Quirino Majorana’s Experiments on the Speed of Light and Gravitational Absorption |
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Authors: | Giorgio Dragoni Giulio Maltese Luisa Atti |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Physics, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 46, 40126 Bologna, Italy;(2) Via Tiberio Imperatore, 65, 00145 Rome, Italy;(3) Via Malvolta, 7, 40137 Bologna, Italy |
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Abstract: | Quirino Majorana (1871–1957) was an outstanding Italian experimental physicist who investigated a wide range of phenomena
during his long career in Rome,Turin, and Bologna. We focus on his experiments in Turin during 1916–1921 and in Bologna during
1921–1934 to test the validity of Albert Einstein’s postulate on the constancy of the speed of light and to detect gravitational
absorption. These experiments required extraordinary skill, patience, and dedication, and all of them confirmed Einstein’s
postulate and Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation to high precision. Had they not done so, Majorana’s fame among historians
and physicists no doubt would be much greater than it is today.
Giorgio Dragoni is Professor of History of Physics at the University of Bologna. Giulio Maltese is a Roman member of the Italian
Society for the History of Physics and Astronomy. Luisa Atti is a Bolognese member of the Association for the Teaching of
Physics. |
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Keywords: | Quirino Majorana Ettore Majorana Albert Einstein Albert A Michelson Isaac Newton Henri Poincaré Henry Norris Russell Arthur S Eddington special theory of relativity speed of light universal gravitation gravitational absorption experimental physics |
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