the original “Physics Lecture Theatre”, in light of the information that has come to light. In addition, a portrait of Schrödinger has been removed from the Fitzgerald building. |
| Royal Society Obituary or Memoir | Click to view (may be contained within a meeting notice, presidential address or list of death notices) |
| Image | 
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| Source | Sources:
DSB
Encyclopedia Britannica, Erwin Schrödinger, Jeremy Bernstein, [URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Schrodinger; last accessed: 30/04/2025]
Trinity News, SciTech, Schrodinger’s controversy: a room with and without a name, Sadbh Boylan, 17 February 2022, [URL: https://trinitynews.ie/2022/02/schrodingers-controversy-a-room-with-and-without-a-name/; last accessed: 30/04/2025]
Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1961 vol 7 pp 221-228, plate, by W Heitler
References:
Sir Hermann Bondi, review of Walter Moore, Schrodinger: Life and Thought in NR 1990 vol 44 pp 313-315
G V R Born, FRS, 'The wide-ranging family history of Max Born' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 219-262
W Hayes, 'Physics as well as poetry. Physicists of Ireland, edited by M McCartney and A Whitaker' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 245-246 |
| Code | NA7665 |