06 Neutrinos Violating Parity and the Weak Force
NEUTRINOS VIOLATING PARITY AND THE WEAK FORCE In 1898, new Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford was investigating radioactivity and found that uranium seemed to consist of at least 2 types of radiation, which he named alpha and beta. Alpha radiation didnt seem to penetrate matter very much, while beta did. We now know that alpha radiation is the emission of helium nuclei (a composite particle consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons) and beta radiation is the emission of an electron. Alpha emission is governed by the strong nuclear force. Beta radiation is governed by the weak nuclear forceand this is the topic of this lecture.
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