ASIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS

This paper reviews studies relating to asteroids conducted by Japanese researchers after the discovery of asteroid families by Kiyotsugu Hirayama in 1918. But the concept and importance of asteroid families were not immediately recognized by the international astronomical community. Thereafter, eminent researches on asteroid dynamics based on secular perturbation theories appeared in Japan after World War II, as represented by the Kozai mechanism (1962), influenced by Hirayama’s monumental discovery. A pioneering work on the physical properties of asteroids was published in 1959, but has not been pursued further. This study compared the colors of 42 asteroids with the reflectance spectra of several meteorites measured in the laboratory. Modern impact experiments initiated by Fujiwara in 1975 have soon grown into an important technique to investigate the origin of asteroid families and craters seen on the surfaces of airless celestial bodies. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, founded in Japan in 1981, has played a vital role in space exploration studies and planetary sciences using spacecraft. The unique achievements of Hayabusa, an asteroid sample return mission, remain as a highlight of asteroid studies. The physical properties of asteroids have been further elucidated by analyses of numerous Antarctic meteorites, chiefly discovered by Japanese Antarctic exploration teams from 1969 to 1980s. Finally, as a recent topic from telescopic observations of asteroids, we report results on the statistical nature of very small asteroids (< 1 km diameter) in the main asteroid belt-that had not been previously explored-. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

Total Refs : 78

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During the fifty-year span considered in this review, the first four asteroids – like a character actor who has been in many stage performances – played numerous roles. Variously applauded and booed by their theological audience, they achieved centre stage in the great drama of an exploding planet that supposedly existed between Mars and Jupiter. Singularly unable to offer an explanation as to how a planet could explode based on the principles of physics, they resorted to the same ploy used by ancient Greek dramatists to explain the unexplainable – the deux ex machina, or, in this case, the Christian God.  This paper, which focuses on English-language literature, is the first to explore this aspect of early nineteenth century asteroid studies. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

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During some thirty years, 1980-2010, technical studies of optical interferometry from instruments in space were pursued as promising for higher spatial resolution and for higher astrometric accuracy. Nulling interferometry was studied for both high spatial resolution and high contrast. These studies were great dreams deserving further historical attention. ESA’s interest in interferometry began in the early 1980s. The studies of optical interferometry for the global astrometry mission GAIA began in 1993 and ended in 1998 when interferometry was dropped as unsuited for the purpose, and the Gaia mission to be launched in 2013 is not based on interferometry. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

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If the universe is infinite now it has always been infinite. This is the opinion of many astronomers today as can be concluded from the following series of interviews, but the opinions differ much more than I had expected. Many astronomers do not have a clear opinion on this matter. Others have a clear opinion, but very different from the majority. Detailed arguments by two experts on general relativity are also included. Observations show that the universe is flat, i.e. the curvature is zero within the small uncertainty of measurements. This implies an infinite universe, though most probably we will never know that for certain. For comparison with the recent interviews, opinions during the past 2300 years since Aristotle about the universe being finite or infinite have been collected from literature, and it appears that the scientists often had quite definite opinions. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                Vol. 23, No. 1 & 2 (2014) 241-256

The quantum revolution and quantum chemistry

Sam Schweber¹ and Gal Ben Porat²

¹Department of Physics, Brandeis University and Department of the History of Science,Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States and

²Department of Physics, Tel Aviv University, Israel