I just learned Rafa died from injuries several days after close encounter with a truck while biking in Costa Rica.
He has always been full of energy, positive drive, and working on something *Very Large*. This is from the last communication from him:
As for me, after seven stormy, interesting and very wild years I have a
*Very large* mathematical scheme to explain dark matter AND dark energy
but the papers have been stranded at Adv.Math.Theo.Phys. …
I am in opposition to ``super-symmetry” which may explain a bit of the bias against publishing my (dangerous?)ideas…
His page at CalTech is still up, if you are interested in learning more about his ideas: http://www.tapir.caltech.edu/~arayag
Rafa was looking forward to winning the Nobel Prize. As with all of us, his contribution to mankind may not be fully evident for many more years, or even within our own lifetime. What is important was that he aimed high, and did his very best to make his ideas clear to others.
In the end, experimental observations will either confirm or contradict Rafa’s predictions. Unfortunately for us, Rafa will no longer stimulate us with more *Very Large* ideas.
