Chronology of Milestone Events in Particle Physics - ZELDOVICH 1959
Chronology of Milestone Events in Particle Physics

ZELDOVICH 1959

Zeldovich, Y.B.;
Parity Nonconservation in Electron Scattering and in other Effects in the First Order of the Weak Interaction Coupling Constant
Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 36 (1959) 964;

Reprinted in
Ya. B. Zeldovich, Izbrannye trudy. Chastitsy, Yadra, Vselennaya, Nauka, M. 1985 s. 72 (red. Yu. B. Khariton).

Motivation
We assume that besides the weak interaction that causes beta decay, g( anti-PON)( anti-eOν) + Herm. conj., (1) there exists an interaction g( anti-POP)( anti-eOe) (2) with g approx 10-49 and the operator O = γμ (1 + iγ5) characteristic of processes in which parity is not conserved. Such an interaction has been repeatedly discussed in the past in connection with the problem of the isotope shift of electron levels (I. E. Tamm). On an analogous interaction between the neutron and the electron, see references (L. L. Foldy, Phys. Rev. 87 (1952) 693) and (J. L. Lopes, Nucl. Phys. 8 (1958) 234). New experimental possibilities arise in connection with the nonconservation of parity in the interaction (2).
Then in the scattering of electrons by protons the interaction (2) will interfere with the Coulomb scattering, and the nonconservation of parity will appear in terms of the first order in the small quantity g. Owing to this it becomes possible to test the hypothesis used here experimentally and to determine the sign of g ...
Finally, the interaction (2) leads to a rotation of the plane of polarization of visible light by any substance not containing molecules optically active in the ordinary sense of the words. The rotation of the plane of polarization also occurs because the weak interaction mixes atomic electronic states of different parity.
Assumptions have been put forward about a direct interaction g( anti-e-Oν)( anti-νOe), which would lead to a scattering of neutrinos by electrons, and also about a weak interaction of four nucleons, which leads to parity nonconservation in first order in g in nuclear reactions and the stationary states of nuclei. The four-nucleon interaction has as a consequence that odd nuclei (spin neq 0) will have an "anapole'' moment proportional to g. (Extracted from the introductory part of the paper.).

Related references
See also
R. P. Feynman and M. Gell-Mann, Phys. Rev. 109 (1958) 193;
J. L. Lopes, Nucl. Phys. 8 (1958) 234;
L. L. Foldy, Phys. Rev. 87 (1952) 693;
Y. B. Zeldovich, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 33 (1957) 1531;

Reactions
  e nucleus nucleus e >1 GeV (Plab) asym, qnc

Reactions
  γ atom atom γ qnc

Particles studied
  nucleus mom

Record comments
Prediction of the optical activity of atomic media due to possible weak neutral currents. Prediction of the anapole moments of nuclei, due to weak interactions.
    
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