It has been decades since Jerusalem's Hebrew University has started to compile different works of Albert Einstein. His death in 1955 left the university with the most extensive collection of the genius' work. There are about 82,000 items in the university's possession. One of the celebrated physicist's works included in the Hebrew University's archives is an eight-page handwritten appendix to his 1930 paper on the unified field theory.
The Nobel prize winner has coined the term unified field theory and since has been open for other researchers. In this theory, Einstein attempts to unify four interactions namely the strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational interaction. He has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to this research even at the cost of straying away from the physics community.
However, the Hebrew University only has seven pages of the eight-page appendix in its possession up until Wednesday, March 6. In an announcement, the missing handwritten page was found in a 110-page collection of Albert Einstein's works. Jerusalem's Hebrew University received the archive two weeks before the announcement but the unveiling will be on March 14, Einstein's 140th birthday.
Researchers are excited about the completion of the appendix and although it has never been published, the researchers were given copies of the document. In an interview, Gutfreund, a physics professor and former president of the Hebrew University, expressed the problem that the missing page posted. Researchers have compared the document to a puzzle with a missing piece. As the unified field theory was left open, studies are being done by researchers all over the world and are referencing Albert Einstein's work in the process. Contents of the missing page have been a mystery for so long that its discovery is assured to have answered a lot of questions. Various scientific angles are presently being looked into by researchers in the field.
The trove of documents written by Albert Einstein was in the private collection of Gary Berger, a doctor from North Carolina. Accepting an undisclosed amount, the doctor sold the 110-page collection to the Crown-Goodman foundation who in turn donated the set of documents to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In this newly acquired set of 110-page documents authored by Albert Einstein, the missing installment of his eight-page appendix on the unified theory was found, completing the said appendix of his research. Other items included in the collection are his letters to his son, Hans Einstein.
