ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Sommerfeld identity

The Sommerfeld identity is a special formula that tells us how to calculate the value of a certain types of equations called integrals. It is named after a man called Arnold Sommerfeld who was a very smart physicist!

Imagine that you are trying to split a cake into smaller and smaller pieces. You first split the cake in half, then you split each half into halves again, and so on. You keep doing this until you have very tiny pieces of cake that are almost impossible to see!

Now imagine you have a type of equation that looks very complicated, it has lots of different numbers and letters all mixed up together. In order to solve this equation, you need to break it down into smaller and smaller pieces, just like we did with the cake!

The Sommerfeld identity helps us do this. It tells us exactly how to break down the equation into tiny pieces that we can easily solve. Just like cutting a cake into smaller and smaller pieces!

By using the Sommerfeld identity, we can solve some really difficult equations and understand complex physical systems like waves and particles. Pretty cool, right?