7 papers
Defining Absence: The Origin of "Neutrinoless" and How it Obscures the Physics of Matter Creation
Francesco Vissani
The term 'neutrinoless' is a cornerstone of modern particle physics, yet it defines a fundamental process by what is missing rather than what is created. We trace the origins of th…
From Hole Theory to Quantum Field Theory: Relativistic Fermions and the Role of Ettore Majorana (1933-1937)
Francesco Vissani
Between 1933 and 1937, the treatment of relativistic spin-1/2 particles, initially rooted in Hole theory, evolved into the modern framework of quantum field theory. This paper reco…
Insights from the History for Teaching Antimatter
Francesco Vissani
The concept of antimatter is extremely important, but not always discussed as it deserves, balancing ideas and formalism. In this note, we gather some insights to present it effect…
Neutrinos: Opening new doors
Francesco Vissani
In this contribution, which introduces the "Crossing the Portal" session of the NOW 2024 meeting, I discuss the value of the concepts of interdisciplinarity and innovation for neut…
Majorana and the bridge between matter and anti-matter
Francesco Vissani
This short essay aims to offer a discursive presentation of three scientific articles by Ettore Majorana highlighting the fundamental importance of one of them - the last one - for…
1930-1937: the first -rays and neutrino theories
Francesco Vissani
The conceptual bases of Fermi's -ray theory (at its 90th anniversary) are examined, highlighting the innovative drive and inspirational role for the progress that followed just…
First steps towards understanding neutrinos
Francesco Vissani
We retrace the first steps towards understanding neutrinos, particles predicted by Pauli in 1930 to avoid a supposed violation of time-translation symmetry. Despite the tendency to…