Revisiting the Majorana Relativistic Theory of Particles with Arbitrary Spin

Abstract

In 1932 Ettore Majorana published an article proving that relativity allows any value for the spin of a quantum particle and that there is no privilege for the spin ½. The Majorana idea was so innovative for the time that the scientific community understood its importance only towards the end of the thirties. This paper aims to highlight the depth of the scientific thought of Majorana that, well in advance of its time, opened the way for modern particle physics and introduced for the first time the idea of a universal quantum equation, able to explain the behavior of particles with arbitrary spin and of any nature (bradions and tachyons), regardless the value of their speed. It will be analyzed in detail and made explicit all the steps that lead to the physical-mathematical formulation of the Majorana’s theory. A part of these steps require basic knowledge of quantum physics but not for this should be regarded as trivial since they show the physical meaning hidden into the structure of the equation. Moreover, the explicit method for the construction of the infinite matrices will be given, by which the infinite components of the wave functions representing the fundamental and excited states of the particle are calculated.

Keywords: Quantum mechanics, particle physics, special relativity Lie group, tachyon