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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
 Posted - 2006-08-03 : 14:59:31
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| Ettore Majorana (Catania, Sicily, 05 August 1906 – Tyrrhenian Sea, 27 March 1938 (presumed)) was an Italian theoretical physicist who began promising work on neutrino masses. He disappeared suddenly in mysterious circumstances.Life and WorkMajorana was mathematically extremely gifted, and was very young when he joined Enrico Fermi's team in Rome as one of the "Via Panisperna boys", who took their name from the street address of their laboratory. His first papers dealt with problems in atomic spectroscopy. His first paper, published in 1928, was written when he was an undergraduate and was coauthored by Giovanni Gentile Jr., a junior professor in the Institute of Physics in Rome. This work was an early quantitative application to atomic spectroscopy of Fermi's statistical model of atomic structure (now known as the Thomas-Fermi model, due to its contemporaneous description by Llewellyn Thomas). In this paper, Majorana and Gentile performed first-principles calculations within the context of this model that gave a good account of experimentally observed core electron energies of gadolinium and uranium, and of the fine structure splitting of cesium lines observed in optical spectra. In 1931, Majorana published the first paper describing the phenomenon of autoionization in atomic spectra, designated by him as "spontaneous ionization"; an independent paper in the same year, published by Arthur Shenstone of Princeton University, first used the term "auto-ionization", which has since become conventional, without the hyphen. An important paper (1932) in the field of atomic spectroscopy concerned the behaviour of aligned atoms in time-varying magnetic fields. This problem, also studied by I. I. Rabi and others, led to an important sub-branch of atomic physics, that of radio-frequency spectroscopy. Also in 1932, Majorana published his paper on a relativistic theory of particles with arbitrary intrinsic momentum, in which he developed and applied infinite dimensional representations of the Lorentz group, and gave a theoretical basis for the mass spectrum of elementary particles. Like most of Majorana's papers in Italian, this paper languished in relative obscurity for several decades. (It is discussed in detail by D. M. Fradkin, Amer. J. Phys., vol. 34, pp.314-318 (1966)). Subsequently, he studied with Heisenberg in Leipzig and worked on a theory of the nucleus (published in German in 1933) which, in its treatment of exchange forces, represented a further development of Heisenberg's theory of the nucleus. Majorana's last-published paper, in 1937, again in Italian, concerned his elaboration of a symmetrical theory of electrons and positrons.Majorana did prescient theoretical work on neutrino masses, a currently active subject of research. He also worked on an idea that mass may exert a small shielding effect on gravitational waves, which did not gain much traction.His uncle Quirino Majorana was also a physicist.The year 2006 marks Majorana's centenary, and a book of his (nine) collected papers, with commentary and English translations, is scheduled to be published by the Italian Physical Society.For the Centenary of Ettore Majorana (1906-1938) Electronic Journal of Theoretical Physics (EJTP) has published a special issue (20 articles) dedicated to the modern development of Majorana’s legacy."MAJORANA LEGACY IN CONTEMPORARY PHYSICS". Di Renzo Editore, Roma, 2006 Volume 3, Issue 10 (April 2006), Majorana Issue (Editor: Ignazio Licata).For a summary of Majorana's scientific output, see the following article (in Italian): E. Amaldi, L'opera scientifica di Ettore Majorana, Physis, vol. X, pp.173-187 (1968).DisappearanceMajorana disappeared in unknown circumstances during a boat trip from Palermo to Naples. Despite several investigations, the truth about his fate is still uncertain. His body has not been found.Hypotheses include thatHe could have committed suicide. (He left two letters which contained a sort of farewell.) He could have been kidnapped by foreign powers. He could have voluntarily disappeared, changed his identity and possibly left Italy. Some argue for this latter hypothesis, conjecturing that after having envisioned the destructive power of atomic energy, Majorana did not want to contribute to its deployment in a fascist state. There have been sporadic rumors that he may have been sighted in South America in the 1950's. Also in Italy a story appeared in the news when a man living on the street claimed that he once was a famous physicist.The Italian writer Leonardo Sciascia has summarized some of the results of these investigations and these hypotheses in his passionate book "La Scomparsa di Majorana (Einaudi, 1975)" (English translation: "The Moro Affair and The Mystery of Majorana," Carcanet (1987), ISBN 0-85635-700-6). However, some of Sciascia's conclusions were refuted by certain of Majorana's former colleagues, including E. Amaldi and E. Segrè. The various hypotheses on Majorana's disappearance have been extensively discussed by Erasmo Recami in his book "Il caso Majorana: Lettere, testimonianze, documenti" (Di Renzo Editore, Roma, 2000) and in a journal article (E. Recami, I nuovi documenti sulla scomparsa del fisico Ettore Majorana, Scientia, vol. 110, pp.577-588 (1975); English version titled "New Evidence on the Disappearance of the Physicist Ettore Majorana", Scientia, vol. 110, p.589ff. (1975)). In the above-mentioned book and article, Recami discusses critically the various rival explanations concerning Majorana's disapparance, including those advanced by Sciascia in his short book, and presents highly suggestive evidence to the effect that Majorana absconded to Argentina.QuotesThere are many categories of scientists, people of second and third rank, who do their best, but do not go very far. There are also people of first class, who make great discoveries, fundamental for the development of science. But then there are the geniuses, like Galilei and Newton. Well, Ettore Majorana was one of them ... -- Enrico Fermi======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-03 : 15:08:08
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| Blimey, its like Early Learning in Installments, Stoad!!I'm gonna to get my #1 Daughter to register for SQL Team for Linguistics, rather than Semantics ...Kristen |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-03 : 15:27:10
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| My main trouble is (ha! not the woman-swine): I totally lost my self-confidence (since October 2005).As if something switched in my brain and... voila :( I'm an intellectual wreck.PSThank you, Kristen.======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-03 : 15:32:28
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| "I totally lost my self-confidence"Me too - since January 2000 in my case.Safety in numbers then, eh?! |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-03 : 15:57:27
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so you guys compensate by posting here so much?  Go with the flow & have fun! Else fight the flow  blog thingie: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp |
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rockmoose
SQL Natt Alfen
3279 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-03 : 19:24:28
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> "Safety in numbers then, eh!?"More like meditation, and loosing oneself.> "January 2000"That's a good date, right after the millenium and everything!  If I say;"what is to be found, must first be lost!"Does that relate to anyone?Master Mladen, so carefree, so young!I am happy for you! |
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Lumbago
Norsk Yak Master
3271 Posts |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-04 : 06:48:25
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very disturbing....maybe a reason you're single, stoad? Ok that was mean  Go with the flow & have fun! Else fight the flow blog thingie: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-04 : 09:07:27
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I'm a single but not lonely, Mladen! As for dicks mine is quite ordinary; ~15 cm (erected)  True 10 years ago it was a bit (~2 cm) lengthy.Today I woke up at 03.05 AM finding myself sitting in front of monitorplus loud music. Turned off pc and went to bed. Damned brusnika.As for Majorana. Imo of course it was suicide.Bruno Pontecorvo (an italian, then soviet physicist) knew him and said about him:this genius was a real eccentric, very pessimistic, constantly discontented by himself,he rarely attended Fermi's team meetings. And maybe been he NOT so rich as he was (hewas from a very rich sicilian fam) no tragedy happened.======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-04 : 09:23:18
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| ok that was waaaay to much information Go with the flow & have fun! Else fight the flow blog thingie: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-04 : 12:30:38
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| I have nothing to conceal, Mladen! >Safety in numbers then, eh?!Ha, Kristen! No safe places on the Earth anymore!Try to solve this: http://acm.timus.ru/problem.aspx?space=1&num=1132&locale=enIt's above my math abilities many many light years...======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-04 : 14:57:27
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| Nonetheless, guys...to forget her... seems it's impossible for me.Forget her kisses, her erected tits, her peachy fanny.======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 14:42:53
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| Btw, only AjarnMark knows the origin of my nickname (Stoad). Aha, Mark! Do you remember "beetles ans stoads"? It was my typo.To my prev post.I can't forget about how I tought her 3.5 y.o. daughter to draw in Paint.She was laughing at my "chu-chu-chu-chu" while I was drawing a line.Let it be as it's going to be.======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 17:12:08
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| This winter.We (me and SHE) standing at a bus stop, waiting for a taxi, 30 km to the town.Terrible frost; starry sky; absolute silence. On horizon only the forest forest forest.How can I forget about it?======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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nr
SQLTeam MVY
12543 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 17:25:32
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| Why do I think Haiku?==========================================Cursors are useful if you don't know sql.DTS can be used in a similar way.Beer is not cold and it isn't fizzy. |
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rockmoose
SQL Natt Alfen
3279 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 17:49:54
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| Are you turning destructive thoughts inwards now? |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 17:57:38
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| >Why do I think Haiku?>Are you turning destructive thoughts inwards now?I understood nothing.======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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rockmoose
SQL Natt Alfen
3279 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 19:48:58
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| Just got worried about you, that's all.PS.You words sounded very much like a Haiku poem PPS.There is a party here! |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 21:50:52
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| LOL. Indeed.======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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rockmoose
SQL Natt Alfen
3279 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 21:56:46
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| Still awake?No work tomorrow? |
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Stoad
Freaky Yak Linguist
1983 Posts |
Posted - 2006-08-05 : 22:14:45
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| Work on Sunday? Hmm======================Let me hug & kiss you... |
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He disappeared in mysterious circumstances