Einstein's methodology, semivectors and the unification of electrons and protons
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Einstein's methodology, semivectors and the unification of electrons and protons
zbMATH Open document ID: 1065.01011
author: Jeroen van Dongen
published in: Archive for History of Exact Sciences
publication date: 2004-09-22T00:00:00Z
review text: This article on the historical development of Einstein's physics and related epistemology deals with the role that Einstein's methodological convictions played in his work on classical field theory. Starting with Einstein's Oxford lecture of June 1933 [\textit{On the Method of Theoretical Physics}. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1933; JFM 59.0066.04)], the author argues that according to Einstein fundamental principles of physics cannot be derived from experience, and that Einstein's strong emphasis on the creative merit of mathematics echoes his experiences with the formulation of the general theory of relativity. The central topic of the paper is Einstein's work on the Dirac equation and the so-called semivector, which was introduced by Einstein as a generalization of the spinors in Dirac's equation. As the four papers that Einstein published on semivectors between 1932 and 1934 were co-authored by Walther Mayer, the author gives some biographical information about this rather unknown collaborator and assistant of Einstein. Mayer, a Privatdozent from Vienna, had been brought to Einstein's attention by the Vienna mathematical physicist Richard von Mises, and as Einstein highly appreciated Mayer's contributions, he managed that Mayer obtained a position in Princeton where he died of cancer in 1948.
reviewed by: Andreas Kleinert
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A60
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81-03
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 83-03
zbMATH DE Number: 2102333
zbMATH Keywords: Dirac equation
zbMATH Keywords: epistemology
zbMATH Keywords: Walther Mayer
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: s00407-003-0074-1
OpenAlex ID: W2012169565
DOI: 10.1007/S00407-003-0074-1
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description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2102333