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The editors of this volume bring to life a major part of Ettore Majorana s work that up to now was not accessible to the general audience. These are the contents of the Quaderni (notebooks) of Ettore Majorana, edited and translated in English. Ettore Majorana had an astounding talent for Physics that made an impression on all the colleagues who had the opportunity to know him. Enrico Fermi, who took him in his group when he was a student, ranked him with Galilei and Newton. Ettore Majorana s career was cut short in 1938, as he mysteriously disappeared at the age of 32, leaving many unpublished works. This book reveals an interesting perspective over the points of view, the interests, the approach to physical problems of this great physicist and it shows that he had advanced his comprehension of physics to levels that were only reached by other physicists ten years after, or even later. The editors have inserted minimal text, in order to leave the original calculations by Majorana intact, and at the same time help the reader when the formalism had been left unexplained. The preface to this book provides fascinating reflections on the life and pioneering work of this exceptional physicist, placing it in the context of the physical discoveries of the following years. This book will have considerable interests to all those interested in the development of the history of Physics.
E-Book Content
Ettore Majorana: Unpublished Research Notes on Theoretical Physics Fundamental Theories of Physics An International Book Series on The Fundamental Theories of Physics: Their Clarification, Development and Application Series Editors: GIANCARLO GHIRARDI, University of Trieste, Italy VESSELIN PETKOV, Concordia University, Canada TONY SUDBERY, University of York, UK ALWYN VAN DER MERWE, University of Denver, CO, USA Volume 159 For other titles published in this series, go to www.springer.com/series/6001 Ettore Majorana: Unpublished Research Notes on Theoretical Physics Edited by S. Esposito University of Naples “Federico II” Italy E. Recami University of Bergamo Italy A. van der Merwe University of Denver Colorado, USA R. Battiston University of Perugia Italy Editors Salvatore Esposito Università di Napoli “Federico II” Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo Via Cinthia 80126 Napoli Italy Erasmo Recami Università di Bergamo Facoltà di Ingegneria 24044 Dalmine (BG) Italy Alwyn van der Merwe University of Denver Department of Physics and Astronomy Denver, CO 80208 USA Roberto Battiston Università di Perugia Dipartimento di Fisica Via A. Pascoli 06123 Perugia Italy Back cover photo of E. Majorana: Copyright by E. Recami & M. Majorana, reproduction of the photo is not allowed (without written permission of the right holders) ISBN 978-1-4020-9113-1 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-9114-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008935622 c 2009 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without the written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for the exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com “But, then, there are geniuses like Galileo and Newton. Well, Ettore Majorana was one of them...” Enrico Fermi (1938) CONTENTS Preface xiii Bibliography xxxvii Table of contents of the complete set of Majorana’s Quaderni (ca. 1927-1933) xliii CONTENTS OF THE SELECTED MATERIAL Part I 3 Dirac Theory 1.1 1.