Original Einstein paper found by student in Holland

The original manuscript of a paper Albert Einstein published in 1925 has been found by student, in the archives of Leiden University in the Netherlands.

The paper, Quantum Theory of the Monatomic Ideal Gas, is considered one of Einstein's last breakthroughs.

Carlo Beenakker of the University's Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics said a student working on his master's thesis had uncovered the delicate manuscript, written in German in Einstein's distinctive scrawl, reports Guardian.

According to BBC the 16-page manuscript, dated 1924, shows the German-born genius working on his last major theory.

It took scientists until 1995 to finally prove Einstein right.

Einstein's paper laboured under the title "Quantentheorie des einatomigen idealen Gases" (Quantum theory of the monatomic ideal gas).

The theory stated that at temperatures near absolute zero, the atoms could reach a state of such low energy that they collapsed into a new state where it was no longer possible to distinguish between them - a state known as Einstein-Bose condensation.

The university, near The Hague, says the newly-unearthed paper will be kept in its Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Ehrenfest, among whose papers the manuscript was found, became professor of theoretical physics at Leiden University in 1912 and seven years later invited Einstein to become a Bijzonder Hoogleraar, or special professor, there for a few weeks every year.

In a letter, he assured Einstein that he would be with “people who are really fond of you personally, and not just of the brain drippings that ooze out of you”.

Einstein later presented Ehrenfest with the fountain pen that he used to write his research on general relativity. The pen is on display in the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden.

Professor Beenakker said that the student who found the manuscript had also come across other interesting documents during his search, including a letter from Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist, and was all but certain to receive top marks on his thesis, informs Times Online.

Photo AP