Commented translation of Erwin Schrödinger’s paper ‘On the dynamics of elastically coupled point systems’ (Zur Dynamik elastisch gekoppelter Punktsysteme)

Abstract

The paper ‘ Zur Dynamik elastisch gekoppelter Punktsysteme’ by Schrödinger (1914) does not seem to have attracted the attention that it deserves. We translate it into English here and we discuss its results in detail, with a view to its possible influence in the modern theories of generalised continua. The clever solution found, in terms of Bessel functions, by Schrödinger of the problem of the vibrations of a linear infinite chain of molecules gives some important methodological hints for contemporary research.