Ettore Majorana
Italian physicist (born 1906)
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Key Takeaways
- Ettore Majorana ( MY -ə- RAH -nə , Italian: [ˈɛttore majoˈraːna] ; 5 August 1906 – disappeared 25 March 1938) was an Italian theoretical physicist who worked on neutrino masses.
- He disappeared under mysterious circumstances after purchasing a ticket to travel by ship from Palermo to Naples.
- In 2006, the Majorana Prize was established in his memory.
- Then there is the first rank, those who make important discoveries, fundamental to scientific progress.
- Majorana was one of these.
Ettore Majorana ( MY-ə-RAH-nə, Italian: [ˈɛttore majoˈraːna]; 5 August 1906 – disappeared 25 March 1938) was an Italian theoretical physicist who worked on neutrino masses. Majorana was a supporter of Italian fascism and a member of the National Fascist Party. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances after purchasing a ticket to travel by ship from Palermo to Naples.
The Majorana equation, Majorana fermions, and Microsoft's device attempting to create topological qubits, Majorana 1, are named after him. In 2006, the Majorana Prize was established in his memory.
In 1938, Enrico Fermi was quoted as saying about Majorana: "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."
Life and work
Early and personal life
Majorana was born in Catania, Sicily. Majorana's uncle Quirino Majorana was also a physicist. Mathematically gifted, Majorana began his university studies in engineering in 1923, but switched to physics in 1928 at the urging of Emilio Segrè. 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.
Majorana was an enthusiastic and devout Catholic.
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