Related papers: Die Erste Stunde (The first hour)
Starting from Bunge's (1977) scientific ontology, we expose a materialistic relational theory of space-time, that carries out the program initiated by Leibniz, and provides a protophysical basis consistent with any rigorous formulation of…
The notion of gravitational radiation begins with electromagnetic radiation. In 1887 Heinrich Hertz, working in one room, generated and received electromagnetic radiation. Maxwell's equations describe the electromagnetic field. The quanta…
We present a self-contained introduction to the classical theory of spacetime and fields. This exposition is based on the most general principles: the principle of general covariance (relativity) and the principle of least action. The order…
In order to directly demonstrate that in static gravitational field the rate of clocks increases with their distance from the source a simple thought experiment is proposed.
Some years ago, a new powerful technique, known as the Classical Effective Field Theory, was proposed to describe classical phenomena in gravitational systems. Here we show how this approach can be useful to investigate theoretically…
These are extended lecture notes of the quantum mechanics course which I am teaching in the Weizmann Institute of Science graduate physics program. They cover the topics listed below. The first four chapter are posted here. Their content is…
An early phase of theoretical high energy physics in Israel specifically that connected with Yuval Ne'eman and a small group of my classmates, myself, and several others who worked around him after his return to Israel on the "Eight-fold…
The activities carried out by Italian physicists in the field of semiconductor physics during the period spanning from 1945 to the foundation of the National Group of Structure of the Matter (GNSM, 1965) are reviewed within their historical…
The present thesis deals with some properties of classical and quantum scalar fields in an inhomogeneous and/or time-dependent background, focusing on models where the latter can be described as a curved space-time with an event horizon.…
Feyerabend frequently discussed physics. He also referred to the history of the subject when motivating his philosophy of science. Alas, as some examples show, his understanding of physics remained superficial. In this respect, Feyerabend…
In summer 1923, a year after his lectures on the `New Foundation of Mathematics' and half a year before the republication of his two notes on the `Foundations of Physics,' Hilbert delivered a trilogy of lectures in Hamburg. In these…
The nature of time as emergent for a system by separating it from its environment has been put forward by Page and Wootters [D. N. Page and W. K. Wootters, Phys. Rev. D 27, 2885 (1983)] in a quantum mechanical setting neglecting interaction…
Einstein at the Z\"urich Polytechnic: he skipped classes, did not attend all the lectures of his Professors, and before going to the examinations he studied instead from the notebooks of his good friend from class, Marcel Grossmann.…
There are discernible and fundamental differences between clocks, waves and physical states in classical physics. These fundamental concepts find a common expression in the context of quantum physics in gravitational fields; matter and…
These lecture notes collect the material that I have been using over the years for various short courses on the physics of gravitational waves, first at the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (France), and then at SISSA (Italy) and various…
This work reviews the understanding of the direction of time introduced by Hans Reichenbach, including the fundamental relation of the perceived flow of time to the second law of thermodynamics (i.e. the Boltzmann time hypothesis), and the…
We report on joint work, past and in progress, with K.Fredenhagen and with J.E,Roberts, on the quantum structure of spacetime in the small which is dictated by the principles of Quantum Mechanics and of General Relativity; we comment on how…
These lecture notes are based on three lectures, each ninety minutes long, given by the author at the "International School on Strings and Fundamental Physics" which took place in Garching/Munich from July 25 to August 6, 2010. These…
I discuss the early developments of string theory with respect to its connection with gauge theory and general relativity from my own perspective. The period covered is mainly from 1969 to 1974, during which I became involved in research on…
In this contribution we report about Feynman's approach to gravitation, starting from the records of his interventions at the Chapel Hill Conference of 1957. As well known, Feynman was concerned about the relation of gravitation with the…