Ettore Majorana

Ettore Majorana
Ettore Majorana

A portrait of Ettore Majorana

Born

5 August 1906
Catania

Died

1938 (in absentia)

Ettore Majorana (Italian:[ttore majorana]; born 1906; missing, presumed dead on 27 March 1938) was an Italian
theoretical physicist who worked on neutrino masses. He disappeared suddenly under mysterious circumstances
while going by ship from Palermo to Naples. The Majorana equation and Majorana fermions are named after him. In
2006, the Majorana Prize was established in his memory.

Life and work

There are several categories of scientists in the world; those of second or third rank do their best but never get
very far. Then there is the first rank, those who make important discoveries, fundamental to scientific progress.
But then there are the geniuses, like Galilei and Newton. Majorana was one of these.
(Enrico Fermi about Majorana, Rome 1938)

Gifted in mathematics
Majorana was born in Catania, Sicily. Mathematically gifted, he 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 uncle Quirino Majorana was also a physicist.
He began his university studies in engineering in 1923 but switched to physics in 1928 at the urging of Emilio
Segr.[1] His first papers dealt with problems in atomic spectroscopy.

Ettore Majorana

First published academic papers

His first paper, published in 1928, was written when he was an
undergraduate and 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
ThomasFermi 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
caesium lines observed in optical spectra. In 1931, Majorana
published the first paper on the phenomenon of autoionization in
atomic spectra, designated by him as "spontaneous ionization"; an
independent paper in the same year, published by Allen Shenstone
of Princeton University, designated the phenomenon as
"auto-ionization", a name first used by Pierre Auger. This name
has since become conventional, without the hyphen.
Majorana earned his Laurea in physics at the University of Rome
La Sapienza in 1929.

Handwritten notes preparatory to the equation in

infinite components

In 1932, he published a paper in the field of atomic spectroscopy concerning 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. In the same year, 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, it languished in relative obscurity for several decades. (It is
discussed in detail by D. M. Fradkin, Amer. J. Phys., vol. 34, pp.314318 (1966)).
Experiments in 1932 by Irne Joliot-Curie and Frdric Joliot showed the existence of an unknown particle that they
suggested was a gamma ray. Majorana was the first to correctly interpret the experiment as requiring a new particle
that had a neutral charge and a mass about the same as the proton; this particle is the neutron. Fermi told him to write
an article, but Majorana didn't bother. James Chadwick proved the existence of the neutron by experiment later that
year, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery.[2]
Solution of Majorana's equation yields particles that are their own anti-particle, now referred to as Majorana
Fermions. In April 2012, some of what Majorana predicted may have been confirmed in experiments on hybrid
semiconductor-superconductor wire devices.[3] These experiments may potentially lead to a better understanding of
quantum mechanics and may help build a quantum computer. There has also been speculation that at least some part
of the "missing mass" in the universe, which cannot be detected except by inference of its gravitational influences,
may be composed of Majorana particles.
Majorana was known for not seeking credit for his discoveries, considering his work to be banal. He wrote only nine
papers in his lifetime.

Ettore Majorana

Work with Heisenberg, illness, isolation

"At Fermi's urging, Majorana left Italy early in 1933 on a grant from the National Research Council. In Leipzig,
Germany, he met Werner Heisenberg. In letters he subsequently wrote to Heisenberg, Majorana revealed that he had
found in him, not only a scientific colleague, but a warm personal friend."[4] Majorana also travelled to Copenhagen,
where he worked with Niels Bohr, another Nobel Prize winner, and a friend and mentor of Heisenberg.
The Nazis had come to power in Germany as Majorana arrived there. He studied with Werner 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,
this time in Italian, was an elaboration of a symmetrical theory of electrons and positrons.
"In the fall of 1933, Majorana returned to Rome in poor health, having developed acute gastritis in Germany and
apparently suffering from nervous exhaustion. Put on a strict diet, he grew reclusive and became harsh in his
dealings with his family. To his mother, with whom he had previously shared a warm relationship, he had written
from Germany that he would not accompany her on their customary summer vacation by the sea. Appearing at the
institute less frequently, he soon was scarcely leaving his home; the promising young physicist had become a hermit.
For nearly four years he shut himself off from friends and stopped publishing."
During these years, in which he published few articles, Majorana wrote many small works on several topics: from
Geophysics, to Electrical Engineering, from Mathematics to the Relativity. These unpublished papers, preserved in
Domus Galileiana in Pisa, recently have been edited by Erasmo Recami and Salvatore Esposito.
He became a full professor of theoretical physics at the University of Naples in 1937, without needing to take an
examination because of his "high fame of singular expertise reached in the field of theoretical physics",
independently of the competition rules.

Work on neutrino masses

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.

Disappearance at sea and suggested explanations

Majorana disappeared in unknown circumstances during a boat trip from Palermo to Naples. Despite several
investigations, his fate is still uncertain. His body has not been found. He had apparently withdrawn all of his money
from his bank account, prior to making a trip to Palermo. He may have travelled to Palermo hoping to visit his friend
Emilio Segr, a professor at the university there, but Segr was in California at that time. On March 25, 1938,
Majorana wrote a note to Antonio Carrelli, Director of the Naples Physics Institute, asking to be remembered to his
colleagues and saying that he had made an unavoidable decision and apologising for the inconvenience that his
disappearance would cause. This was followed rapidly by a telegram cancelling his earlier plans. He apparently
bought a ticket from Palermo to Naples and was never seen again.
Several possible explanations for his disappearance have been proposed, including:
Hypothesis of suicide, by his colleagues Amaldi, Segr and others
Hypothesis of escape to Argentina, by Erasmo Recami and Carlo Artemi (who has developed a detailed
hypothetical reconstruction of Majorana's possible escape and life in Argentina)
Hypothesis of escape to a monastery (Charterhouse of Serra San Bruno), by Sciascia
Hypothesis of kidnapping or killing, to avoid his participation in the construction of an atomic weapon, by Bella,
Bartocci, and others
Hypothesis of escape to become a beggar ("omu cani" or "dog man" hypothesis), by Bascone.

Ettore Majorana

The Sciascia hypothesis

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 some of Majorana's former colleagues, including E. Amaldi and E. Segr. 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.577588 (1975); English version
titled "New Evidence on the Disappearance of the Physicist Ettore Majorana", Scientia, vol. 110, p.589 ff. (1975)).
In the above-mentioned book and article, Recami discusses critically the various rival explanations concerning
Majorana's disappearance, including those advanced by Sciascia in his short book, and presents highly suggestive
evidence to the effect that Majorana travelled to Argentina, where he may have earned his living as an engineer.

Reopening of the case

On March, 2011, Italian media say Rome Attorney's office announced an inquiry into the statement made by a
witness about meeting with Majorana in Buenos Aires in the years after World War II. On June 7, 2011, Italian
media reported that the Carabinieri's RIS had analyzed a photograph of a man taken in Argentina in 1955, finding ten
points of similarity with Majorana's face.

Commemoration of Majorana's centenary

The year 2006 marked Majorana's centenary.
The International Conference on "Ettore Majorana's legacy and the Physics of the XXI century" EMC2006 [5] was
held in commemoration of the centennial of Majorana's birth in Catania October 56, 2006. The conference
Proceedings with articles of high ranked international scientists A. Bianconi, D. Brink, N. Cabibbo, R. Casalbuoni,
G. Dragoni, S. Esposito, E. Fiorini, M. Inguscio, R.W. Jackiw, L. Maiani, R. Mantegna, E. Migneco, R. Petronzio,
B. Preziosi, R. Pucci, E. Recami, and Antonino Zichichi have been published by POS Proceedings of Science of
SISSA Edited by Andrea Rapisarda (chairman), Paolo Castorina, Francesco Catara, Salvatore Lo Nigro, Emilio
Migneco, Francesco Porto, and Emanuele Rimini.
A commemorative book "Ettore Majorana Scientific Papers on the occasion of the centenary of the birth" [6] of his
(nine) collected papers, with commentary and English translations, was published by the Italian Physical Society.
To commemorate the centenary Electronic Journal of Theoretical Physics [7]' (EJTP) also published a special issue of
twenty articles dedicated to the modern development of Majorana's legacy.
The Electronic Journal of Theoretical Physics also established a prize in his memory to mark the centenary. The
"Majorana Medal [8]" or Majorana Prize is an annual prize for researchers who have shown peculiar creativity,
critical sense, and mathematical rigour in theoretical physics in its broadest sense. The recipients of the 2006
Majorana Prize were Erasmo Recami (University of Bergamo and INFN) and George Sudarshan (University of
Texas); of the 2007 Majorana Prize: Lee Smolin (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Canada), Eliano Pessa
(Centro Interdipartimentale di Scienze Cognitive, Universit di Pavia and Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universit di
Pavia Piazza Botta, Italy) and Marcello Cini (Dipartimento di Fisica, Universit La Sapienza, Roma, Italy).

Ettore Majorana

References
[1] Great Mysteries of the Past, Reader's Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York, 1991, pp. 69-72.
[2] Ettore Majorana: genius and mystery (http:/ / cerncourier. com/ cws/ article/ cern/ 29664), CERN courier.
[3] Amos, Jonathan, Majorana particle glimpsed in lab, BBC News, Science and Environment, April 12, 2012 (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ news/
science-environment-17695944)
[4] Great Mysteries of the Past, Reader's Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York, 1991, p. 71.
[5] http:/ / pos. sissa. it/ cgi-bin/ reader/ conf. cgi?confid=37
[6] http:/ / www. sif. it/ SIF/ en/ portal/ libri/ majorana
[7] http:/ / www. ejtp. com
[8] http:/ / www. majoranaprize. com/

Further reading
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.173187 (1968).
Majorana's collected papers, accompanied by English translations and commentaries, were published in Ettore
Majorana Scientific Papers on the occasion of the centenary of the birth (http://www.sif.it/SIF/en/portal/libri/
majorana).
Appunti inediti di Fisica teorica, Zanichelli, 2006. (Edited by E. Recami and S. Esposito)
Carlo Artemi, Il plano Majorana: una fuga perfetta ( The Majorana plan: a perfect escape), De Rocco press,
Rome, 2007.
E. Amaldi, Ricordo di Ettore Majorana, Giornale di fisica, 9, 1968.
E. Recami, Il caso Majorana, Di Renzo Editore, Roma, 2001.
I. Bascone, Tommaso l'omu cani amara e miserabile ipotesi sulla scomparsa di Ettore Majorana fisico siciliano
al tempo del fascismo, ed. Ananke, 1999.
I. Licata (ed), Majorana Legacy in Contemporary Physics, Di Renzo Editore, Roma, (2006).
L. Castellani, Dossier Majorana, Fratelli Fabbri, 1974 (edited again in 2006).
L. Sciascia, La scomparsa di Majorana, Adelphi ed., 1975.
S. Bella, Rivelazioni sulla scomparsa di uno scienziato : Ettore Majorana, Italia letteraria, 1975.
Esposito, S. (2008). "Ettore Majorana and his heritage seventy years later". Annalen der Physik 17 (5): 30218.
arXiv: 0803.3602 (http://arxiv.org/abs/0803.3602). Bibcode: 2008AnP...520..302E (http://adsabs.harvard.
edu/abs/2008AnP...520..302E). doi: 10.1002/andp.200810296 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/andp.
200810296).
S. Esposito, E. Recami, A. Van der Merwe: Ettore Majorana: Unpublished research notes on theoretical physics,
Fundamental Theories of Physics 159, Springer, 2009, 978-1-4020-9113-1, e-ISBN 978-1-4020-9114-8
Reader's Digest Association, Great Mysteries of the Past, Pleasantville, New York, 1991, ISBN 0-89577-377-5,
pp.6972.
U. Bartocci, La scomparsa di Majorana: un affare di stato?, ed. Andromeda, 1999.
J. Magueijo, A Brilliant Darkness, New York City, Basic Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-465-00903-9

Ettore Majorana

External links
"Ettore Majorana's legacy and the Physics of the XXI century" (http://pos.sissa.it/cgi-bin/reader/conf.
cgi?confid=37) in POS Proceedings of Science, SISSA Trieste
Ettore Majorana: genius and mystery (http://www.ccsem.infn.it/em/EM_genius_and_mystery.pdf), by
Antonino Zichichi.
CERN Courier: Ettore Majorana: genius and mystery (http://www.cerncourier.com/main/article/46/6/19)
(summary of the above link).
Ettore Majorana.eu homepage (http://www.ettoremajorana.eu/)
Ettore Majorana.it homepage (http://people.na.infn.it/~sesposit/MajoranaSite/index.html)
Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture (http://www.ccsem.infn.it/)
Majorana Legacy in Contemporary Physics (http://www.ejtp.com/)
Majorana Prize (http://www.majoranaprize.com/)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Ettore Majorana Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=625265648 Contributors: 83d40m, ABoerma, Aesopos, Agricola44, Akitstika, Alessandro57, AmosClecure, Asi013,
Asvaghosa, Attilios, AugPi, Bdushaw, Bender235, Bill Thayer, Carloartemi, Charles Clark, Chris Capoccia, Chris Howard, Colonies Chris, D6, Deb, Delusion23, Digitalme, Domino89,
Dorval28, Dugosz, Epinheiro, EugeneZelenko, Fabio.gastone, Falcon8765, Fibonacci, Foobaz, Forward Unto Dawn, Fragolino75, FrankEldonDixon, Gavia immer, Gianfranco, Giftlite,
Gnoldog, GregorB, HJ Mitchell, Headbomb, Hhhippo, Hmains, Hqb, Hydrargyrum, Icannothearyou, Ironboy11, JHobson2, Jascal, Jasondet, Jim1138, Jo3sampl, John Foley, KeithatET, Khazar2,
Khukri, Kwamikagami, Lagrange613, Lambiam, Lexi Marie, Magnus Manske, Marcuscalabresus, Matthew Fennell, Maurice Carbonaro, Michael C Price, Middayexpress, Milkfish, MistyMorn,
Modest Genius, Mokgen, Myasuda, Neko-chan, NellieBly, Nilmerg, Oleg Alexandrov, Omnipaedista, Orioane, PKT, Panairjdde, Pascal Boulerie, Pasteurizer, PeterDz, Picusanus, Pissipo,
Pjacobi, Pol098, ProfessorPaul, Psdoidge, QTxVi4bEMRbrNqOorWBV, QuarkyPi, R.sinib, RODERICKMOLASAR, RS1900, Reaverdrop, Reinyday, Rwflammang, SDC, Sam Hocevar,
Santuzzo, SebastianHelm, Simone, Skippy le Grand Gourou, Skysmith, Stefanomione, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, Tamfang, TheAmericanizator, Tjmayerinsf, Tom Lougheed, Velella,
Waacstats, Wbm1058, WolfmanSF, Zoe, 128 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Ettore_Majorana.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ettore_Majorana.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Cphide, Sporti
File:Majorana Equazinfcomp.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Majorana_Equazinfcomp.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Ettore Majorana, 1906-1938(?)

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