Ruggero Santilli
Encyclopedia
Ruggero Maria Santilli is an Italian
-American
physicist
and a proponent of ideas, some of which have been called fringe scientific theories
.
, in the Italian
region of Molise
. Santilli studied physics at the University of Naples and went on to attend the Graduate School in Physics of the University of Turin
, graduating in 1966. While studying for his Phd Santilli was granted the Chair in Nuclear Physics at the Avogardo Technical Institute in Turin, Italy. In 1967 he was invited by the University of Miami
to conduct research under NASA
financial support. Starting in 1968, Santilli was an Associate Professor of Physics at Boston University
, teaching physics and mathematics and conducted research for the United States Air Force
. During this time, he became a naturalized American citizen. In August 1974 to August 1977 Santilli was a visiting scholar at the Center for Theoretical Physics
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. From September 1977 to August 1981 was a visiting scholar at the Department of Mathematics Harvard University
under Department of Energy funding jointly with Shlomo Sternberg
. In September 1981 Santilli established and became the President of the Institute for Basic Research
. Santilli is now Chariman of the Board, CEO, and Chief Scientist of MagneGas Corporation.
named after the composite particle hadron
, which is not generally accepted by the physics
community. Santilli, a voluminous writer, has published hundreds of papers and a number of books on this and related subjects, including applications to chemistry, superconductivity, biology, and cosmology.
Most of his work on this theory has been published in Hadronic Journal, a journal of which Santilli himself is the founder and chief editor. Santilli has also established the journals Hadronic Journal Supplement and Algebras, Groups and Geometries, in which he publishes papers by himself and others. These journals are published by Hadronic Press, a firm of which Santilli's spouse Carla Santilli is the sole officer/director.
They are produced by plasma arc gasification of liquid waste.
Santilli claims that these fuels are composed of magnecules.
These hypothetical magnecules are a type of theoretical chemical species
proposed by Santilli, distinguished from better-known species by containing a novel type of bond called a "magnecular bond", which he claims consists of atoms held together by magnetic field
s which arise from toroidal
polarization of their electron orbital
s.
Neither these claims nor the existence of magnecules have been accepted by the scientific community.
This paper by Santilli claims (e.g. on its p. 21) that many types of magnecules have been identified.
. The name comes from the supposed chemical structure (H × H)–O, where “×” represents a "magnecular bond" and “−” a conventional molecular bond. This has subsequently been adopted by water-fueled car scams and pseudoscience
involving electrolysis machines and water torches. It is claimed that these devices produce HHO gas, with a number of unique properties, instead of the usual oxyhydrogen
gas, which is simply a mixture of diatomic hydrogen
and oxygen
gases.
In 2006, J.M. Calo, an engineer at Brown
, wrote in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
that Santilli's article had "many serious misinterpretations, and misunderstandings of the 'data' presented," and that Santilli had not provided scientific evidence to support HHO gas's existence. Two scientists, Martin Cloonan and J. V. Kadeisvili have published replies to Calo's article, in support of Santilli's "HHO Gas" theory.
conspired, while he was at Harvard, to stop him from conducting research which might have led to the inapplicability of part of Einstein's theory of relativity.
, to force them to cite his work, and suing the arXiv
preprint server.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and a proponent of ideas, some of which have been called fringe scientific theories
Fringe science
Fringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
.
Biography
Ruggero Maria Santilli was born in CapracottaCapracotta
Capracotta is a comune in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise, located about 45 km northwest of Campobasso and about 25 km north of Isernia...
, in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
region of Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
. Santilli studied physics at the University of Naples and went on to attend the Graduate School in Physics of the University of Turin
University of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
, graduating in 1966. While studying for his Phd Santilli was granted the Chair in Nuclear Physics at the Avogardo Technical Institute in Turin, Italy. In 1967 he was invited by the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
to conduct research under NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
financial support. Starting in 1968, Santilli was an Associate Professor of Physics at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, teaching physics and mathematics and conducted research for the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. During this time, he became a naturalized American citizen. In August 1974 to August 1977 Santilli was a visiting scholar at the Center for Theoretical Physics
MIT Center for Theoretical Physics
MIT Center for Theoretical Physics is a subdivision of MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science and Department of Physics. Current research areas in the center include particle physics, string theory, nuclear physics, lattice QCD, cosmology and quantum computing...
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. From September 1977 to August 1981 was a visiting scholar at the Department of Mathematics Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
under Department of Energy funding jointly with Shlomo Sternberg
Shlomo Sternberg
Shlomo Zvi Sternberg is a leading mathematician, known for his work in geometry, particularly symplectic geometry and the differential geometry of G-structures....
. In September 1981 Santilli established and became the President of the Institute for Basic Research
Institute for Basic Research
Institute for Basic Research is an international non-profit academic institution established in the United States in 1981 by Ruggero Santilli, who retains the role of president. His wife Carla and daughter Luisa are the only other directors of IBR.-History:Institute for Basic Research was...
. Santilli is now Chariman of the Board, CEO, and Chief Scientist of MagneGas Corporation.
Hadronic mechanics and hadronic chemistry
Although Santilli has published papers in the mainstream scientific literature, a large amount of his work has dealt with his so-called hadronic mechanics, a novel fundamental theory of the universeTheory of everything
A theory of everything is a putative theory of theoretical physics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena, and predicts the outcome of any experiment that could be carried out in principle....
named after the composite particle hadron
Hadron
In particle physics, a hadron is a composite particle made of quarks held together by the strong force...
, which is not generally accepted by the physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
community. Santilli, a voluminous writer, has published hundreds of papers and a number of books on this and related subjects, including applications to chemistry, superconductivity, biology, and cosmology.
Most of his work on this theory has been published in Hadronic Journal, a journal of which Santilli himself is the founder and chief editor. Santilli has also established the journals Hadronic Journal Supplement and Algebras, Groups and Geometries, in which he publishes papers by himself and others. These journals are published by Hadronic Press, a firm of which Santilli's spouse Carla Santilli is the sole officer/director.
Magnecule theory
Santilli claims to have developed novel fuels, named "MagneGas" and "MagneHydrogen".They are produced by plasma arc gasification of liquid waste.
Santilli claims that these fuels are composed of magnecules.
These hypothetical magnecules are a type of theoretical chemical species
Chemical species
Chemical species are atoms, molecules, molecular fragments, ions, etc., being subjected to a chemical process or to a measurement. Generally, a chemical species can be defined as an ensemble of chemically identical molecular entities that can explore the same set of molecular energy levels on a...
proposed by Santilli, distinguished from better-known species by containing a novel type of bond called a "magnecular bond", which he claims consists of atoms held together by magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
s which arise from toroidal
Toroidal
Toroidal describes something which resembles or relates to a torus or toroid:*Torus*Toroid, a doughnut-shaped object which resembles a torus*Toroidal inductors and transformers, a type of electrical device...
polarization of their electron orbital
Electron orbital
An electron orbital may refer to:* An atomic orbital, describing the behaviour of an electron in an atom* A molecular orbital, describing the behaviour of an electron in a molecule- See also :...
s.
Neither these claims nor the existence of magnecules have been accepted by the scientific community.
This paper by Santilli claims (e.g. on its p. 21) that many types of magnecules have been identified.
HHO gas
Magnecules have also been invoked as an explanation for a purported "HHO gas", which Santilli claims is "a new form of water" produced by electrolysisElectrolysis of water
Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas due to an electric current being passed through the water.-Principle:...
. The name comes from the supposed chemical structure (H × H)–O, where “×” represents a "magnecular bond" and “−” a conventional molecular bond. This has subsequently been adopted by water-fueled car scams and pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
involving electrolysis machines and water torches. It is claimed that these devices produce HHO gas, with a number of unique properties, instead of the usual oxyhydrogen
Oxyhydrogen
Oxyhydrogen is a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gases, typically in a 2:1 molar ratio, the same proportion as water. This gaseous mixture is used for torches for the processing of refractory materials and was the first gaseous mixture used for welding...
gas, which is simply a mixture of diatomic hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
and oxygen
Oxygen
Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
gases.
In 2006, J.M. Calo, an engineer at Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, wrote in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
The International Journal of Hydrogen Energy is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published for the International Association for Hydrogen Energy by Elsevier. It covers all aspects of hydrogen generation and storage....
that Santilli's article had "many serious misinterpretations, and misunderstandings of the 'data' presented," and that Santilli had not provided scientific evidence to support HHO gas's existence. Two scientists, Martin Cloonan and J. V. Kadeisvili have published replies to Calo's article, in support of Santilli's "HHO Gas" theory.
Scientific paradigms and conspiracies
In his book Il Grande Grido: Ethical Probe on Einstein's Followers in the U.S.A, an Insiders View, Santilli claims that in many institutions there is an effective conspiracy to suppress or not investigate novel theories which may conflict with established scientific theories, such as Einstein's theory of relativity. Institutions receive funding and have established entire departments dedicated to long established theories, and so he argues that these same institutions are ill equipped to challenge their own scientific paradigms with new theories. Santilli claimed that a number of scientists, including Nobel Laureates Sheldon Glashow and Steven WeinbergSteven Weinberg
Steven Weinberg is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles....
conspired, while he was at Harvard, to stop him from conducting research which might have led to the inapplicability of part of Einstein's theory of relativity.
Lawsuits
Santilli has filed a number of lawsuits related to his scientific ideas. These include suing several journals, including Infinite EnergyInfinite Energy
Infinite Energy is a bi-monthly magazine published in New Hampshire that details theories and experiments concerning alternative energy. Subtitled The Magazine of New Energy Technology, it was founded by the late Eugene Mallove, and is owned by the non-profit New Energy Foundation...
, to force them to cite his work, and suing the arXiv
ArXiv
The arXiv |Chi]], χ) is an archive for electronic preprints of scientific papers in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, computer science, quantitative biology, statistics, and quantitative finance which can be accessed online. In many fields of mathematics and physics, almost all...
preprint server.
Selected publications
- Relativistic hadronic mechanics: Nonunitary, axiom-preserving completion of relativistic quantum mechanics, Ruggero Maria Santilli, Foundations of Physics, 27, #5 (May 1997), pp. 625–729. DOI 10.1007/BF02550172.
- Structure and Combustion of Magnegases, R. M. Santilli and A. K. Aringazin, arXiv:physics/0112066v1.