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The so-called Raman effect was the first empirical verification of a formula, which made prominent use of the concepts of energy non-conserving transitions. In the discussion surrounding its interpretation, virtual transitions were called “virtual” for the first time. I will contextualize this first usage of the terminology by C. V. Raman in relation to his own first simplistic interpretation of the effect named after him, describe the empirical material which made a reassessment necessary and discuss the terminological shift which came with Raman’s invocation. Contrasting this development, I will turn to the nearly simultaneous realistic reading of virtual transitions by Yakov Il’ich Frenkel. But neither Frenkel’s nor Raman’s interpretation could be upheld when confronted with the empirical material. While both Raman and Frenkel could uphold specific aspects of their conceptualization of scattering, it was clear that virtual transitions were neither ineffective nor actual.

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The Raman Effect: How Virtual Transitions Became “Virtual” (for the First Time) and Real Transitions Were Excluded from the Conception of Scattering (1928–1929)

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Markus Ehberger

摘要

The so-called Raman effect was the first empirical verification of a formula, which made prominent use of the concepts of energy non-conserving transitions. In the discussion surrounding its interpretation, virtual transitions were called “virtual” for the first time. I will contextualize this first usage of the terminology by C. V. Raman in relation to his own first simplistic interpretation of the effect named after him, describe the empirical material which made a reassessment necessary and discuss the terminological shift which came with Raman’s invocation. Contrasting this development, I will turn to the nearly simultaneous realistic reading of virtual transitions by Yakov Il’ich Frenkel. But neither Frenkel’s nor Raman’s interpretation could be upheld when confronted with the empirical material. While both Raman and Frenkel could uphold specific aspects of their conceptualization of scattering, it was clear that virtual transitions were neither ineffective nor actual.