Mistranslation in early nuclear physics?

[azfell]

TL;DR Summary

I remember reading somewhere about a mistranslation in early days of nuclear physics, about the metaphorical wavefunction - does it ring a bell with anyone else?

I remember reading somewhere about a mistranslation or misinterpretation that occurred in the early days of nuclear physics, probably between 1910 and 1930, in which the metaphorical nature of the wavefunction (rather than the electron's literal presence in multiple locations at once) was lost in translation from or to German. It may have been in relation to Otto Hahn's work.

I realize that isn't much to go on, but I was wondering if anyone could refer me to further information on the incident?

 

[LightHero]

The incident in question is the infamous debate between Einstein and Bohr over the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics. The issue was whether the wavefunction of a particle described its position or probability of being in a certain place at a certain time. Einstein famously argued that the wavefunction did not represent a probability but rather described the actual position of the particle, while Bohr argued that it could only represent a probability.The debate between Einstein and Bohr has been widely discussed in the literature, and there are numerous resources available for further reading. A few key sources include:-The Quantum World by Kenneth W. Ford-Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman-Quantum Mechanics: The Very Idea by John Gribbin-Quantum Mechanics for Dummies by Steven Holzner-The Quantum Universe by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw