more on this theme     |     more from this text


Single Idea 21141

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 4. Standard Model / f. Neutrinos ]

Full Idea

When a neutron decays into a proton and an electron (one example of beta decay), the energy of the two particles adds up to less than the starting energy of the neutron. Pauli and Fermi concluded that a neutrino (an electron antineutrino) is emitted.

Gist of Idea

Neutrinos were proposed as the missing energy in neutron beta decay

Source

New Scientist writers (Why the Universe Exists [2017], 01)

Book Ref

New Scientist writers: 'Why the Universe Exists' [John Murray 2017], p.7


A Reaction

I'm wondering how much they could infer about the nature of the new particle (which was only confirmed 26 years later).

Related Idea

Idea 21138 Neutrons are slightly heavier than protons, and decay into them by emitting an electron [New Sci.]


The 67 ideas from New Scientist writers

Hilbert Space is an abstraction representing all possible states of a quantum system [New Sci.]
We are halfway to synthesising any molecule we want [New Sci.]
Chemistry just needs the periodic table, and protons, electrons and neutrinos [New Sci.]
Relativity makes time and space jointly basic; quantum theory splits them, and prioritises time [New Sci.]
Quantum states are measured by external time, of unknown origin [New Sci.]
The Schrödinger equation describes the evolution of an object's wave function in Hilbert space [New Sci.]
Light moves at a constant space-time speed, but its direction is in neither space nor time [New Sci.]
String theory needs at least 10 space-time dimensions [New Sci.]
General relativity predicts black holes, as former massive stars, and as galaxy centres [New Sci.]
No one has yet devised a rationality test [New Sci.]
People can be highly intelligent, yet very stupid [New Sci.]
About a third of variation in human intelligence is environmental [New Sci.]
84.5 percent of the universe is made of dark matter [New Sci.]
Current physics says matter and antimatter should have reduced to light at the big bang [New Sci.]
CP violation shows a decay imbalance in matter and antimatter, leading to matter's dominance [New Sci.]
Psychologists measure personality along five dimensions [New Sci.]
Black holes have entropy, but general relativity says they are unstructured, and lack entropy [New Sci.]
It is impossible for find a model of actuality among the innumerable models in string theory [New Sci.]
Space-time may be a geometrical manifestation of quantum entanglement [New Sci.]
In string theory space-time has a grainy indivisible substructure [New Sci.]
A system can infer the structure of the world by making predictions about it [New Sci.]
Neural networks can extract the car-ness of a car, or the chair-ness of a chair [New Sci.]
Einstein's merging of time with space has left us confused about the nature of time [New Sci.]
Quantum theory relies on a clock outside the system - but where is it located? [New Sci.]
Entropy is the only time-asymmetric law, so time may be linked to entropy [New Sci.]
Entropy is puzzling, so we may need to build new laws which include time directionality [New Sci.]
Classifying hadrons revealed two symmetry patterns, produced by three basic elements [New Sci.]
Spin is a built-in ration of angular momentum [New Sci.]
Top, bottom, charm and strange quarks quickly decay into up and down [New Sci.]
Neutrons are slightly heavier than protons, and decay into them by emitting an electron [New Sci.]
Neutrinos were proposed as the missing energy in neutron beta decay [New Sci.]
Quarks in threes can build hadrons with spin ½ or with spin 3/2 [New Sci.]
Quarks have red, green or blue colour charge (akin to electric charge) [New Sci.]
Supersymmetry has extra heavy bosons and heavy fermions [New Sci.]
Electrons move fast, so are subject to special relativity [New Sci.]
Three particles enable the weak force: W+ and W- are charged, and Z° is not [New Sci.]
Photons have zero rest mass, so virtual photons have infinite range [New Sci.]
Quantum electrodynamics incorporates special relativity and quantum mechanics [New Sci.]
The Higgs field means even low energy space is not empty [New Sci.]
The weak force particles are heavy, so the force has a short range [New Sci.]
Fermions, with spin ½, are antisocial, and cannot share quantum states [New Sci.]
The strong force is repulsive at short distances, strong at medium, and fades at long [New Sci.]
The strong force binds quarks tight, and the nucleus more weakly [New Sci.]
Gluons, the particles carrying the strong force, interact because of their colour charge [New Sci.]
Particles are spread out, with wave-like properties, and higher energy shortens the wavelength [New Sci.]
The four fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong) are the effects of particles [New Sci.]
The weak force explains beta decay, and the change of type by quarks and leptons [New Sci.]
Three different colours of quark (as in the proton) can cancel out to give no colour [New Sci.]
Only supersymmetry offers to incorporate gravity into the scheme [New Sci.]
In the standard model all the fundamental force fields merge at extremely high energies [New Sci.]
Why do the charges of the very different proton and electron perfectly match up? [New Sci.]
Spin is akin to rotation, and is easily measured in a magnetic field [New Sci.]
The mass of protons and neutrinos is mostly binding energy, not the quarks [New Sci.]
Gravitional mass turns out to be the same as inertial mass [New Sci.]
Gravity is unusual, in that it always attracts and never repels [New Sci.]
Standard antineutrinos have opposite spin and opposite lepton number [New Sci.]
Only neutrinos spin anticlockwise [New Sci.]
The Standard Model cannot explain dark energy, survival of matter, gravity, or force strength [New Sci.]
The symmetry of unified electromagnetic and weak forces was broken by the Higgs field [New Sci.]
The evidence for supersymmetry keeps failing to appear [New Sci.]
Supersymmetry says particles and superpartners were unities, but then split [New Sci.]
Dark matter must have mass, to produce gravity, and no electric charge, to not reflect light [New Sci.]
String theory might be tested by colliding strings to make bigger 'stringballs' [New Sci.]
String theory offers a quantum theory of gravity, by describing the graviton [New Sci.]
In the Big Bang general relativity fails, because gravity is too powerful [New Sci.]
Supersymmetric string theory can be expressed using loop quantum gravity [New Sci.]
String theory is now part of 11-dimensional M-Theory, involving p-branes [New Sci.]