Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Ettore Majorana: a myth

I did not hear of his mysterious fate before, although I know a fermion bearing his name: majorana fermion, which now becomes a topical field in physics. He published only a few papers, but his genius cant be hidden, as Fermi put, "There 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, which are of capital importance for the development of science. But then there are the geniuses, like Galileo and Newton. Well, Ettore was one of these. Majorana had greater gifts than anyone else in the world; unfortunately he lacked one quality which other men generally have: plain common sense." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettore_Majorana]

Maybe in the rise of the fame of his fermion, there came a article in Review Of Modern Physics describing his life and his work. But this article mostly covers his contribution to auto-ionization. As a man immersed in physics, I cant help falling sad for his life. Such compassion is really very strong between true fellow workers.

Despite various investigations into his disappearance, what had occurred to him is still dubious. There are several guesses. His friends say he might commit suicide. Some hypothesized he had escaped to Argentina. Some say he had fleeted to a monastary. Even, some say he had become a beggar as an alighting. In those dark ages, anything might happen !

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