In this paper we consider the prehistory of quantum gravity (1916-1930) from two perspectives. First, we investigate how this research field constituted itself and we propose for the first time a red thread to trace its evolution in this earliest period. Second, we focus on a case study: the earliest work of Léon Rosenfeld. In 1927 he tried to merge wave mechanics with general relativity in the context of a five-dimensional universe. We describe how Oskar Klein, Louis de Broglie, and Théophile De Donder influenced Rosenfeld's work and analyze how and why Rosenfeld attempted to reconcile Einstein's theory with quantum phenomena. We argue that Rosenfeld investigated for the first time the corrections to a classical space-time metric generated by a quantum source. As far as we know, Rosenfeld's approach has been largely ignored until today: he himself considered it "an accident." After having reconsidered its connection with de Broglie's ideas and Rosenfeld's interpretation of the wave function in 1927, we argue that Rosenfeld's work can be interpreted as a first attempt to introduce the pilot-wave theory in the context of quantum gravity and we infer that this was one of the reasons that ruled it out.

中文翻译：

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量子引力史前时期的量子文化：莱昂·罗森菲尔德对量子引力的早期贡献

在本文中，我们从两个角度考虑了量子引力的史前史（1916-1930）。首先，我们调查了这个研究领域是如何构成的，我们第一次提出了一条红线来追踪它在这个最早时期的演变。其次，我们关注一个案例研究：莱昂·罗森菲尔德 (Léon Rosenfeld) 的最早作品。1927 年，他试图在五维宇宙的背景下将波力学与广义相对论结合起来。我们描述了 Oskar Klein、Louis de Broglie 和 Théophile De Donder 如何影响 Rosenfeld 的工作，并分析 Rosenfeld 如何以及为何试图调和爱因斯坦的理论与量子现象。我们认为，罗森菲尔德首次研究了对量子源产生的经典时空度量的修正。据我们所知，罗森菲尔德 直到今天，他的做法在很大程度上被忽视了：他自己认为这是“意外”。在重新考虑了它与德布罗意的思想和罗森菲尔德在 1927 年对波函数的解释的联系之后，我们认为罗森菲尔德的工作可以被解释为在量子引力的背景下引入引导波理论的第一次尝试，我们推断这是排除它的原因之一。