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games, theory of

(Encyclopedia)games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n i...

molecular orbital theory

(Encyclopedia)molecular orbital theory, detailed explanation of how electrons are distributed in stable molecules. In the simpler valence theory of the chemical bond, each atom in a molecule is assumed to retain it...

steady-state theory

(Encyclopedia)steady-state theory: see cosmology. ...

Young-Helmholtz theory

(Encyclopedia)Young-Helmholtz theory: see vision. ...

big-bang theory

(Encyclopedia)big-bang theory: see cosmology.

correspondence principle

(Encyclopedia)correspondence principle, physical principle, enunciated by Niels Bohr in 1923, according to which the predictions of the quantum theory must correspond to the predictions of the classical theories of...

kinetic-molecular theory of gases

(Encyclopedia)kinetic-molecular theory of gases, physical theory that explains the behavior of gases on the basis of the following assumptions: (1) Any gas is composed of a very large number of very tiny particles ...

Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice dĭrăkˈ [key], 1902–84, English physicist. He was educated at the Univ. of Bristol and St. John's College, Cambridge, and became professor of mathematics at Cambridge in...

Sommerfeld, Arnold Johannes Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Sommerfeld, Arnold Johannes Wilhelm ärˈnōlt yōhänˈəs vĭlˈhĕlm zômˈərfĕlt [key], 1868–1951, German physicist and teacher. He received a Ph.D. at Königsburg Univ. in 1891 and was a prof...

Cayley, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Cayley, Arthur kāˈlē [key], 1821–95, English mathematician. He was admitted to the bar in 1849. In 1863 he was appointed first Sadlerian professor of mathematics at Cambridge. His researches, whi...