Related papers: The Order of Sir Bondi
Evidence is recalled of the strong opposition of Niels Bohr, at the time of the Old Quantum Theory 1.913-25, to the Lichtquanten hypothesis of Einstein. Some episodes with H.A. Kramers, J.C. Slater and W. Heisenberg are recollected; Bohr's…
There is no doubt that both the special and general theories of relativity capture the imagination. The anti-intuitive properties of the special theory of relativity and its deep philosophical implications, the bizzare and dazzling…
The history of the particle concept is briefly reviewed, with particular emphasis on the `foliation dependence' of many particle creation models, and the possible connection between our notion of particle and our notion of simultaneity. It…
The book presents ideas by H. Poincare and H. Minkowski according to those the essence and the main content of the relativity theory are the following: the space and time form a unique four-dimensional continuum supplied by the…
We propose discussions and hands-on activities for GCSE and A-level students, covering a fundamental aspect of nuclear physics: the concept of bond and the energy released (absorbed) when a bond is created (broken). This is the first of the…
A debate in the scientific literature has arisen regarding whether the orb depicted in Salvator Mundi, which has been attributed by some experts to Leonardo da Vinci, was rendered in a optically faithful manner or not. Some hypothesize that…
Henri Poincare Saint Louis lecture, delivered on 24 September 1904 at the International Congress of Arts and Science, occupies a distinctive place in the pre history of twentieth century theoretical physics. In this text, Poincare…
I discuss open theoretical questions pertaining to the modified dynamics (MOND)--a proposed alternative to dark matter, which posits a breakdown of Newtonian dynamics in the limit of small accelerations. In particular, I point the reasons…
All existing treatments of bimetric MOND (BIMOND) -- a class of relativistic versions of MOND -- have dealt with a rather restricted sub-class: The Lagrangian of the interaction between the gravitational degrees of freedom -- the two…
The n-body problem is one of the most important issue in Celestial Mechanics. This article aims to retrace the historical and scientific events that led the Paduan mathematician, Tullio Levi-Civita, to deal with the problem first from a…
An historical overview is given of the relevant steps that allowed the genesis of the quantum theory of the chemical bond, starting from the appearance of the new quantum mechanics and following later developments till approximately 1931.…
A possibility of the electronic origin of the high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates is probed with the quantum Monte Carlo method by revisiting the three-band Hubbard model comprising Cu$3d_{x^2-y^2}$ and O$2p_\sigma$ orbitals. The…
This essay provides concise biographical information about eight physicists, astronomers, astrophysicists, and cosmologists from the twentieth century. The portrayed scientists are Hermann Bondi (1919-2005), Charles L. Critchfield…
The teaching of special relativity still follows Einstein's original two-postulate approach and thus recreates the relativistic revolution in the minds of students again and again, with all its attendant shocking and mysterious aspects. As…
This lecture recalls the memory of Baron Roland Eotvos, an outstanding figure of the experimental exploration of the gravitational interaction.
The relationship between modern philosophy and physics is discussed. It is shown that the latter develops some need for a modernized metaphysics which shows up as an ultima philosophia of considerable heuristic value, rather than as the…
This text offers a personal account of the scientific legacy of two giants of mathematical physics at the turn of the Millenium and their heritage in Canada, their land of adoption.
The mass loss of an isolated gravitating system due to energy carried away by gravitational waves with a cosmological constant $\Lambda\in\R$ was recently worked out, using the Newman-Penrose-Unti approach. In that same article, an…
A generalized view of Duality is offered as a bridge between physical sciences and the more abstract philosophical dimensions bordering on mysticism. To that end several examples of duality are first cited from from conventional physics…
The Hessian Topology is a subject with interesting relations with some classical problems of analysis and geometry. In this article we prove a conjecture on this subject stated by V.I. Arnold concerning the number of connected components of…