Berlin 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 6: History and Philosophy of Physics

AGPhil 6.1: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 28. März 2012, 14:30–15:15, H 2033

Majorana's oscillator and the philosophy of neutrino physics — •Silvia De Bianchi — Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy

The aim of this paper is to claim the relevance of a philosophical understanding of neutrino physics, which deserves careful analysis in its historical development. In this paper I shall investigate the origin of Majorana's oscillator, which B. Touschek suggested to investigate for its consequences in dealing with energy spectra. The equation implied in Majorana theory of neutrino has not yet been object of extensive studies, so that its meaning and consequences are far to be understood.

In what follows, I start throwing some light on it, by exploring the background from which E. Majorana advanced his theory. I shall refer to H. Weyl's foundations of Quantum Mechanics and to the method of second quantization applied to the Maxwell-Dirac field equation. Majorana's theory appears to be ascribed to Weyl's treatment of the dynamical problem of quantum physical systems in his Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics. Weyl's non-linear solution derives from a specific condition that presupposed the application of a variational principle slightly different from Dirac's. I shall explore the reasons why both Weyl and Majorana criticized Dirac's use of positive and negative energy states in dealing with neutral particles.

Conclusively, I shall present further possible research topics concerning: 1. Weyl's reflections on positive and negative transitions of the elettromagnetic field. 2. Majorana's spinor as a specification of Weyl's spinor. 3. The implications of 1. and 2. for the philosophy of space and time.