MAVERICK MATHEMATICIAN The Life and Science of J.E. Moyal MAVERICK MATHEMATICIAN The Life and Science of J.E. Moyal Ann Moyal Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] Web: http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Moyal, Ann (Ann Mozley), 1926- . Maverick mathematician : the life and science of J.E. Moyal. Includes index. ISBN 1 920942 58 0 (pbk). ISBN 1 920942 59 9 (online) 1. Moyal, J. E. 2. Dirac, P. A. M. (Paul Adrien Maurice), 1902- - Correspondence. 3. Mathematicians - Australia - Biography. 4. Aerospace engineers - Australia - Biography. 5. Quantum theory - Mathematics. I. Title. 510.92 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Indexed by Dr Ann Moyal. Cover design by Teresa Prowse. Portrait by Linda Phillips, 1992. This edition © 2006 ANU E Press To Mimi Hurley, my sister and J.E.M.’s friend. Table of Contents Acknowledgements vii Preface xi Chapter 1. Boyhood 1 Chapter 2. The Making of a Scientific Maverick 9 Chapter 3. Battle With a Legend 19 Chapter 4. The Widening Circle 45 Chapter 5. Antipodean Winds 61 Chapter 6. Argonne National Laboratory 79 Chapter 7. Macquarie University 91 Chapter 8. The Reflective Years 103 Appendix I. Publications of J.E. Moyal 119 Appendix II. P.A.M. Dirac – J. E. Moyal: Correspondence, 1944-1946. Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, MS 45/3/ 123 Appendix III. Quantum Mechanics as a Statistical Theory by J.E. Moyal 163 Index 191 List of Figures 1.1. Palestine under the British Mandate 1922±1948 2 3.1. Paul Dirac, tenacious `high priest' of theoretical physics 22 3.2. Letter from P.A.M. Dirac 35 4.1. Maurice Bartlett, statistician ± a valuable ally and colleague of Joe's 45 4.2. Harry Messel, Sydney University's dynamic director of the School of Physics until 1987 56 5.1. The young Australian National University in 1958 where staff, recruited across many disciplines, mixed in the temporary structure of the `Old Hospital Building' seen here 61 5.2. JM Ð in Canberra, 1958. Appointed Reader in Statistics at the ANU that year, he was an early founding scientist of the University 66 5.3. Ann Mozley arrived at the ANU late in 1958 to help found the Australian Dictionary of Biography 71 5.4. Statistician Joe Gani took up a position in the Department of Statistics, ANU in 1961 72 5.5. Joe Moyal after his marriage to Ann, 1963 74 6.1. Argonne National Laboratory, America's leading National Atomic Energy Laboratory for peaceful purposes. Deer played in its spacious parks 79 6.2. JM Ð with familiar cigar at the Moyal apartment, Lisle, Illinois 82 6.3. Joe ready to dive in Caribbean waters, 1969 84 7.1. John Clive Ward, an eminent figure in physics at Macquarie 93 7.2. Macquarie mathematician, Alan McIntosh, who would rise to become head of the Centre for Mathematics and its Applications at the ANU 96 8.1. Joe Moyal in retirement, still thinking about quantum theory 103 8.2. Joe camping in Queensland, 1984 114 8.3. Portrait of Ann and Joe Moyal, Canberra, 1995 116 vi Maverick Mathematician Acknowledgements This small book could not have been written without the very considerable, and most generous, help of many people. My greatest debt is to several distinguished scientists Ð mathematicians and physicists Ð who have helped me chart a route through my late husband's scientific writings and who have added important evaluations and interpretative commentary to the text. Hence, in the best sense, several parts of this book have become `polyvocal'. The impulse towards this arises from the fact that, while I have practised for several decades as an historian of science, technology and telecommunications, with a particular emphasis on Australian science, I have had no previous training in the physical sciences. Writing this book has added an unanticipated dimension to my scientific interests and understanding. At the same time it has opened up, via email and the Internet, some highly rewarding international contacts and communication. My first and very real debt is to Professor Alan McIntosh of The Australian National University who, as a former junior colleague and friend of Joe Moyal during his final career years at Macquarie University in Sydney, has guided me to important sources and researchers, carefully read several draft chapters, and provided quiet, professional, and encouraging advice. I also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Dr Cosmas Zachos of the High Energy Physics Division of Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA, who has long had an intimate knowledge of the classic Moyal paper of 1949, `Quantum Mechanics as a Statistical Theory', and has, through detailed and quickening email correspondence, given me the benefit of his knowledgeable insights into phase space quantum mechanics and the Dirac-Moyal Correspondence of 1944±46 which, in Appendix II, forms an important part of this biography. His communications, delivered with allusive clarity and engaging literary eloquence, have given me much pleasure. Sight unseen, he has proved a most rewarding friend. Professor Thomas Curtright of the Department of Physics at Miami University, co-author with Dr Zachos (and David B. Fairlie) of Quantum vii Mechanics in Phase Space. An Overview with Selected Papers (2005)1 , has also given me thoughtful and illuminating recommendations and important encouragement. My warm thanks are also due to the three international colleagues Ð Dr Bruno Iochum of the Centre of Theoretical Physics and the University of Provence, Marseilles; Professor Joseph Várilly of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Costa Rica, San Jose, and Professor José Gracia-Bondia of the Department of Theoretical Physics at the University of Complutense, Madrid Ð for their generous contribution to the final chapter of this book relating to their diverse collaborative work which drew upon J.E. Moyal's early quantum research. Professor John Klauder of the Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Florida, Miami has also granted me permission to quote from his commentary on Joe Moyal's mathematical contribution to quantum mechanics. In Australia I have received great assistance from the distinguished statistician, Emeritus Professor Joe Gani of The Australian National University, a very old friend and colleague of Joe Moyal, who, both in personal communication and through his writings, has furnished valuable material for this book. I have also been the recipient of enlightening insights and support from Professor Alan Carey, Director of the Centre for Mathematics and its Applications at the ANU. Emeritus Professor Harry Messel from the Department of Physics at the University of Sydney has provided his lively and warm recollections. From Macquarie University, Dr John Corbett has supported this endeavour with his pertinent observations and reflections; Professor Don McNeil in Statistics, and Professors Ross Street and William Chen in Mathematics have been helpful communicators and encouragers; while David Forrester, a former mature-age student in the Department of Mathematics, has provided some spirited and informative communication. From the University of Queensland, physicist Professor Tony Bracken has responded with helpful interest to my enquiries. In addition, Chris Weatherall, Colin Steele, and Hilary Webster have contributed in viii Maverick Mathematician different ways to the life of the book. I thank them all most warmly for their assistance. Various institutional libraries and archives have provided relevant documents for the research. These include the Basser Library of the Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, which holds the Dirac-Moyal Correspondence; the University Archives of The Australian National University, and Macquarie University Records and Archives Services. My personal thanks are also due to Dr Margaret Butler and Laboratory Historian, Catherine Westfall, at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, for their helpful record searches. Importantly, The Australian National University Library has afforded me access to its resources and to its specialized websites for the conduct of this research. I also extend my grateful thanks to Sue Kosse, Paul McNamara and Arvind Kalia for their continuing assistance, and as always, the Petherick Room of the National Library of Australia has provided a welcoming scholarly hearth. In addition, I owe particular thanks to Vic Elliott and Lorena Kanellopoulos at ANU E Press for their imaginative contribution to this volume. Finally this book would never have been brought together without the patient and good-humoured assistance of my godson, Angus Rea of Sydney, who has guided me through the ever-present pitfalls of sophisticated computer technology. ENDNOTE 1 World Scientific Series in 20th Century Physics, vol. 34, World Scientific, New Jersey, 2005. Acknowledgements ix Preface There is currently a recognition of the importance of the stories of individual scientists (outside the pantheon of giants and leading discipline figures) in building the history of science. Such individuals are unique men and women of outstanding ability, drawn from different countries and backgrounds, some of whose personal trajectories may move outside the practices and paradigms of established disciplines, and who, as researchers and experimenters, can prove to be significantly ahead of their time. This recognition has also derived from the fact that, in addition to the traditional theme of the great men of science, another trend has developed in the writing of the history of science in the last two decades Ð that of a strong focus on science in its social context, on the constructed nature of scientific knowledge and on a sociological emphasis that has tended to edge out the creative, individual, self-determining life in science.