Quirino Majorana

Quirino Majorana (1871-1957) was an outstanding Italian experimental physicist who investigated a wide range of phenomena during his long career as professor of physics at the Universities of Rome, Turin (1916-1921), and Bologna (1921-1934), Italy.

He performed a long series of very sensitive gravity shielding experiments from 1918 to 1922, which have never been reproduced. Marjorana's experiments determined that mercury or lead beneath a suspended lead sphere acted as a screen and slightly decreased the earth’s gravitational pull. No attempts have been made to reproduce his results using the same experimental techniques. Other researchers have concluded from other data that if gravitational absorption does exist it must be at least five orders of magnitude smaller than Majorana’s experiments suggest. [Roberto de Andrade Martins, [http://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~ghtc/ram-r68.htm The Search for Gravitational Absorption in the Early 20th Century] (1998).]

Critical of Albert Einstein's relativity theory, [Quirino Majorana, "On the Second Postulate of the Theory of Relativity: an Experimental Demonstration," " [http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v11/i5/p411_1 Physical Review] ", S2, V11, pp. 411-420 (1918).] [Quirino Majorana, "Experimental Demonstration of the Constancy of the Velocity of Light Emitted by a Moving Source," "Philosophical Magazine", S6, V37, pp. 145-150 (1919).] he tried to disprove Einstein’s postulate on the constancy of the speed of light, but he failed and therefore his experiments confirmed Einstein's postulate. Marjorana also confirmed Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation to high precision. [Giorgio Dragoni, Giulio Maltese, & Luisa Atti, "Quirino Majorana's Experiments on the Speed of Light and Gravitational Absorption," " [http://www.springerlink.com/content/t80280156981551u/ Physics in Perspective] ", V9, N3, pp. 281-304(24) (Sep 2007). doi: 10.1007/s00016-006-0304-4.] [Giorgio Dragoni, Giulio Maltese, & Luisa Atti, "Classical and Quantum Gravity", V24, N24, pp. 6219-6225(7) (21 Dec 2007).] [Giorgio Dragoni & Giulio Maltese, "Quirino Majorana's Research on Gravitational Absorption: A Case Study in the Misinterpreted Experiment Tradition," "Centaurus", V39, N2, pp. 141-187 (Apr 1997).]

His later work at Bologna was influenced by correspondence with his nephew Ettore Majorana (1906-1938), a great physicist in his own right. [Ettore Majorana, "Lezioni all'Università di Napoli", Bibliopolis, Napoli (1987).] [Giorgio Dragoni, [http://pos.sissa.it/archive/conferences/037/005/EMC2006_005.pdf Ettore Majorana as a Guide in Quirino Majorana's Experiments. Original Letters and Documents on an Experimental and Theoretical Collaboration] , "Proceedings of Science".]

References

Bibliography

* Quirino Majorana, "Su di un fenomeno fotoelettrico constabile con gli audion," "Rendiconti Accademia dei Lincei", V7, pp. 801-806 (1928).
* Quirino Majorana, "Azione della luce su sottili lamine metalliche," "La Ricerca Scientifica" National Research Council, V1 (1935).
* Quirino Majorana, "Agli albori dell'eletricità. Galvani e la scienza moderna," "Sapere", pp. 261-265 (Oct 1937).
* Quirino Majorana, "Ulteriori ricerche sull'azione della luce su sottili lamine metallische," "Il Nuovo Cimento", V15, pp. 573-593 (1938).

Persondata
NAME= Majorana, Quirino
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Physicist
DATE OF BIRTH= 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH= Italy
DATE OF DEATH= 1957
PLACE OF DEATH= Italy