Pauli effect
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The Pauli effect is a reference to the apparently mysterious failure of technical equipment in the presence of certain people. It is named after the Austrian theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli.
The Pauli effect is not to be confused with the Pauli exclusion principle, which is a bona fide physical phenomenon.
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[edit] History
Since the 20th century, the work of physics research has been divided between theorists and experimentalists (see scientific method). Only a few physicists, such as Fermi, have been successful in both roles. Lacking skill and experience in experimental work, many theorists have earned a reputation for accidentally breaking experimental equipment. Pauli was exceptional in this regard: it was said that he was such a good theorist that any experiments would self-destruct simply because he was in the vicinity. For fear of the Pauli effect, the experimental physicist Otto Stern banned Pauli from his laboratory in Hamburg despite their friendship.
An incident occurred in the physics laboratory at the University of Göttingen. An expensive measuring device, for no apparent reason, suddenly stopped working, although Pauli was in fact absent. James Franck, the director of the institute reported the incident to his colleague Pauli in Zürich with the humorous remark that at least this time Pauli was innocent. However, it turned out that Pauli on the way from Copenhagen to Zürich had had a short stop at Göttingen rail station waiting for a train connection at about the time of failure.
The Pauli effect, if it were real, would be classified as a "macro-psychokinetic" phenomenon. Wolfgang Pauli, however, was (according to his biographer Enz) convinced that the effect named after him was real — Markus Fierz, a close colleague, says "Pauli himself thoroughly believed in his effect".[1] As Pauli considered parapsychology as worth serious investigation, this would fit with his scientific thinking. In February 1950, when he was at Princeton University, the cyclotron burnt, and he asked himself if this mischief belonged to such a Pauli effect, named after him.[2]
The Pauli effect at the foundation of the C.G. Jung Institute, Zürich 1948, caused Pauli to write his article "Background-Physics", in which he tries to find complementary relationships between physics and depth psychology.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Enz (2002), p. 150.
- ^ Pauli, Wolfgang; et al (1996). Wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel mit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, u.a.. vol. 4/I. ed. Karl von Meyenn. Berlin: Springer. pp. 37. ISBN 3540594426. OCLC 36847539.
- ^ Pauli, Wolfgang; Jung, C G (2001). Atom and Archetype: the Pauli/Jung Letters, 1932-1958. ed. C.A. Meier. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 179–196. ISBN 0691012075. OCLC 45757717.
[edit] Sources
- Enz, Charles P (2002). No Time to be Brief: A Scientific Biography of Wolfgang Pauli. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198564791. OCLC 48753063.
