Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 0709.3537

L'articolo di Ettore Majorana su "Il valore delle Leggi Statistiche nella Fisica e nelle Scienze Sociali" (Ettore Majorana's article on "The value of Statistical Laws in Physics and in Social Sciences")

Erasmo Recami
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The mentioned article was written by Ettore Majorana, in a partially educational way, for a journal of Sociology; but he gave up publishing it (and threw it away). It appeared posthumous, thanks to Giovanni Gentile Jr. (the inventor of "parastatistics") in "Scientia" 36 (1942) 58-66. It has not been re-published, in Italian, till the beginning of 2006, when we made known some abridgements of it by Italian newspapers and by the journal "Fisica in Medicina". We don't know when was it written: perhaps in 1930. However, its central theme was still alive in Majorana's mind in 1934: in fact, on July 27, 1934, he will write to G.Gentile Jr. to expect that < >. Here, in Part I, we present a suitable reduction, edited by us, of Majorana's article; while in Part II we add a complete transcription of it. [Since the paper which appeared in "Scientia" contains some errors in the interpretation of Majorana's handwriting, the present versions have been very slightly "corrected" by us]. For the translations into English of Majorana's paper, see Refs.[5,6] below. A more extended Summary (in English, besides in Italian) can be found at the beginning of the present e-print. The interested reader can found all the known biographical documents --apart from the ones discovered during the last two years-- in the book by E.Recami, "Il Caso Majorana: Epistolario, Testimonianze, Documenti" (Mondadori, Milan, 1987 and 1991; Di Renzo Editore, Rome, 2000 and 2002); and in the e-prints arXiv:physics/9810023v4 [physics.hist-ph]; arXiv:0708.2855v1 [physics.hist-ph]; and arXiv:0709.1183 [physics.hist-ph].

Explore related subjects

physics.hist-phphysics.soc-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Erasmo Recami. 2007-09-21. L'articolo di Ettore Majorana su "Il valore delle Leggi Statistiche nella Fisica e nelle Scienze Sociali" (Ettore Majorana's article on "The value of Statistical Laws in Physics and in Social Sciences"). https://arxiv.org/abs/0709.3537

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Relational Observables and Physical Perspectivalism in General Relativity: The View from Nowhere vs. The View from Everywhere

In General Relativity, relational constructions yield gauge-invariant Dirac observables by expressing physical fields relative to reference frames. This leaves open how the physical situations represented in different frames should be understood. I articulate two ontological interpretations within a common fibre-bundle framework, distinguishing \emph{frame-independence} from \emph{frame-freedom} to clarify appeals to perspective-neutrality. The \emph{View from Nowhere} treats the situations characterised by relational observables as partial aspects of a shared physical situation represented by a frame-free gauge-equivalence class. The \emph{View from Everywhere} takes each relational observable to characterise a comprehensive physical situation in its own right, without commitment to a shared frame-free reality. They articulate a qualified realisation of moderate and strong physical perspectivalism within GR, respectively. Using two GPS reference frames as a working example, I show that a physically constrained, frame-independent inter-frame map supplies a constructive counterexample to the claim that connecting perspectives requires frame-free structures in the ontology. The choice between the two interpretations remains open, with their ontological commitments made explicit. I conclude by outlining possible implications for quantum reference frames and relational quantum mechanics.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2026

What is Physics For? Why Classical Physics is not the Limit of Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics is justifiably held to be the most successful physical theory ever created; yet no universally accepted interpretation of its mathematical formalism exists after a century of debate. We examine the specific claim that classical physics stands as the low-action limit of quantum mechanics, arguing that the deep interpretive difficulties exposed by the quantum formalism, the measurement problem, the subject-object divide, and the nature of scientific representation, were already latent in classical physics, constituting what we call a blind spot of objectivity. Taking quantum theory as an invitation to re-examine the implicit metaphysical commitments bundled with 'classical physics', we explore two key issues-the objective/subjective split and the nature of theoretical representation-and argue that quantum mechanics does not represent a break with classical physics per se but rather brings previously unacknowledged philosophical assumptions into the limelight. We discuss the London-Bauer interpretation and QBism as exemplars of interpretations that embrace this broader reconceptualisation.

physics.hist-ph↗
arXiv2026

From Mass to Energy-Momentum: The Field-Theoretic Perspective on the Energy-Mass Relation

The paper examines the energy-mass relation of Special Relativity (SR), its status and interpretation, through the lens of classical/non-quantum relativistic field theory. The latter arguably constitutes the fullest embodiment of SR as what Einstein labelled a "principle theory". It forms, we propose, the most appropriate perspective also for understanding the energy-mass relation. In a field-theoretic setting, the key notion is a system's energy-momentum (in local/differential or global/integral form, defined via a suitable energy-stress complex). The energy-mass relation then expresses the role that a system's _rest_-energy (provided it exists) plays as the functional counterpart of mass: thanks to important theorems, rest-energy qualifies as its field-theoretic generalisation or successor term. That is, while mass is dispensed with as a fundamental notion, rest-energy retains some---but not all---of its salient functional roles; for special cases, it turns out to be directly correlated with mass. In field theory as a general framework for more specific relativistic theories, energy-momentum replaces mass as the essential notion---a profound, yet often overlooked revision in basic physical concepts. Conservation in particular is guaranteed only for energy-momentum, but no longer for mass. In several regards, energy-momentum fuses energy, momentum and mass, with novel connections amongst them and concomitant physical effects. Situating the energy-mass relation within field theory is a surprisingly neglected, but deeply insightful vista for clarifying and philosophically reflecting on SR's foundations. The field-theoretic interpretation achieves a compelling inner coherence and unifying power, and ties it to the rich heuristic resources of field theory, crucial for post-1905 developments in physics.

physics.hist-ph↗