What are

the
Elementary
Constituent
s of Matter? What are the
forces that
control their
behaviour at the
most basic level?
History of Constituents of
Matter

AD
•In Nuclear Reactions momentum and mass-
energy is conserved – for a closed system the
total momentum and energy of the particles
present after the reaction is equal to the total
momentum and energy of the particles before the
reaction

•In the case where an alpha particle is released

from an unstable nucleus the momentum of the
alpha particle and the new nucleus is the same as
the momentum of the original unstable nucleus
 1 1 0 __ 0
Wolfgang Pauli
n 0 → p1 + e −1 +υ 0
•Large variations in the emission velocities of the β
particle seemed to indicate that both energy and
momentum were not conserved.
•This led to the proposal by Wolfgang Pauli of another
particle, the neutrino, being emitted in β decay to carry
away the missing mass and momentum.
•The neutrino (little neutral one) was discovered in 1956.
 1 1 0 __ 0
n 0 → p1 + e −1 +υ 0
1.008665 u 1.007825 u 0.0005486 u

1u= 1.660 × 10 −27 kg

1J= 1.6 × 10 −19 eV
Mass difference = 1.008665 − (1.007825 + 0.0005486)
= 0.0002914 u

= 0.0002914 × 1.660 × 10 −27 kg

−31
= 4.83724 × 10 kg
 2
E = mc
= (4.83724 × 10 −31 )(3.0 × 108 ) 2J

= 4.353516 × 10 −14 J
4.353516 ×10 −14
= −19
= 271755 eV
1.602 ×10
= 0.272 MeV
It has been found by experiment that the emitted beta particle
has less energy than 0.272 MeV
Neutrino accounts for the ‘missing’ energy
+

+
 Cockroft and Walton
•First artificial splitting of
nucleus
•First transmutation using
artificially accelerated John Cockcroft Ernest Walton

particles
•First experimental verification
of E = mc2
IrishNobel Prize

E.T.S. Walton 1951

Experimental verification of E = mc2
1 7 4 4
1H + 3 Li → 2 He + 2 He + Energy
1 MeV 17.3 MeV

Proton + Lithium Two alpha particles + Energy

• Ancient Greeks:
Earth, Air, Fire,
Water
• By 1900, nearly 100
elements
• By 1936, back to three
particles: proton, neutron,
electron
 CERN LEP APPLET
http://www.hep.ucl.ac.uk/masterclass/Acc_sim2/simulator.html
The Four Fundamental Forces
 E
m= 2
c

Particle
zoo
Thomson (1897): Discovers electron

1x10 −10 m

1x10 −15 m

0.7 x10 −15 m

≤ 0.7 x10 −18 m

60 60 0 0_
27 Co→ 28 Ni + −1 e + 0 υ

Q = -1e almost all trapped in atoms

Q= 0 all freely moving through universe

Just as the equation x2=4 can have two
possible solutions (x=2 OR x=-2), so
Dirac's equation could have two solutions,
one for an electron with positive energy,
and one for an electron with negative
energy.

Dirac interpreted this to mean that for

every particle that exists there is a
corresponding antiparticle, exactly
matching the particle but with opposite
charge. For the electron, for instance,
there should be an "antielectron" called
the positron identical in every way but
with a positive electric charge.
 + −
γ →e +e
1928 Dirac predicted existence of antimatter
1932 antielectrons (positrons) found in
conversion of energy into matter
1995 antihydrogen consisting of antiprotons and
positrons produced at CERN
In principle an antiworld can be built from
antimatter
Produced only in accelerators and
in cosmic rays
 + −
γ rays → e + e
+ −
e + e → 2hf
 2
Q=+
3 Q = +1

Q=−
1 Q=0
3
 James Joyce

Murray Gell-Mann
 1 2
− +
3 3
1 2
− +
3 3
1 2
− +
3 3
 2 2 1
+ + − = +1
3 3 3

2 1 1
+ − − =0
2 3 3 3
+
3

1
−
3
http://lectureonline.cl.msu.edu/~mmp/applist/q/q.htm