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1.2: A Timeline of Particle Physics

Last updated

Mar 22, 2021
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- 1.1: Nobel Prizes in Particle Physics
- 1.3: Earliest Stages

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Year	Experiment	Theory
1927	$\beta$ decay discovered
1928		Paul Dirac: Wave equation for electron
1930		Wolfgang Pauli suggests existence of neutrino
1931	Positron discovered
1931		Paul Dirac realises that positrons are part of his equation
1931	Chadwick discovers neutron
1933/4		Fermi introduces theory for $\beta$ decay
1933/4		Hideki Yukawa discusses nuclear binding in terms of pions
1937	$\mu$ discovered in cosmic rays
1938	Baryon number conservation
1946		$\mu$ is not Yukawa’s particle
1947	$\pi^{+}$ discovered in cosmic rays
1946-50		Tomonaga, Schwinger and Feynman develop QED
1948	First artificial $\pi$ ’s
1949	$K^{+}$ discovered
1950	$\pi^{0}\rightarrow \gamma\gamma$
1951	”V-particles” $\Lambda^{0}$ and $K^{0}$
1952	$\Delta$ : excited state of nucleon
1954		Yang and Mills: Gauge theories
1956		Lee and Yang: Weak force might break parity!
1956	CS Wu and Ambler: Yes it does.
1961		Eightfold way as organising principle
1962	$\nu_{\mu}$ and $\nu_{e}$
1964		Quarks (Gell-man and Zweig) $u,d,s$
1964		Fourth quark suggested ( $c$ )
1965		Colour charge all particles are colour neutral!
1967		Glashow-Salam-Weinberg unification of electromagnetic and weak interactions. Predict Higgs boson.
1968-69	DIS at SLAC constituents of proton seen!
1973		QCD as the theory of coloured interactions. Gluons.
1973		Asymptotic freedom
1974	$J/\psi$ ( $c\bar c$ ) meson
1976	$D0$ meson ( $\bar u c$ ) confirms theory.
1976	$\tau$ lepton!
1977	b (bottom quark). Where is top?
1978	Parity violating neutral weak interaction seen
1979	Gluon signature at PETRA
1983	$W^{\pm}$ and $Z^{0}$ seen at CERN
1989	SLAC suggests only three generations of (light!) neutrinos
1995	t (top) at 175 GeV mass
1997	New physics at HERA (200 GeV)

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