Chronology of Milestone Events in Particle Physics - HEISENBERG 1932
Chronology of Milestone Events in Particle Physics

HEISENBERG 1932

Heisenberg, W.;
Über den Bau der Atomkerne. I / On the Structure of Atomic Nuclei. I.
Z. Phys. 77 (1932) 1;

Reprinted in
(translation into English) D. M. Brink. Nuclear Forces. Pergamon Press (1965) 214.

Abstracts
We discuss the implications of our assumption that atomic nuclei are made up of protons and neutrons and do not contain electrons.

1.
The Hamiltonian function of the nucleus.
2.
The relation of charge and mass and the special stability of the He-nucleus.
3-5.
The stability of nuclei and radioactive decay series.
6.
Discussion of the physical assumptions.
The experiments of Curie and Joliot and their interpretation by Chadwick have shown that in the structure of nuclei a new, fundamental component, the neutron, plays an important part. This suggests that atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons, but do not contain any electrons. If this is correct, it means a very considerable simplification of nuclear theory. The fundamental difficulties of the theory of β-decay and the statistics of the nitrogen-nucleus can then be reduced to the question: In what way can a neutron decay into proton and electron and what statistics does it satisfy? The structure of nuclei, however, can be described, according to the laws of quantum mechanics, in terms of the interactions between protons and neutrons.

Related references
More (later) information appears in
W. Heisenberg, Z. Phys. 78 (1932) 156;
W. Heisenberg, Z. Phys. 80 (1933) 587;
See also
N. Bohr, Faraday Lecture, J. Chem. Soc., (1932) 349;
D. D. Iwanenko, Nature 129 (1932) 798;
Analyse data from
H. C. Urey, F. G. Brickwedde, and G. M. Murphy, Phys. Rev. 40 (1932) 464;
H. C. Urey, F. G. Brickwedde, and G. M. Murphy, Phys. Rev. 39 (1932) 164;
J. Chadwick, Nature 129 (1932) 312;
I. Curie and F. Joliot, Compt. Ren. 194 (1932) 876;
I. Curie and F. Joliot, Compt. Ren. 194 (1932) 273;
H. C. Urey, F. G. Brickwedde, and G. M. Murphy, Phys. Rev. 40 (1932) 1;

Particles studied
  nucleus qn, mass, w

Record comments
Suggestion that atomic nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons. Theory of nuclear exchange forces. Invention of nucleon isotopic spin.
    
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