Uit het Zeeman archief: De ontdekking van het Zeeman-effect

Abstract

From the Zeeman Archive: the discovery of the 'Zeeman effect' This paper gives an account of the discovery by Pieter Zeeman of the magnetic splitting of spectral lines, an effect that later became known as the 'Zeeman effect'. The paper is based on published sources as well as on previously unknown material from the recently-discovered Zeeman archive. The new material makes a detailed reconstruction of the discovery-process possible, and also provides information on the reception of the discovery by colleagues. The contact between Zeeman and H.A. Lorentz, who gave a theoretical explanation of the phenomenon, and the interplay between theory and experiment are discussed as well. The paper also touches on the importance of the Zeeman effect for the development of atomic physics.