物理学史与哲学
A retrospective historical overview of the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in quantum theory, the issue that has been implemented in particle physics in the form of the Higgs mechanism. The main items are: -- The…
This article discusses aspects of Dirac's work that are less familiar.
The role of operational quantum mechanics, quantum axiomatics and quantum structures in general is presented as a contribution to a compendium on quantum physics, its history and philosophy.
We review the color charge degree of freedom in particle physics.
Johannes Hevelius's 1662 Mercurius in Sole Visus Gedani contains a table of magnitudes and apparent telescopic diameters of nineteen stars. The data conform to a simple model, suggesting that Hevelius produced what is essentially a table of…
Wolfgang Pauli's philosophy and physics were intertwined. His philosophy was a variety of Platonism, in which Pauli's affiliation with Carl Jung formed an integral part, but Pauli's philosophical explorations in physics appeared before he…
Prigogine and Stengers (1988) have pointed to the centrality of the concepts of "time and eternity" for the cosmology contained in Newtonian physics, but they have not addressed this issue beyond the domain of physics. The construction of…
A series of peculiar, visual alignments between the pyramids of the pharaohs of the 4, 5 and 6 Egyptian dynasties exists. These alignments governed from the very beginning the planning of the funerary monuments of successive kings and, in…
This paper looks at the theory underlying the science of materials from the perspectives of physics, the history of science, and the philosophy of science. We are particularly concerned with the development of understanding of the…
What is physics? What are the limits of what physics can say about the world? In seeking ever-broader theoretical `umbrellas' for physical phenomena, we are seeking unifying principles. Emergent phenomena have turned out to be some of the…
Ettore Majorana, perhaps the greatest Italian theoretical physicist of this century (Enrico Fermi compared him to Galilei and Newton), disappeared misteriously from Naples in 1938, when he was 31. In the first part of this work we outline…
This article, in English, represents part of the invited talk delivered by the author at the "Internat.Conf.Majorana Legacy and Phys. XXI century" held at Dep. of Phys.,University of Catania, Italy, in Oct.2006: Conference organized for…
We present a panoramic view of the main scientific manuscripts left unpublished by the brightest Italian theoretical physicist of the XX century, Ettore Majorana. We deal in particular: (i) with his very original "study" notes (the…
Ettore Majorana was a member of Enrico Fermi's research group in Rome, Italy. Fermi did regard Majorana as much brihter than himself as far as theoretical physics was concerned (more information can be found particularly in the arXives'…
Constructing the Theory of Everything (TOE) is an elusive goal of today's physics. Goedel's incompleteness theorem seems to forbid physics axiomatization, a necessary part of the TOE. The purpose of this contribution is to show how physics…
Henry Eyring was, and still is, a towering figure in science. Some aspects of his life and science, beginning in Mexico and continuing in Arizona, California, Wisconsin, Germany, Princeton, and finally Utah, are reviewed here. Eyring moved…
For several decades there has been no breakthrough in fundamental physics as revolutionary as relativity and quantum physics despite the amazing advancement of applied physics and technology. By discussing several examples of what physics…
We highlight four points which have been ignored or underestimated before and which allow a better understanding of "Sur la dynamique de l'electron": (i) the use by Poincare of active Lorentz transformations (boosts); (ii) the necessity,…
One of the less known facets of Ludwig Boltzmann was that of an advocate of Aviation, one of the most challenging technological problems of his times. Boltzmann followed closely the studies of pioneers like Otto Lilienthal in Berlin, and…
A survey of the worldwide litterature reveals that the question "Are We Alone in the Universe?" has been formulated only in the western litterature. Here I try to understand why it is so. To investigate this problem it is first necessary to…