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History and Philosophy of Physics papers — page 136

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Again on Majorana and the Thomas-Fermi model: a comment to physics/0511222
We comment on a recent paper announcing the discovery of a previously unknown publication of Ettore Majorana on the Thomas-Fermi atomic model. In pointing out that such a publication was not written…
S. EspositoDec 28, 2005
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Einstein's impact on the physics of the twentieth century
Starting with Einstein's famous papers of 1905, we review some of the ensuing developments and their impact on present-day physics. We attempt to cover topics that are of interest to historians…
Domenico Giulini, Norbert StraumannDec 20, 2005
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Una lezione particolare di Ettore Majorana
We give, for the first time, the critical complete text of a manuscript by Ettore Majorana, conserved in the same file of the lecture notes for his course on Theoretical Physics at the University of…
S. EspositoDec 19, 2005
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Contributions of Albert Einstein to Earth Sciences: A review in Commemoration of the World Year of Physics
The World Year of Physics (2005) is an international celebration to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Einstein's "Annus Mirabilis". The United Nations has officially declared…
Jesus Martinez-Frias, David Hochberg, Fernando RullDec 13, 2005
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On the origin of Special Relativity
Retrospectively, in 1905, Special Relativity seemed palpably close; it was "in the air". But apparently it needed the fresh approach of an unprejudiced newcomer, Einstein, to take the final…
Domenico GiuliniDec 12, 2005
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"Long live effrontery!" Albert Einstein and the birth of Quantum Theory
From its very beginning, Quantum Theory developed contrary to the intentions of its creators. For Max Planck it marks the failure of a long-term research program, in which he tried to understand the…
Domenico GiuliniDec 5, 2005
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A forgotten publication of Ettore Majorana on the improvement of the Thomas-Fermi statistical model
Ettore Majorana proposed an important improvement to the Thomas-Fermi statistical model for atoms, with a communication at the general meeting of the Italian Physical Society, held in Rome, on…
Francesco Guerra, Nadia RobottiNov 28, 2005
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On the scientific method learned from Albert Einstein in 2005 -- the World Year of Physics
We review the physics at the end of the nineteenth century and summarize the process of the establishment of Special Relativity by Albert Einstein in brief. Following in the giant's footsteps, we…
Y. H. YuanNov 22, 2005
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Between light and eye: Goethe's science of color and the polar phenomenology of nature
In his interviews with Eckermann in the 1820s, Goethe referred to his Theory of Colors as his greatest and ultimate achievement. Its reception following publication in 1810 and subsequent reviews…
Alex KentsisNov 14, 2005
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Antimatter weapons (1946-1986): From Fermi and Teller's speculations to the first open scientific publications
We recall the early theoretical speculations on the possible explosive uses of antimatter, from 1946 to the first production of antiprotons, at Berkeley in 1955, and until the first capture of cold…
Andre Gsponer, Jean-Pierre HurniOct 28, 2005
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The Beginning of Chiral Symmetry
For readers interested in the history of chiral symmetry we present the translation of two papaers from 1955 and 1959 from German to English, in which chiral symmetry properties for weak and strong…
G. Kramer, H. Rollnik, B. StechOct 14, 2005
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A Cosmic Archipelago: Multiverse Scenarios in the History of Modern Cosmology
Multiverse scenarios are common place in contemporary high energy physics and cosmology, although many consider them simply as bold speculations. In any case there is nothing like a single theory or…
Stephano BettiniOct 12, 2005
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Neutron physics in the early 1930s
Dawning neutron physics was more complex than one might expect. The chance that the neutron comprised a proton and an electron was diffusely taken into account after the discovery of the neutron.…
Alberto De GregorioOct 6, 2005
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On Essential Incompleteness of Hertz's Experiments on Propagation of Electromagnetic Interactions
The historical background of the 19th century electromagnetic theory is revisited from the standpoint of the opposition between alternative approaches in respect to the problem of interactions. The…
R. Smirnov-RuedaOct 3, 2005
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The Fermi's Bayes Theorem
It is curious to learn that Enrico Fermi knew how to base probabilistic inference on Bayes theorem, and that some influential notes on statistics for physicists stem from what the author calls…
G. D'AgostiniSep 10, 2005
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On the discovery of Birkhoff's theorem
Birkhoff showed in 1923 that the Schwarzschild solution for the metric from a point particle was also valid in the a priori non-static case as long as the spherical symmetry was maintained. This…
Nils Voje Johansen, Finn RavndalSep 6, 2005
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Albert Einstein as the father of solid state physics
Einstein is usually revered as the father of special and general relativity. In this article I demonstrate that he is also the father of Solid State Physics, or even his broader version known as…
Manuel CardonaAug 31, 2005
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A selected history of expectation bias in physics
The beliefs of physicists can bias their results towards their expectations in a number of ways. We survey a variety of historical cases of expectation bias in observations, experiments, and…
Monwhea JengAug 27, 2005
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Alexandru Proca (1897--1955) the Great Physicist
We commemorate 50 years from A. Proca's death. Proca equation is a relativistic wave equation for a massive spin-1 particle. The weak interaction is transmitted by such kind of vector bosons.…
Dorin N. PoenaruAug 26, 2005
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Philosophy Enters the Optics Laboratory: Bell's Theorem and its First Experimental Tests (1965-1982)
This paper deals with the ways that the issue of completing quantum mechanics was brought into laboratories and became a topic in mainstream quantum optics. It focuses on the period between 1965,…
Olival FreireAug 24, 2005
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Science and exile: David Bohm, the hot times of the Cold War, and his struggle for a new interpretation of quantum mechanics
This article focuses on the reception among physicists of Bohm's 1952 papers on the causal interpretation of quantum mechanics, which were poorly received at the time. I describe his Brazilian…
Olival FreireAug 24, 2005
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Contributions of George J. Papadopoulos
I review some of the scientific work of George Papadopoulos in the context of the Greek cultural tradition and modern theoretical physics. The main emphasis is on his works on path integrals and…
J. T. DevreeseAug 18, 2005
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Lanczos - Einstein - Petiau: From Dirac's equation to nonlinear wave mechanics
In 1929 Lanczos showed how to derive Dirac's equation from a more fundamental system that predicted that spin 1/2 particles should come in pairs. Today, these pairs can unambiguously be…
Andre Gsponer, Jean-Pierre HurniAug 10, 2005
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The conservation laws in the field theoretical representation of Dirac's theory
We show that in the new description, Dirac's ``current vector'' is not related to a vector but to a tensor: the ``stress-energy tensor.'' Corresponding to Dirac's conservation…
Cornelius LanczosAug 10, 2005
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On the covariant formulation of Dirac's equation
As a continuation of previous investigations, the formalism used there is extended to the case when an external electric field is present and the covariant formulation is performed again. The…
Cornelius LanczosAug 10, 2005
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