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How the unlikely friendship of Pauli and Jung led to the discovery of CPT symmetry

In 1931, the psychoanalyst Carl Jung took on an unusual patient, the brilliant young physicist, Wolfgang Pauli. Arthur I. Miller tells the story of their friendship, how they impacted each other’s work, and reflects on creativity.

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References

  1. Jung, C. G. Preface to Violet de Laszlo: ‘Psyche and symbol’. In The Collected Works of C. G. Jung (eds Reid, H., Fordham, M. & Adler, G.) [Translated by Hull, R. F. C.] Vol. 18, 540 (Princeton University Press, 1977).

  2. Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy 2nd edn, Vol. 12 (Routledge, 1980).

  3. Miller, A. I. 137: Jung, Pauli, and the Pursuit of a Scientific Obsession (Norton, 2009).

  4. Letter of Pauli to Jung, 5 August 1957. In Atom and Archetype: The Pauli/Jung Letters, 1932–1958 (ed. Meier, C. A., with the assistance of Enz, C. P. & Fierz, M.) [Translated by Roscoe, D.] (Princeton University Press, 2001).

  5. Letter of Pauli to M. Fierz, 26 November 1949. In Wolfgang Pauli: Wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel mit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg u.a. Band III, 1940–1949 (ed. von Meyenn, K.) (Springer-Verlag, 1993).

  6. Letter of Jung to Ira Progoff, 30 January 1954. ETH Zürich.

  7. Letter of Pauli to M. Fierz, 25 December 1954. In Wolfgang Pauli: Wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel mit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg u.a. Band III, 1940–1949 (ed. von Meyenn, K.) (Springer-Verlag, 1993).

  8. Jung, C. G. & Pauli, W. The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche [Translated by Silz, P.] (Pantheon Books, 1955).

  9. Interview with Pauli by H. Bender, 30 April 1957. In Wolfgang Pauli: Wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel mit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg u.a. Band IV, Teil IV, A: 1957 (ed. von Meyenn, K.) (Springer-Verlag, 2005).

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Correspondence to Arthur I. Miller.

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Miller, A.I. How the unlikely friendship of Pauli and Jung led to the discovery of CPT symmetry. Nat Rev Phys 6, 289–290 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-024-00722-3

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