20
Introduction to the Phenomenology of Weak
Interactions
Public letter to the group of the Radioactives at the district society meeting
in T¨ ubingen:
Physikalisches Institut
der Eidg. Technischen Hochschule
Gloriastr.
Z¨ urich
Z¨ urich, 4. Dec. 1930
Dear Radioactive Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the bearer of these lines, to whom I graciously ask you to listen, will
explain to you in more detail, how because of the ‘wrong’ statistics of
the N and
6 Li nuclei and the continuous β-spectrum, I have hit upon a
desperate remedy to save the ‘exchange theorem’ of statistics and the law
of conservation of energy. Namely, the possiblity that there could exist in
the nuclei electrically neutral particles, that I wish to call neutrons, which
have the spin
1 and obey the exclusion principle and which further differ
2
from light quanta in that they do not travel with the velocity of light.
The mass of the neutrons should be of the same order of magnitude as
the electron mass and in any event not larger than 0.01 proton masses.
– The continuous β-spectrum would then become understandable by the
assumption that in β-decay, a neutron is emitted in addition to the electron
such that the sum of the energies of the neutron and electron is constant.
. . .
I admit that on a first look my way out might seem to be quite unlikely,
since one would certainly have seen the neutrons by now if they existed.
But nothing ventured nothing gained, and the seriousness of the matter
with the continuous β-spectrum is illustrated by a quotation of my honoured predecessor in office, Mr. Debye, who recently told me in Brussels:
‘Oh, it is best not to think about it, like the new taxes.’ Therefore one
should earnestly discuss each way of salvation. – So, dear Radioactives,
examine and judge it. – Unfortunately I cannot appear in T¨ ubingen personally, since I am indispensable here in Z¨ urich because of a ball on the
283
Introduction to the Phenomenology of Weak
Interactions
Public letter to the group of the Radioactives at the district society meeting
in T¨ ubingen:
Physikalisches Institut
der Eidg. Technischen Hochschule
Gloriastr.
Z¨ urich
Z¨ urich, 4. Dec. 1930
Dear Radioactive Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the bearer of these lines, to whom I graciously ask you to listen, will
explain to you in more detail, how because of the ‘wrong’ statistics of
the N and
6 Li nuclei and the continuous β-spectrum, I have hit upon a
desperate remedy to save the ‘exchange theorem’ of statistics and the law
of conservation of energy. Namely, the possiblity that there could exist in
the nuclei electrically neutral particles, that I wish to call neutrons, which
have the spin
1 and obey the exclusion principle and which further differ
2
from light quanta in that they do not travel with the velocity of light.
The mass of the neutrons should be of the same order of magnitude as
the electron mass and in any event not larger than 0.01 proton masses.
– The continuous β-spectrum would then become understandable by the
assumption that in β-decay, a neutron is emitted in addition to the electron
such that the sum of the energies of the neutron and electron is constant.
. . .
I admit that on a first look my way out might seem to be quite unlikely,
since one would certainly have seen the neutrons by now if they existed.
But nothing ventured nothing gained, and the seriousness of the matter
with the continuous β-spectrum is illustrated by a quotation of my honoured predecessor in office, Mr. Debye, who recently told me in Brussels:
‘Oh, it is best not to think about it, like the new taxes.’ Therefore one
should earnestly discuss each way of salvation. – So, dear Radioactives,
examine and judge it. – Unfortunately I cannot appear in T¨ ubingen personally, since I am indispensable here in Z¨ urich because of a ball on the
283