Quirino Francesco Valentino Majorana (28 October 1871 – 31 July 1957) was an Italian experimental physicist who investigated a wide range of phenomena during his long career as professor of physics at the Universities of Rome, the Polytechnic University of Turin (1916–1921), and the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

(1921–1934).

Work

Majorana performed a long series of very sensitive gravity shielding experiments from 1918 to 1922, which have never been reproduced. Majorana's experiments determined that mercury or lead around 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. Critical of

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

's relativity theory, Majorana tried to disprove Einstein’s postulate on the constancy of the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...

, but he failed, and therefore his experiments confirmed Einstein's postulate. Majorana also confirmed

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

’s law of

universal gravitation Newton's law of universal gravitation describes gravity as a force by stating that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that is Proportionality (mathematics)#Direct proportionality, proportional to the product ...

to high precision. His later work at the

was influenced by correspondence with his nephew Ettore Majorana (1906–1938), another physicist. In 1927, he was the organizer of the Como Conference, celebrating the centennial anniversary of the death of

Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (, ; ; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian chemist and physicist who was a pioneer of electricity and Power (physics), power, and is credited as the inventor of the electric battery a ...

References

Works

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). {{DEFAULTSORT:Majorana, Quirino 20th-century Italian physicists 1871 births 1957 deaths Academic staff of the University of Turin Academic staff of the University of Bologna Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Scientists from Sicily