# Myron Mathisson

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**Myron Mathisson** (4 December 1897 – 13 September 1940) was a [Polish](/source/Polish_people) [theoretical physicist](/source/Theoretical_physicist) who made early contributions to the theory of [general relativity](/source/General_relativity), particularly in the motion of spinning bodies and the analysis of [hyperbolic partial differential equations](/source/Hyperbolic_partial_differential_equations). His work on the equations of motion for extended bodies influenced later formulations such as the [Mathisson–Papapetrou–Dixon equations](/source/Mathisson%E2%80%93Papapetrou%E2%80%93Dixon_equations), and he made progress on aspects of the [Hadamard conjecture](/source/Hadamard_conjecture) in specific cases.[1]

## Life and work

### Education

Mathisson was born in [Warsaw](/source/Warsaw), 4 December 1897. In 1915, Mathisson completed his secondary education at a [philological gymnasium](/source/Gymnasium_(school)) in Warsaw, graduating with a gold medal, a distinction awarded for academic excellence. He began his studies at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the [Warsaw University of Technology](/source/Warsaw_University_of_Technology). Then, from 1917 he studied at the [University of Warsaw](/source/University_of_Warsaw) where he graduated in 1924 under the guidance of [Czesław Białobrzeski](/source/Czes%C5%82aw_Bia%C5%82obrzeski).[1]

### Military service

Between the years 1918–1919 he served in the military.

### Physics research

In 1930, earned his doctorate at the University of Warsaw on the work of *Sur le movement tournant d'un corps dans un champ de gravitation*, and began to live there in 1932. He became a professor at the [University of Kazan](/source/University_of_Kazan) in 1936. The following year, he returned to Warsaw. In the years 1937–1939, he worked at the [Jagiellonian University](/source/Jagiellonian_University), under [Jan Weyssenhoff](/source/Jan_Weyssenhoff_(physicist)).

Mathisson corresponded with [Albert Einstein](/source/Albert_Einstein) on theoretical aspects of relativity, as documented in archival correspondence. [Niels Bohr](/source/Niels_Bohr) invited him to [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen).[1] During his career he also interacted with [Jacques Hadamard](/source/Jacques_Hadamard) in Paris in 1939 and with [Paul Dirac](/source/Paul_Dirac) in Cambridge, England. Later, Dirac arranged for the posthumous publication of some of his work and wrote an obituary in *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))*.[2]

In chronological order; M. Mathisson,[3] [A. Papapetrou](/source/Achilles_Papapetrou),[4] and [W. G. Dixon](/source/William_Graham_Dixon)[5] contributed to the derivation of the equations for a spinning body moving in a [gravitational field](/source/Gravitational_field), now known as the [Mathisson–Papapetrou–Dixon equations](/source/Mathisson%E2%80%93Papapetrou%E2%80%93Dixon_equations).

### Other work

Due to financial difficulties, Mathisson had to work as a [Hebrew](/source/Hebrew) translator, as a [draftsman](/source/Draftsman) producing technical drawings, and engineering calculations of the [statics](/source/Statics) of reinforced concrete structures.[citation needed]

Mathisson died of [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis) in Cambridge, on 13 September 1940.

## Publications

During his short lifetime, he published the following 12 scientific papers:

- Mathisson, M. (1931). "Die Beharrungsgesetze in der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie" (in German). *[Zeitschrift für Physik](/source/Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_Physik)*. **67** (3–4): 270–277. [Bibcode:1931ZPhy...67..270M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1931ZPhy...67..270M). [doi:10.1007/BF01394605](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01394605). [S2CID 121043524](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:121043524)
- Mathisson, M. (1931). "Die Mechanik des Materieteilchens in der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie" (in German). *[Zeitschrift für Physik](/source/Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_Physik)*. **67** (11–12): 826–844. [Bibcode:1931ZPhy...67..826M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1931ZPhy...67..826M). [doi:10.1007/BF01390764](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01390764). [S2CID 120479236](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:120479236)
- Mathisson, M. (1931). "Bewegungsproblem in der Physik und Elektronenkonstanten" (in German). *[Zeitschrift für Physik](/source/Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_Physik)*. **69** (5–6): 389–408. [Bibcode:1931ZPhy...69..389M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1931ZPhy...69..389M). [doi:10.1007/BF01391361](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01391361). [S2CID 121158482](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:121158482)
- Mathisson, M. (1933). "Eine Lösungsmethode für Differentialgleichungen vom normalen hyperbolischen Typus" (in German). *[Mathematische Annalen](/source/Mathematische_Annalen)*. **107** (1): 400–419. [doi:10.1007/BF01448901](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01448901). [S2CID 122168307](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:122168307)
- Mathisson, M. (1933). "Eine neue Integrationsmethode für Differentialgleichungen von normalem hyperbolischem Typus" (in German). *[Mathematische Annalen](/source/Mathematische_Annalen)*. **107** (1): 648. [doi:10.1007/BF01448913](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01448913)
- Mathisson, M. (1934). ["Die Parametrixmethode in Anwendung auf hyperbolische Gleichungssysteme"](http://matwbn.icm.edu.pl/ksiazki/pmf/pmf41/pmf41117.pdf) (in German). *[Prace Matematyczno-Fizyczne](/source/Prace_Matematyczno-Fizyczne)*. **41** (1): 177–185.
- Mathisson, M. (1937). "Neue Mechanik materieller Systeme" (in German). *[Acta Physica Polonica](/source/Acta_Physica_Polonica)*. **6**: 163–209.
- Mathisson, M. (1937). "Das zitternde Elektron und seine Dynamik" (in German). *[Acta Physica Polonica](/source/Acta_Physica_Polonica)*. **6**: 218–224.
- Mathisson, M. (1939). "Le problème de M. Hadamard relatif à la diffusion des ondes" (in French). *[Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris](/source/Comptes_Rendus_de_l'Acad%C3%A9mie_des_Sciences_de_Paris)*. **208**: 1776–1778.
- Mathisson, M. (1939). "Le problème de M. Hadamard relatif à la diffusion des ondes" (in French). *[Acta Mathematica](/source/Acta_Mathematica)*. **71** (1): 249–282. [doi:10.1007/BF02547756](https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02547756)
- Mathisson, M.; Bielecki, A.; & Weyssenhoff, J. W. (1939). "Sur un théorème concernant une transformation d'intégrales quadruples en intégrales curvilignes dans l'espace de Riemann" (in French). *[Bulletin International de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences et Lettres de Cracovie, Classe des Sciences Mathématiques et Naturelles, Section A](/source/Bulletin_International_de_l'Acad%C3%A9mie_Polonaise_des_Sciences_et_Lettres_de_Cracovie)*
- Mathisson, M. (1940). "The variational equation of relativistic dynamics". *[Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society](/source/Mathematical_Proceedings_of_the_Cambridge_Philosophical_Society)*. **36** (3): 331–350. [Bibcode:1940PCPS...36..331M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1940PCPS...36..331M). [doi:10.1017/S0305004100017370](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305004100017370). [S2CID 122742158](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:122742158)
- Mathisson, M. (1942). "Relativistic dynamics of a spinning magnetic particle". *[Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society](/source/Mathematical_Proceedings_of_the_Cambridge_Philosophical_Society)*. **38** (1): 40–60. [Bibcode:1942PCPS...38...40M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1942PCPS...38...40M). [doi:10.1017/S0305004100022210](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305004100022210). [S2CID 122107717](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:122107717)

## See also

- [Józef Lubański](/source/J%C3%B3zef_Luba%C5%84ski)

## References

1. [Tilman Sauer](/source/Tilman_Sauer) & [Andrzej Trautman](/source/Andrzej_Trautman) (2008-02-21). "Myron Mathisson: what little we know of his life". [arXiv:0802.2971](https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.2971)

1. Dirac, P. A. M. (1940). "Dr. M. Mathisson". *[Nature](/source/Nature_(journal))*. **146** (3706): 613. [Bibcode:1940Natur.146..613D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1940Natur.146..613D). [doi:10.1038/146613b0](https://doi.org/10.1038/146613b0)

1. Mathisson, M. (1937). "Neue Mechanik materieller Systeme". *[Acta Physica Polonica](/source/Acta_Physica_Polonica)*. **6**: 163–209.

1. Papapetrou, A. (1951). "Spinning Test-Particles in General Relativity. I". *[Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A](/source/Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society_of_London_A)*. **209** (1097): 248–258. [Bibcode:1951RSPSA.209..248P](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1951RSPSA.209..248P). [doi:10.1098/rspa.1951.0200](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1951.0200). [S2CID 121464697](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:121464697)

1. Dixon, W. G. (1970). "Dynamics of Extended Bodies in General Relativity. I. Momentum and Angular Momentum". *[Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A](/source/Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society_of_London_A)*. **314** (1519): 499–527. [Bibcode:1970RSPSA.314..499D](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1970RSPSA.314..499D). [doi:10.1098/rspa.1970.0020](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1970.0020). [S2CID 119632715](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:119632715)

## Further reading

- Bartnik, E. A. ["A short history of Theoretical Physics at Hoza 69..."](http://info.fuw.edu.pl/~bartnik/hist.html). [Warsaw University](/source/Warsaw_University)
- Sauer, T. & Trautman, A. (2008). "Myron Mathisson: What little we know of his life". [arXiv:0802.2971](https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.2971)
- Eisenstaedt, J. & Kox, A. J. (1992). [*Studies in the History of General Relativity*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vDHCF_3vIhUC&pg=PA403). Vol. 3. Einstein Studies. [Springer](/source/Springer_(publisher)). p. 400. ISBN 978-0-817-634-797.

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