Bernd Kröger Hermann Haken: From the Laser to Synergetics A SCIENTIFIC BIOGRAPHY OF THE EARLY YEARS 123 Hermann Haken: From the Laser to Synergetics Bernd Kröger Hermann Haken: From the Laser to Synergetics A Scientific Biography of the Early Years ABC BerndKröger Tübingen Germany ISBN978-3-319-11688-4 ISBN978-3-319-11689-1 (eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-11689-1 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014949170 SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon (cid:2)c SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerInternationalPublishingAGSwitzerlandispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia (www.springer.com) Contents Tables and Figures ........................................................................................ IX 1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 2 Hermann Haken: Youth and University Education ............................ 9 3 The Erlangen Years: Solid State Physics 1950 – 1960 ......................... 17 4 Appointment to the Theoretical Physics Chair at the Technical University Stuttgart ................................................................................ 37 5 Hermann Haken and the “Stuttgart School” 1960 – 1970: Their Contribution to the Development of Laser Theory ............................. 47 5.1 General Introduction to the History of the Laser ............................. 47 5.2 From Maser to Laser177 ................................................................... 48 5.3 Semi-classical Laser Theory Until 1964 ......................................... 57 5.4 The Crucial Role of Laser Conferences .......................................... 59 5.5 The Fully Quantum Mechanical Laser Theory ............................... 66 5.6 Hermann Haken and the Stuttgart School ....................................... 82 5.7 Synopsis of Laser Theory in Book Form; ca. 1970 ......................... 94 5.8 Summary of Laser Theory............................................................... 97 6 Early Years of Synergetics: 1970 – 1978 .............................................. 101 6.1 The Versailles Conferences from 1967 to 1979 .............................. 101 6.2 The Foundation of Synergetics: Analogies and Phase Transition ........................................................................................ 108 6.3 The UMSCHAU-Article of 1971 .................................................... 116 6.4 The First ELMAU-Synergetics Conference 1972 ........................... 119 6.5 The Startling Discovery of a Common Mathematical Basis: Laser – Bénard-Effect – Brusselator ............................................... 125 6.6 The “Lorenz – Equations” ............................................................... 135 6.7 The Synergetics Book, 1977 ........................................................... 144 VI Contents 6.8 The Second ELMAU Conference May, 1977 ................................. 150 7 The Propagation of Synergetics: 1978 – 1987 ...................................... 153 7.1 Synergetics: “Spreading the Word” ................................................ 153 7.2 Synergetics – Priority Program of the Volkswagenwerk Foundation ...................................................................................... 162 7.3 Research Activities of the Stuttgart Synergetics School ................. 170 7.4 The ELMAU Conferences of 1979 and 1980 .................................. 178 7.5 The ELMAU Conferences on Chaos Theory, 1981 and 1982......... 180 7.6 The Textbook “Advanced Synergetics”, 1978 ................................ 185 7.7 The Book Series: Springer Series in Synergetics ............................ 190 8 Synergetics 1987 – 2010: Applications in Medicine, Cognition and Psychology – A Survey .................................................................... 193 8.1 The Sixth ELMAU Conference 1983: Synergetics of the Brain ...................................................................................... 193 8.2 Cooperation with Scott Kelso ......................................................... 197 8.3 Application of Synergetics to Brain Research ................................. 201 8.4 Pattern Recognition in the Visual System and by Synergetic Computer ......................................................................................... 202 8.5 Synergetics in Psychology .............................................................. 206 9 Theories of Self-organization: The Role of Synergetics ...................... 211 9.1 The Systems-Theoretical or Cybernetic Approach ......................... 213 9.2 Autopoiesis and Self-referentiality .................................................. 217 9.3 The Theory of Autocatalytic Hypercycles ...................................... 218 9.4 The Theory of Dissipative Systems ................................................. 222 10 Summary ................................................................................................. 229 Bibliography .................................................................................................. 245 Appendices Appendix 1: Bibliography of Hermann Haken‘s Works ................................ 263 Appendix 2: List of Hermann Haken’s Students and Their Diploma Thesis and Dissertations ................................................................................. 293 : Appendix 3 Springer Series in Synergetics: (Senior Editor: Hermann Haken) ................................................................... 301 Contents VII Appendix 4: Participants that Attended the ELMAU Conferences as Well as the Versailles Conferences ................................................................ 305 Appendix 5: List of Honours Bestowed on Hermann Haken ......................... 309 Name Index ................................................................................................... 313 Tables and Figures Table 1: Quantity of Haken‘s publications during the years from 1950 to 1990, sorted by subject (10-year periods). Table 2: Mentioning of Hermann Haken in the university calendars of the University of Erlangen from the winter term 1952/53 until the winter term 1959/60. Table 3: Articles published by Melvin Lax and co-workers on the theory of laser and noise. Table 4: Chronological order of publication dates of the articles on quantum- mechanical laser theory by the three laser schools of Hermann Haken, Willis Lamb and Melvin Lax. Table 5: List of the publications of the Stuttgart School concerning Laser Theory during the years 1963 – 1970. Table 6: Synergetic systems and their order parameters compared by Hermann Haken at the first ELMAU Conference. Table 7: Analogies between the laser and the Bénard instability. Table 8: List of topics at the second ELMAU Conference 1977. Table 9: Lectures and seminars held by Hermann Haken at the University of Stuttgart during the years 1975 to 1985, according to the university calendars. Table 10: Topical list of subjects of the 11 ELMAU Conferences, 1972 till 1990. Table 11: Examples of synergetic systems: comparison from three different books of Hermann Haken (years 1972, 1977 and 1983). Table 12: Thematic and editorial classification of the seventy-seven volumes of “Springer Series in Synergetics” that were published while Haken was series editor. Table 13: Formal analogy between the laser and the brain. Table 14: Differences and similarities of Synergetics with other fields of knowledge. Figures Fig. 1: Theories that determine the structure of Synergetics and the resulting applications of synergetics in different scientific fields. Fig. 2: Recommendations concerning the number of chairs in mathematics and physics at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart, according to the science advisory board proposal. Fig 3: Principle of the maser. Fig. 4: Principle of the stimulated emission process. Fig. 5: “Lamb-Dip“. Typical reduction of laser intensity, depending on the frequency. Fig. 6: Behaviour of the potential below and above laser threshold for linear and non-linear theories. Fig. 7: Relative intensity fluctuation ρ measured for the strongest mode versus injected current J. Fig. 8: Representation of the mathematical treatment of the quantum-mechanical laser theory. All three possible methods had been dealt with by the Stuttgart School. Fig. 9: Haken’s survey on the increasing correctness of the different approaches to laser theory and the parameters that could be determined and checked experimentally. Fig. 10: Graphical display of the laser potential below and above threshold. Fig. 11: Plot of the potential behaviour below and above laser threshold. Fig. 12: Comparison of the mathematical structure of the laser with the basic notions of the Ginzburg-Landau theory of super-conductivity. Fig. 13: Examples on the realisation of abstract synergetics concepts. Fig. 14: Examples of master equations in physics, chemistry and biology. Fig. 15: Cell structure (Bénard rolls) of the Bénard instability. Fig. 16: Graphic representation of the numerical values of the so-called Lorenz- attractor. Fig. 17: The identical mathematical structure of the Lorenz equations of hydrodynamics and the ones for the laser. Fig. 18: Number of Haken’s publications classified by topic (2 year survey). Fig. 19: Topics of diploma and doctoral thesis at Haken’s institute ranked by year of publication. Fig. 20: Logical structure by chapter of the book “Synergetics – an Introduction”. Figures XI Fig. 21: Representation of the potential representing equation (9) (see text) for different values of γ Fig. 22: Self-organising feedback of a synergetic system. Fig. 23: Shapes of potentials that allow for a change into different stable configurations to perform the change fluctuations as needed. Fig. 24: Diagram representing the passage from an “old” structure to a stable “new” one. Fig. 25: Bifurcation pattern of the single mode laser depending on the pump strength. The first step denotes the onset of laser activity; the second step gives rise to laser pulses; even higher pump energy leads to chaotic behaviour and the ”strange” Lorenz attractor. Fig. 26: Flow pattern of a plasma in a vertical magnetic field that is heated from beneath. Fig. 27: Seashell pattern compared to a computer generated pattern according to the Gierer-Meinhardt model (© Hans Meinhardt). Fig. 28: Analogy between pattern formation and pattern recognition. Fig. 29: Four different “roads to chaos”, assumed by different authors. At point R n phase transition takes place and the system adopts a new stable state. Fig. 30: Period-doubling in the Bénard experiment – experimental confirmation by Libchaber and Maurer. Fig 31: Logical structure of Haken’s textbook ”Advanced Synergetics” from 1983. Fig. 32: The structure of synergetics according to Herrmann Haken. Fig. 33: Transcription of Figure 32. Fig. 34: Different dynamic radiation characteristics of the laser. Fig. 35: Two EEG-measurements: a) Sane person in process of “normal“ thinking; b) Epileptic seizure. Fig. 36: The finger movement coordination experiment by Kelso. Fig. 37: Potential describing the transition of the finger movement. Fig. 38: An illustration of bi-stable figures used by Hermann Haken. Fig. 39: Example of visual hysteresis. Fig. 40: Potential applying to figure 39. Fig. 41: Proceeding from physics to psychology. Fig. 42: The autocatalytic hypercycle.