About dull belief in the symmetry of interactions Almost immediately after the discovery of the left-right (mirror) symmetry breaking in the weak interactions, it has been also experimentally proven the violation of the charge symmetry, i.e., non-invariance under replacement of … Continue reading
How the understanding of asymmetry of the weak interaction was coming Following pions, in 1947 positively charged kaons were discovered, which decay into either two or three pions. These decays are relatively slow as occur due to the weak interaction. … Continue reading
How they hoped that pions are carriers of the strong interaction… For the first three decades of the XX century, the idea had been formed that interaction between electrically charged particles is due to the exchange of quanta of the … Continue reading
Going step by step, from ancient Greece to Europe via the east The Miletus school — Thales and his disciples Anaximander, Anaximenes — is considered to be the first at the beginning of the VI BC. It lasted for about … Continue reading
On the stunning results of elementary particle physics and cosmology Modern knowledge of the microcosm and the cosmos is still far from perfect. For example, we can not describe in detail the strong interactions of elementary particles, or explain the … Continue reading
Creating new technologies in the process of studying the universe In various fields of science, there are many examples where access to new technological levels occurred unintentionally, and began with the daily work and imagination of scientists. Exploration of new … Continue reading
Applying knowledge of the fundamental interactions to the universe At the beginning of the XX century, we were not aware of the existence of great number of galaxies yet, so the universe was identified with our galaxy, called the Milky … Continue reading
On the continuous movement of elementary particle fields in the universe When the quantum theory of the electromagnetic field has been extended to describe the strong and weak interactions, the fields of particles not yet known at that time were … Continue reading
Being born abundantly in each collision of collider beams Indeed, most of the observed matter consist of only three kinds of elementary particles: protons, neutrons and electrons. Apart from them, there are neutrinos and quanta of electromagnetic radiation — photons … Continue reading
About systematic study of the variety of particles, one after another In the second half of the last century it was created quite harmonious theoretical schemes that described interactions of the known elementary particles and predicted the existence of those … Continue reading
Predicting new particles and explaining the properties of those already known The basis of knowledge about the construction of the universe is the notion of elementary particles and their impact on surroundings. When a particle approaches close to another one, … Continue reading
Slowly but surely revealing the theoretically predicted particles… With their own hands physicists allow new species of particles that do not exist in substances to be born. The birth occurs when particle beams collide with either a target or each … Continue reading
On one of the peaks of human thought in particle physics According to the model of weak interactions existed in the 60’s, that was based on the Fermi’s theory of beta decay, muon neutrinos interacting with matter are to turn … Continue reading
Moving along atomic orbits without emission From the standpoint of classical electrodynamics, electrons in the planetary model of atoms would be continuously emitting and then, having lost their energy, fall into the nucleus. In 1913, Niels Bohr suggested that an … Continue reading
Departing together with electrons and carrying the invisible energy The discovery of neutrons, it seemed, has clarified the structure of matter. All elementary particles needed to build atoms were known. It only remained unclear where are the electrons observed in … Continue reading
Expecting antineutrinos from the sun, but getting them from a supernova After a huge amount of work carried out by scientists to find a coherent theoretical scheme or to create experimental unit, new knowledge comes as it were perfectly normal. … Continue reading
Doing real that exists in fantasies A striking example of the implementation of the human imagination is a laser. The power of a narrow beam of light has long been intuitively realized by people and was immortalized in the novels … Continue reading
How the physical experiment and theory are pushing each other Since ancient times, science has developed alternating experimental and theoretical studies. Based on the experiment, the scientists constructed a theory, and if its predictions coincide with the results of other … Continue reading
On the formation of particles from the quantum field condensate Space observations of recent decades led scientists to the conclusion about the existence of dark matter and dark energy, the nature of which is not clear. Theoretical physics gives an … Continue reading
Subtle in atomic nuclei, but penetrating when radiated In the early thirties it became clear that (i) nuclei could not consist of protons and electrons as it was thought at the time, (ii) in beta decay, the electrons emitted from … Continue reading
About unknown energy emitted by cathodes and radium… In the discovery of electrons, a prominent role has been played by so-called cathode rays. Initially, to explain this phenomenon, the wave hypothesis was put forward: cathode rays would be a process … Continue reading