Antonio Ferrigno

Antonio Ferrigno
Born	1955 Cava de' Tirreni, Italy
Residence	Rijswijk, Netherlands
Nationality	Italian
Alma mater	University of Salerno
Known for	Relativity
Scientific career
Fields	Physics

Antonio Ferrigno (born 1955) is an Italian physicist and critic of Albert Einstein's theory of Relativity. He is best known within the dissident-science community for his examination of the status of Einstein's light postulate, questioning whether the constancy of the speed of light is a genuine law of nature or merely a matter of convention.

Biography

Ferrigno was born in 1955 in Cava de' Tirreni, a town near Naples and Salerno in southern Italy. He studied physics at the University of Salerno.

After completing his degree, he spent several years conducting research in superconductivity, working at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Berlin and at the University of Salerno. In 1986 he joined the European Patent Office (EPO) in Rijswijk, near The Hague, and has lived and worked in the Netherlands since then.

Scientific contributions

Ferrigno's early research concerned the dynamics of magnetic flux quanta (fluxons) in long Josephson tunnel junctions. In collaboration with S. N. Erné, R. D. Parmentier and others, he published studies on frequency tuning in Josephson-junction fluxon oscillators, fluxon propagation and Fiske steps, and phase-shift effects on the current-voltage characteristics of long Josephson junctions during the early to mid 1980s.

Ferrigno subsequently developed an interest in the foundations of special relativity. He has argued that, despite the theory's widespread acceptance and numerous experimental successes, elements of Einstein's formulation warrant re-examination. In papers presented in 2000 and 2001 he addressed whether Einstein's light postulate should be regarded as a law of nature or as a conventional stipulation, a question that connects his work to longstanding philosophical debates over the epistemological status of the constancy of the speed of light.

Selected publications

• "Frequency Tuning by Magnetic Field in Josephson-Junction Fluxon Oscillators," Lettere al Nuovo Cimento, V34, S2, N4, pp. 121-124 (May 1982). (with S. N. Erne, S. Di Genova & R. D. Parmentier)
• "Fluxon Propagation and Fiske Steps in Long Josephson Tunneling Junctions," Phys. Review B, (Condensed Matter), V27, N9, pp. 5440-5446 (May 1983). (with S. N. Erne & R. D. Parmentier)
• "Phase-Shift Effects of the I-V Characteristics of Zero-Field Current Spikes in Long Josephson Junctions," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, V23, N2, pp. 1102-1105 (Mar 1987).

Abstracts

• 2001 - "Is Einstein?s Light Postulate a Law of Nature"
• 2000 - "Einstein's Light Postulate: a Matter of Convention? "

External links

• "Fluxon propagation and Fiske steps in long Josephson tunnel junctions", Physical Review B (1983)