Related papers: The Tenth Article of Ettore Majorana
Quantum mechanics is a fundamentally probabilistic theory (at least so far as the empirical predictions are concerned). It follows that, if one wants to properly understand quantum mechanics, it is essential to clearly understand the…
In Europe (e.g., in Italy), and in the States, the opinion is widely spreading that the negative consequences of modern progress are the fault of "Science". A lively debate on this topic took place among the famous writer Leonardo Sciascia…
In 1927, just after he obtained a full professorship, Enrico Fermi delivered his first course on Theoretical Physics at the Institute of Physics in Rome. The following year Edoardo Amaldi, Emilio Segre' and Ettore Majorana became students…
In 1932 Ettore Majorana proposed an infinite-component relativistic wave equation for particles of arbitrary integer and half-integer spin. In the late 80s and early 90s it was found that the higher-derivative geometric particle models…
After the development of a self-consistent quantum formalism nearly a century ago, there ensued a quest to understand the often counterintuitive predictions of the theory. These endeavors invariably begin with the assumption of the "truth"…
Quantum theory expresses the observable relations between physical properties in terms of probabilities that depend on the specific context described by the "state" of a system. However, the laws of physics that emerge at the macroscopic…
We propose a closed form for the statistical distribution of non-interacting Majorana fermions at low temperature. Majorana particles often appear in the contemporary many-body literature in the Kitaev, Fu-Kane, or Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev models,…
This short essay aims to offer a discursive presentation of three scientific articles by Ettore Majorana highlighting the fundamental importance of one of them - the last one - for the investigation of the intimate constitution of matter.…
In two respects Ludwig Boltzmann was a pioneer of quantum mechanics. First because in his statistical interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics he introduced the theory of probability into a fundamental law of physics and thus…
We formulate quantum mechanics as an effective theory of an underlying structure characterized by microstates $|{\mathcal M}^j(t)\rangle$, each one defined by the quantum state $|\Psi(t)\rangle$ and a complete set of commutative observables…
This viewpoint relates to an article by Jorge Kurchan (1998 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 31, 3719) as part of a series of commentaries celebrating the most influential papers published in the J. Phys. series, which is celebrating its 50th…
We review the non-trivial issue of the relativistic description of a quantum mechanical system that, contrary to a common belief, kept theoreticians busy from the end of 1920s to (at least) mid 1940s. Starting by the well-known works by…
Quantum mechanics is a theory that is as effective as it is counterintuitive. While quantum practices operate impeccably, they compel us to embrace enigmatic phenomena like the collapse of the state vector and non-locality, thereby pushing…
This paper proposes an interpretation of quantum mechanics, relying on the time-symmetric stochastic dynamics of quantum particles and on non-classical probability theory. Our main purpose is to demonstrate that the wave function and its…
We show that, in spite of a rather common opinion, quantum mechanics can be represented as an approximation of classical statistical mechanics. The approximation under consideration is based on the ordinary Taylor expansion of physical…
Proposed derivations of the Born rule for Everettian theory are controversial. I argue that they are unnecessary but may provide justification for a simplified version of the Principal Principle. It's also unnecessary to replace Everett's…
On 14 December 1900 Max Planck first formulated the idea of energy quanta related to a new universal constant now known as Planck's constant. Despite the following progress of thus initiated "quantum mechanics", the physical origin of both…
Errico Presutti was a leading figure in mathematical physics and an important contributor to rigorous results in statistical mechanics. Due to his strong scientific personality and human qualities, there are many who remember Errico…
Quantum mechanics, one of the most successful theories in the history of science, was created to account for physical systems not describable by classical physics. Though it is consistent with all experiments conducted thus far, many of its…
The conflict between the determinism of geometry in general relativity and the essential statistics of quantum mechanics blocks the development of a unified theory. Electromagnetic radiation is essential to both fields and supplies a common…