Probing the weak force with neutrinos

MAR 01, 1975

The study of high‐energy neutrino scattering is providing answers—some of them surprising—to some basic questions concerning the weak interactions.

DOI: 10.1063/1.3068874

David B. Cline

Alfred K. Mann

Carlo Rubbia

Interest in neutrino physics has surged up recently, partly because the “little neutral ones” are being groomed for the job (for which they alone are qualified) of probing the interiors of stars. Among elementary particles the neutrino is unique. This is because—as far as we know—it alone interacts with other particles only through the Fermi, or weak, interaction. In this article we will discuss how recent experiments, with new accelerators and detectors, such as the ones at CERN and Fermi Lab, have shed new light on some of the fundamental questions regarding the weak interactions. We will review the recent discoveries of neutral weak currents that conserve strangeness, parity violation and point‐like neutrino collisions, as well as some of the implications of these experiments to particle theory.

References

1. W. Pauli, Septième Conseil Solvay 1933, Gauthier‐Villars, Paris (1934).
2. E. Fermi, Z. Physik, 88, 161 (1934).https://doi.org/ZEPYAA
3. F. Reines, C. L. Cowan, Phys. Rev. 92, 830 (1953).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
4. B. Pontecorvo, JETP 37, 175 (1959).
5. M. Schwartz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 4, 306 (1960).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
6. G. Danby, J. M. Gaillard, K. Goulianos, L. M. Lederman, N. Mistry, M. Schwartz, J. Steinberger, Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 36 (1962).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
7. S. Weinberg, Phys. Rev. Lett. 19, 1264 (1967); https://doi.org/PRLTAO
A. Salam in Elementary Particle Physics (N. Svartholm, ed.) Almquist and Wiksells, Stockholm (1968) page 367.
8. T. D. Lee, PHYSICS TODAY, April 1972, page 23.
9. T. Eichten et al., Phys. Lett. B46, 274 (1973); https://doi.org/PYLBAJ
A. Benvenuti et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 32, 800 (1974); https://doi.org/PRLTAO
B. Aubert et al., report submitted to the London Conference (1974).
10. B. Barish et al., report submitted to the London Conference (1974).
11. M. Derrick, ANL/HEP 7350 (1973).
12. J. D. Bjorken, Phys. Rev. 179, 1547 (1969).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
13. G. Miller et al., Phys. Rev. D5, 528 (1972); https://doi.org/PRVDAQ
A. Bodek et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 30, 1087 (1973).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
14. J. D. Bjorken, E. A. Paschos, Phys. Rev. 185, 1975 (1969).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
15. J. Schechter, Y. Ueda, Phys. Rev. D2, 736 (1970).https://doi.org/PRVDAQ
16. S. S. Gerstein, Ia. B. Zel’dovich, JETP 2, 576 (1956);
R. P. Feynman, M. Gell‐Mann, Phys. Rev. 109, 193 (1958).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
17. M. Gell‐Mann, Phys. Rev. 111, 362 (1958).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
18. J. J. Sakurai, Annals of Physics 11, 1 (1960).https://doi.org/ANPYA2
19. B. Aubert et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 33, 984 (1974).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
20. U. Camerini, D. Cline, W. Fry, W. M. Powell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 13, 318 (1964); https://doi.org/PRLTAO
M. Bott‐Bodenhausen et al., Phys. Lett. 24B, 194 (1967).https://doi.org/PYLBAJ
21. A. Clark et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 26, 1667 (1971); https://doi.org/PRLTAO
D. Cable et al., Phys. Rev. D8, 3807 (1973); https://doi.org/PRVDAQ
D. Ljung, D. Cline, Phys. Rev. D8, 1307 (1973); https://doi.org/PRVDAQ
R. J. Cence et al., Phys. Rev. D10, 776 (1974).https://doi.org/PRVDAQ
22. M. M. Block et al., Phys. Lett. 12, 281 (1964); https://doi.org/PHLTAM
D. Cundy et al., Phys. Lett. 31B, 478 (1970).https://doi.org/PYLBAJ
23. F. J. Hasert et al., Phys. Lett. 46B, 138 (1973) https://doi.org/PYLBAJ
and F. J. Hasert et al., Nucl. Phys. B73, 1 (1974).https://doi.org/NUPBBO
24. A. Benvenuti et al., paper 288, Sixth International Symposium, Bonn (1973)
and Phys. Rev. Lett. 32, 800 (1974).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
25. B. Aubert et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 32, 1454 and (1974).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
26. S. Barish et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 33, 448 (1974).https://doi.org/PRLTAO
27. B. C. Barish et al., CIT‐FNAL report given at the London Conference, July 1974;
W. Lee et al., report at the London Conference.
28. A. Litke et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 30, 1189 (1973); https://doi.org/PRLTAO
B. Richter, invited talk at the University of California, Irvine, Conference, December 1973.
29. S. Weinberg, Rev. Mod. Phys. 46, 255 (1974).https://doi.org/RMPHAT
30. J. D. Bjorken, S. L. Glashow, Phys. Lett. 11, 255 (1964).https://doi.org/PHLTAM
31. S. L. Glashow, J. Iliopoulos, L. Maiani, Phys. Rev. D2, 1285 (1970).https://doi.org/PRVDAQ
32. M. Gell‐Mann, M. Goldberger, N. Kroll, F. E. Low, Phys. Rev. 179, 1518 (1969).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
33. B. L. Ioffe, JETP 11, 1158 (1960).

More about the Authors

David B. Cline. Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Alfred K. Mann. Professor of Physics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Carlo Rubbia. Professor of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.