杰出的物理学家阿伯拉罕·派斯和他的物理学史著作

评述了阿伯拉罕·派斯的生平及其在理论物理学和物理学史上的贡献 ,介绍了他的著作InwardBound的新出版的中译本《基本粒子物理学史》 .     

Ettore Majorana’s Forgotten Publication on the Thomas-Fermi Model

We analyze the forgotten communication of Ettore Majorana (1906–1938?) on the Thomas-Fermi statistical model of the atom, which he presented on December 29, 1928, during the XXII General Meeting of the Italian Physical Society in Rome, and which was published in Il Nuovo Cimento, the Society’s journal, in 1929. His communication was not mentioned subsequently in any of the numerous publications of Enrico Fermi (1901–1954) and his group in Rome, nor in any of the later accounts of Majorana’s life and work. We place Majorana’s contribution within the context of contemporary research on the subject, point out its influence on the final formulation of the Thomas-Fermi statistical model by Fermi and Edoardo Amaldi (1908–1989) in 1934, and discuss Majorana’s other scientific contributions before his mysterious disappearance in 1938. Francesco Guerra is Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” His main fields of research are quantum-field theory, statistical mechanics of complex systems, and the history of nuclear physics. Nadia Robotti is Professor of History of Physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Genoa. Her main fields of research are the history of atomic physics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics.     

中外物理教育研究与发展的初步比较

教学期刊论文的情况是教学情况的一种反映．国内外的物理教育研究期刊分别为《物理教学》、《大学物理》、Physics Education，The Physics Teacher和American Journal of Physics．文章利用物理教学期刊论文，分别从论文的形式(前言、摘要和参考文献)和内容两方面对中国与国际的物理教育研究与发展开展了初步的比较研究，通过利用教育理论对统计资料的解释初步揭示了国内外物理教育研究的差距，为它们的进一步发展提供了启发性和指导性的建议．     

“It’s better to forget physics”: The Idea of the Tactical Nuclear Weapon in the Early Cold War

Physics in Perspective - The American physicist John Wheeler once told his colleague Richard Feynman that, in case of war, “it’s better to forget physics and tell the admirals and...     

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes: Master of Experimental Technique and Quantitative Research

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926), born a century and a half ago, was a major protagonist in the so-called Second Golden Age of Dutch Science. He devoted his career to the emerging field of low-temperature physics. His particular concern was to test the theories of his older compatriot Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837-1923) by creating a style of research that was characterized by meticulous planning, precise measurement, and constant improvement of techniques and instruments. He made numerous contributions to low-temperature physics, but I focus on his liquefaction of helium, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1913, and on his discovery of superconductivity. He became known internationally as le gentleman du zéro absolu.     

Poincaré’s Relativistic Physics: Its Origins and Nature

Henri Poincaré (1854–1912) developed a relativistic physics by elevating the empirical inability to detect absolute motion, or motion relative to the ether, to the principle of relativity, and its mathematics ensured that it would be compatible with that principle. Although Poincaré’s aim and theory were similar to those of Albert Einstein (1879–1955) in creating his special theory of relativity, Poincaré’s relativistic physics should not be seen as an attempt to achieve Einstein’s theory but as an independent endeavor. Poincaré was led to advance the principle of relativity as a consequence of his reflections on late nineteenth-century electrodynamics; of his conviction that physics should be formulated as a physics of principles; of his conventionalistic arguments on the nature of time and its measurement; and of his knowledge of the experimental failure to detect absolute motion. The nonrelativistic theory of electrodynamics of Hendrik A.Lorentz (1853–1928) of 1904 provided the means for Poincaré to elaborate a relativistic physics that embraced all known physical forces, including that of gravitation. Poincaré did not assume any dynamical explanation of the Lorentz transformation, which followed from the principle of relativity, and he did not seek to dismiss classical concepts, such as that of the ether, in his new relativistic physics. Shaul Katzir teaches in the Graduate Program in History and Philosophy of Science, Bar Ilan University.     

从脉冲激光到阿秒光源， 从光电效应到阿秒物理——解读2023年度诺贝尔物理学奖

2023年诺贝尔物理学奖授予超快激光科学和阿秒物理领域的三位科学家,以表彰他们在阿秒光脉冲的产生和应用上做出的卓越贡献。阿秒光脉冲的产生,使得人们可以在亚原子尺度上研究电子的超快运动,打开通向“电子世界”的大门。目前,基于阿秒光脉冲发展的阿秒光子/电子谱学已经成为物理、化学、生物等众多领域重要的研究手段。文章将简要介绍阿秒光脉冲的研究背景、产生、测量方法及其在电子超快动力学研究中的应用。     

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1913: The Highest Honor for the Lowest Temperatures

One century ago this year the Dutch experimental physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in low-temperature physics, in particular for his production of liquid helium. I trace the route to his Nobel Prize within the context of his and his colleagues’ research in his laboratory at the University of Leiden, and in light of his nominators and the nominations he received in the five years 1909–1913.     

Berkeley and Its Physics Heritage

I first sketch the settlement of Berkeley, California, the founding of the University of California at Berkeley, and the origin of its Department of Physics. I then discuss the pivotal role that Ernest O. Lawrence (1901–1958) and his invention and subsequent development of the cyclotron played in physics at Berkeley after his arrival there in 1928 through the Second World War and beyond. I close by commenting on the Lawrence Hall of Science, the educational center and science museum conceived as a living memorial to Lawrence.     

Knotting the MECO Network

The Conferences of the Middle European Cooperation in Statistical Physics (MECO) were created as an attempt to establish and maintain an exchange between scientists in the fields of statistical and condensed matter physics from Western and Eastern countries, overcoming the hurdles of the Iron Curtain. Based on personal remembrance and historical resources, the genesis and further development of MECO meetings is described. The annual meetings were interrupted in 1991 by the Yugoslav War but were re-established in 1993 and continue today. Although the fall of the Iron Curtain and the European Research programs changed the situation for the meetings considerably, the ties created by MECO still are useful to help scientific exchange. The history of European (and not only) statistical physics and the history of the MECO are tightly intertwined. It started in a time where an essential breakthrough has been achieved in statistical physics describing the features near phase transitions. In addition to the merging of solid-state physics and field theory concepts, the application of numerical methods (Monte Carlo methods) added a new pillar besides exact solutions and experiments to check theoretical models. In the following, the scientific emphasis (in general) has changed from the traditional fields of the first MECO to complexity and interdisciplinary themes as well.     

In Appreciation

Leslie Foldy’s diminutive stature and modest demeanor gave little clue to the powerful intellect responsible for several significant advances in theoretical physics.Two were particularly important. His 1945 theory of the multiple scattering of waves laid out the fundamentals that most modern theories have followed (and sometimes rediscovered), while his work with Siegfried Wouthuysen on the nonrelativistic limit of the Dirac equation opened the way to a wealth of valuable insights. In this article we recall some of the milestones along Foldy’s path through a life in physics. Some of the anecdotes we report here were related to one of the authors (PLT) just before an event in 2000 celebrating Foldy’s 80th birthday, while others were told to us over the course of the nearly forty years during which we were colleagues. Still others were uncovered during the course of WJF’s research for his book, Physics at a Research University: Case Western Reserve 1830–1990 (Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University, 2006). Other details were provided by Foldy’s widow, Roma. Philip L. Taylor is the Perkins Professor of Physics and Professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. William J. Fickinger is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Case Western Reserve University.     

Richard Gans: The First Quantum Physicist in Latin America

Richard Gans (1880–1954) was appointed Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute of Physics of the National University of La Plata,Argentina, in 1912 and published a series of papers on quantum physics between 1915 and 1918 that marked him as the first quantum physicist in Latin America. I set Gans’s work within the context of his education and career in Germany prior to 1912 and his life and work in Argentina until 1925, as well as the foundation of the Institute of Physics of the National University of La Plata in 1906–1909 and its subsequent development by Emil Bose (1874–1911). I conclude by commenting on Gans’s life after he returned to Germany in 1925 and then immigrated once again to Argentina in 1947.     

海森伯与中国物理学界

著名物理学家海森伯曾于1929年访华,旋即被聘为中央研究院物理所名誉研究员,成为中国近代物理学史上第一个获此荣誉的外籍学者.文章对他来华的具体时间作出推断,述及其与早期中国物理学界某些人士的因缘.     

海森伯与中国物理学界

著名物理学家海森伯曾于1929年访华,旋即被聘为中央研究院物理所名誉研究员,成为中国近代物理学史上第一个获此荣誉的外籍学者.文章对他来华的具体时间作出推断,述及其与早期中国物理学界某些人士的因缘.     

希格斯玻色子发现简史

希格斯玻色子于2012年的发现是粒子物理发展史上的一座里程碑。它为标准模型补上了最后一块拼图,希格斯机制的提出者们也因此获得了2013年的诺贝尔物理学奖。在希格斯玻色子发现十周年之际,文章将带领读者简短回顾希格斯玻色子从提出到发现的近半个世纪的历史。     

Stochastic resonance in perspective

Summary We outline the historical development of stochastic resonance (SR), a phenomenon in which the signal and/or the signal-to-noise ratio in a nonlinear system increase with increasing intensity of noise. We discuss basic theoretical ideas explaining and describing SR, and we review some revealing experimental data that place SR within the wider context of statistical physics. We emphasize the close relationship of SR to some effects that are well known in condensed-matter physics. Paper presented at the International Workshop ?Fluctuations in Physics and Biology: Stochastic Resonance, Signal Processing and Related Phenomena?, Elba, 5–10 June 1994.     

In Appreciation Julian Schwinger: From Nuclear Physics and Quantum Electrodynamics to Source Theory and Beyond

Julian Schwinger’s influence on twentieth-century science is profound and pervasive. He is most famous for his renormalization theory of quantum electrodynamics, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1965 with Richard Feynman and Sin-itiro Tomonaga. This triumph undoubtedly was his most heroic work, but his legacy lives on chiefly through subtle and elegant work in classical electrodynamics, quantum variational principles, proper-time methods, quantum anomalies, dynamical mass generation, partial symmetry, and much more. Starting as just a boy, he rapidly became one of the preeminent nuclear physicists in the world in the late 1930s, led the theoretical development of radar technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during World War II, and soon after the war conquered quantum electrodynamics, becoming the leading quantum-field theorist for two decades, before taking a more iconoclastic route during the last quarter century of his life.     

观测宇宙的新窗口--2002年度诺贝尔物理学奖介绍

文章介绍了2002年诺贝尔物理学奖获得者贾科尼对X射线天文学的开创性贡献，特别介绍了贾科尼等在开拓空间观测和发展x射线成像技术这两个方面的工作．文章通过x射线天文学的诞生、X射线天文卫星的发展介绍了X射线的空间观测对天体物理学的影响，对宇宙暗物质、双星中的吸积过程和X射线喷流现象等进行了简单介绍，并对高能天体物理学的发展给出了概略的描述．     

In memoriam Yurii Fedorovich Smirnov: Some personal reminiscences on a great physicist

Yurii Fedorovich Smirnov (1935–2008) was a famous theoretical physicist. He achieved his career mainly at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow. These notes describe some particular facets of the contributions of the late Professor Smirnov in theoretical physics and mathematical physics. They also relate some personal reminiscences on Yurii Smirnov in connection with some of his numerous works.     

Ettore Majorana and his heritage seventy years later

The physicists working in several areas of research know quite well the name of Ettore Majorana, since it is currently associated to fundamental concepts like Majorana neutrinos in particle physics and cosmology or Majorana fermions in condensed matter physics. But, probably, very few is known about other substantial contributions of that ingenious scholar, and even less about his personal background. For non specialists, instead, the name of Ettore Majorana is usually intimately related to the fact that he disappeared rather mysteriously on March 26, 1938, just seventy years ago, and was never seen again. The life and the work of this Italian scientist is the object of the present review, which will also offer a summary of the main results achieved in recent times by the historical and scientific researches on his work.