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Radioactivity and Weak Interactions

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Strings to Strings

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 1018))

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Abstract

This chapter traces the developments, starting from Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity, to the unified theories of electromagnetism and weak interactions. It describes the controversies surrounding the continuous spectrum of beta-electrons, Pauli’s conjectures of the neutrino, the Fermi theory of beta-interactions and the V-A nature of weak currents. It then describes the attempts to formulate an intermediate vector boson theory, which eventually led to the currently accepted Salam–Weinberg–Glashow electroweak theories, unifying Maxwell’s Electromagnetism with Radioactivity. Some far-reaching developments following this unification are also described briefly. The style, as in Chap. 1 is non-mathematical, but accurate. Again, a very large number of references are included to aid the reader.

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  1. Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Retired), Chennai, India

    N. D. Hari Dass

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  1. N. D. Hari Dass
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Hari Dass, N.D. (2023). Radioactivity and Weak Interactions. In: Strings to Strings. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 1018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35358-1_2

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