Early study of muons and muon decay
Abstract
Work on secondary cosmic radiation carried out over the period 1929-1947 is reviewed including the experimental demonstration that penetrating cosmic rays are unstable particles of intermediate mass (mesotrons), for a long time incorrectly identified with the Yukawa mediator of nuclear forces. Investigations of mesotrons at rest in nuclear matter, which led to the discovery of a second charged lepton (the muon) and to the concept of a universal Fermi interaction are described. The discovery of the first strong interacting meson, the charged pion is recalled.
- Publication:
-
Presented at Intermediate Vector Boson Intern. Conf. on 50 Years of Weak Interactions: From the Fermi Theory to the W
- Pub Date:
- October 1984
- Bibcode:
- 1984ywif.conf.....C
- Keywords:
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- Histories;
- Muons;
- Radioactive Decay;
- Secondary Cosmic Rays;
- Elementary Particle Interactions;
- Experiment Design;
- Geiger Counters;
- Pions;
- Nuclear and High-Energy Physics