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Figure 2: Dirac (left) and Eliezer (center). Unidentified person is not me (regrettably). | Figure 3: This is me (2nd from right) and Eliezer (3rd from right). |
English physicist and Cambridge University professor Paul Dirac was an avid mountain climber and occasionally ascended such well-known peaks as Mount Elbruz in the Caucasus. In preparation for such excursions, Dirac would often climb trees in the hills just outside Cambridge - wearing the same black suit in which he was invariably seen around the university campus.
"It would be intriguing to explore whether this is about a miracle or it is the group-theoretical approach which leads to this formula."In 1995, Weinberg declared it to be:
"Absolutely chance coincidence."Even as recently as 2004, we find [13]:
"In truth, when adding the orbital and spin momenta, the values of j run from (lmin + 1/2) = 1/2 … (lmax + 1/2) = n − 1/2, so that 1 ≤ (j + 1/2) ≤ n. Because this spectrum coincides with that of the values of nφ—both varying from 1 to n—the numerical results of both theories are the same."For my part, I'm inclined to think Heisenberg is correct and that the Eliezer Paradox should be resolvable by purely algebraic means via dynamical symmetries [14]. The problem these days is, finding the time to pursue that inclination.