Nuclear & Particle
The nucleus, subatomic particles, and fundamental forces
Physics: Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment
Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment By: Cowan and Reines (1956) The Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment was conducted by physicists Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines in 1956.
Read commentary →Physics: 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics
1957 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao (T.D.) Lee Their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nucleus.
Read commentary →Physics: Gamma ray
Gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high-energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares.
Read commentary →Physics: 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics
1994 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Bertram N. Brockhouse, Clifford G. Shull The development of neutron spectroscopy / for the development of the neutron diffraction technique.
Read commentary →Physics: 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics
2002 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Raymond Davis Jr., Masatoshi Koshiba, Riccardo Giacconi Pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos / for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources.
Read commentary →Physics: Peter Higgs
Peter Higgs (1929) Peter Ware Higgs (29 May 1929 – 8 April 2024) was a British theoretical physicist, professor at the University of Edinburgh, and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the mass of subatomic particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Becquerel discovers natural radioactivity
1896: Becquerel discovers natural radioactivity Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation.
Read commentary →Physics: Carlo Rubbia
Carlo Rubbia (1934) Carlo Rubbia (born 31 March 1934) is an Italian particle physicist and inventor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Simon van der Meer for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN.
Read commentary →Physics: Elementary charge
Elementary charge e = 1.602×10⁻¹⁹ C The elementary charge, usually denoted by e, is a fundamental physical constant, defined as the electric charge carried by a single proton (+1 e) or, equivalently, the negative of the electric charge carried by a single electron, which has charge −1 e.
Read commentary →Physics: 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics
1983 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, William Alfred Fowler His theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars / for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe.
Read commentary →Physics: 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics
1980 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: James Watson Cronin, Val Logsdon Fitch The discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons.
Read commentary →Physics: Burton Richter
Burton Richter (1931) Burton Richter (March 22, 1931 – July 18, 2018) was an American physicist.
Read commentary →Physics: Pulsar
Pulsar A pulsar (pulsating star, on the model of quasar) is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles.
Read commentary →Physics: 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics
1955 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Willis Eugene Lamb, Polykarp Kusch His discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum / for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron.
Read commentary →Physics: Chadwick discovers neutron
1932: Chadwick discovers neutron A neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol n or n0, that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton.
Read commentary →Physics: Neutrino
Neutrino A neutrino ( new-TREE-noh; denoted by the Greek letter ν) is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity.
Read commentary →Physics: Compton scattering
Compton scattering Compton scattering (or the Compton effect) is the quantum theory of scattering of a high-frequency photon through an interaction with a charged particle, usually an electron.
Read commentary →Physics: Rutherford scattering experiments
Rutherford scattering experiments By: Ernest Rutherford (1911) The Rutherford scattering experiments were a landmark series of experiments by which scientists learned that every atom has a nucleus where all of its positive charge and most of its mass is concentrated.
Read commentary →Physics: Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann (1929) Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American theoretical physicist who played a preeminent role in the development of the theory of elementary particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Neutron star
Neutron star A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star.
Read commentary →Physics: 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics
2013 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: François Englert, Peter W. Higgs The theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
Read commentary →Physics: 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics
1939 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Ernest Orlando Lawrence The invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements.
Read commentary →Physics: 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics
1903 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Antoine Henri Becquerel, Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, née Skłodowska In recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity / in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel.
Read commentary →Physics: Masatoshi Koshiba
Masatoshi Koshiba (1926) Masatoshi Koshiba (小柴 昌俊, Koshiba Masatoshi; 19 September 1926 – 12 November 2020) was a Japanese physicist and one of the founders of neutrino astronomy.
Read commentary →Physics: Atom
Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements and the fundamental building blocks of matter.
Read commentary →Physics: Wu experiment
Wu experiment By: Chien-Shiung Wu (1956) The Wu experiment was a particle and nuclear physics experiment conducted in 1956 by the Chinese-American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu in collaboration with the Low Temperature Group of the US National Bureau of Standards.
Read commentary →Physics: Quark model proposed
1964: Quark model proposed A quark ( ) is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.
Read commentary →Physics: Electric field
Electric field An electric field (sometimes called E-field) is a physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons.
Read commentary →Physics: Planck time
Planck time tp = 5.391×10⁻⁴⁴ s In particle physics and physical cosmology, Planck units are a system of units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of four universal physical constants: c, G, ħ, and kB.
Read commentary →Physics: Planck temperature
Planck temperature Tp = 1.417×10³² K In particle physics and physical cosmology, Planck units are a system of units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of four universal physical constants: c, G, ħ, and kB.
Read commentary →Physics: James Chadwick
James Chadwick (1891) Sir James Chadwick (20 October 1891 – 24 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935 for his discovery of the neutron.
Read commentary →Physics: 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics
1984 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Carlo Rubbia, Simon van der Meer Their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction.
Read commentary →Physics: 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics
1952 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Felix Bloch, Edward Mills Purcell Their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith.
Read commentary →Physics: 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics
1949 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Hideki Yukawa His prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces.
Read commentary →Physics: Quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon wherein the quantum state of each particle in a group cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the particles are separated by a large distance.
Read commentary →Physics: Radioactivity
Radioactivity Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation.
Read commentary →Physics: 1948 Nobel Prize in Physics
1948 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett His development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation.
Read commentary →Physics: 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics
1975 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Aage Niels Bohr, Ben Roy Mottelson, Leo James Rainwater The discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection.
Read commentary →Physics: 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics
1979 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Sheldon Lee Glashow, Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg Their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current.
Read commentary →Physics: Electric current
Electric current An electric current is a flow of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space.
Read commentary →Physics: Avogadro constant
Avogadro constant Nₐ = 6.022×10²³ mol⁻¹ In chemistry, the Avogadro constant, commonly denoted NA, is a conversion constant or ratio between an amount of substance and the number of particles that it contains.
Read commentary →Physics: 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics
1951 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton Their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Double-slit experiment
Double-slit experiment By: Various (1909) In modern physics, the double-slit experiment demonstrates that light and matter can exhibit behavior associated with both classical particles and classical waves.
Read commentary →Physics: Boltzmann constant
Boltzmann constant k = 1.381×10⁻²³ J/K The Boltzmann constant (kB or k) is the proportionality factor that relates the average relative thermal energy of particles in a gas with the thermodynamic temperature of the gas.
Read commentary →Physics: Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi (1901) Enrico Fermi (Italian: [enˈriːko ˈfermi]; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian–American physicist, renowned for being the creator of the world's first artificial nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, and a member of the Manhattan Project.
Read commentary →Physics: 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics
1959 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Emilio Gino Segrè, Owen Chamberlain Their discovery of the antiproton.
Read commentary →Physics: Coulomb measures electric force law
1785: Coulomb measures electric force law Coulomb's inverse-square law, or simply Coulomb's law, is a scientific law of physics that describes the amount of force between two electrically charged particles at rest.
Read commentary →Physics: Fourier's law of heat conduction
Fourier's law of heat conduction Thermal conduction is the diffusion of thermal energy (heat) within one material or between materials in contact.
Read commentary →Physics: Rutherford proposes nuclear atom
1911: Rutherford proposes nuclear atom The Rutherford model is a name for the concept that an atom contains a compact nucleus.
Read commentary →Physics: Higgs boson discovered
2012: Higgs boson discovered The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the fields in particle physics theory.
Read commentary →Physics: Mass defect
Mass defect Form: ΔE = ΔmC² Nuclear binding energy in experimental physics is the minimum energy that is required to fully disassemble the nucleus of one atom into its constituent protons and neutrons, known collectively as nucleons.
Read commentary →Physics: 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics
1965 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, Richard P. Feynman Their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Second law of thermodynamics
Second law of thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on universal empirical observation concerning heat and energy interconversions.
Read commentary →Physics: Compton wavelength
Compton wavelength λc = 2.426×10⁻¹² m Compton scattering (or the Compton effect) is the quantum theory of scattering of a high-frequency photon through an interaction with a charged particle, usually an electron.
Read commentary →Physics: De Broglie hypothesis
De Broglie hypothesis Matter waves are a central part of the theory of quantum mechanics, being half of wave–particle duality.
Read commentary →Physics: Electron mass
Electron mass mₑ = 9.110×10⁻³¹ kg The electron (e−, or β− in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.
Read commentary →Physics: Potential energy
Potential energy Form: PE = mgh In physics, potential energy is the energy of an object or system due to the body's position relative to other objects, or the configuration of its particles.
Read commentary →Physics: de Broglie proposes matter waves
1924: de Broglie proposes matter waves Matter waves are a central part of the theory of quantum mechanics, being half of wave–particle duality.
Read commentary →Physics: Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe (1906) Hans Albrecht Eduard Bethe (; German: [ˈhans ˈbeːtə] ; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German-American physicist who made major contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis.
Read commentary →Physics: 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics
1961 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Robert Hofstadter, Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer His pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons / for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and his discovery in this connection of the effect which bears his name.
Read commentary →Physics: 1943 Nobel Prize in Physics
1943 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Otto Stern His contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton.
Read commentary →Physics: Standard Model
Standard Model The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles.
Read commentary →Physics: 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics
2008 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Yoichiro Nambu, Makoto Kobayashi, Toshihide Maskawa The discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics / for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature.
Read commentary →Physics: W and Z bosons observed at CERN
1983: W and Z bosons observed at CERN In particle physics, the W and Z bosons are vector bosons that are together known as the weak bosons or more generally as the intermediate vector bosons.
Read commentary →Physics: 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics
1995 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Martin L. Perl, Frederick Reines The discovery of the tau lepton / for the detection of the neutrino.
Read commentary →Physics: Frederick Reines
Frederick Reines (1918) Frederick Reines ( RY-nəs; March 16, 1918 – August 26, 1998) was an American physicist.
Read commentary →Physics: Fermi's golden rule
Fermi's golden rule In quantum physics, Fermi's golden rule is a formula that describes the transition rate (the probability of a transition per unit time) from one energy eigenstate of a quantum system to a group of energy eigenstates in a continuum, as a result of a weak perturbation.
Read commentary →Physics: 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics
1976 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Burton Richter, Samuel Chao Chung Ting Their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind.
Read commentary →Physics: Antimatter
Antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding particles in "ordinary" matter, and can be thought of as matter with reversed charge and parity, or going backward in time (see CPT symmetry).
Read commentary →Physics: Planck mass
Planck mass Mp = 2.176×10⁻⁸ kg In particle physics and physical cosmology, Planck units are a system of units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of four universal physical constants: c, G, ħ, and kB.
Read commentary →Physics: 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics
1992 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Georges Charpak His invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber.
Read commentary →Physics: 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics
1936 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Victor Franz Hess, Carl David Anderson His discovery of cosmic radiation / for his discovery of the positron.
Read commentary →Physics: J. J. Thomson discovers the electron
1897: J. J. Thomson discovers the electron The electron (e−, or β− in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.
Read commentary →Physics: 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics
1970 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén, Louis Eugène Félix Néel Fundamental work and discoveries in magnetohydro-dynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics / for fundamental work and discoveries concerning antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism which have led to important applications in solid state physics.
Read commentary →Physics: Higgs boson
Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the fields in particle physics theory.
Read commentary →Physics: 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics
1967 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Hans Albrecht Bethe His contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars.
Read commentary →Physics: 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics
1969 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Murray Gell-Mann His contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr model
Bohr model In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: Simon van der Meer
Simon van der Meer (1925) Simon van der Meer (24 November 1925 – 4 March 2011) was a Dutch particle accelerator physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Carlo Rubbia for contributions to the CERN project which led to the discovery of the W and Z particles, the two fundamental communicators of the weak interaction.
Read commentary →Physics: Neutrino experimentally detected
1956: Neutrino experimentally detected A neutrino ( new-TREE-noh; denoted by the Greek letter ν) is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity.
Read commentary →Physics: Pauli exclusion principle
Pauli exclusion principle In quantum mechanics, the Pauli exclusion principle (German: Pauli-Ausschlussprinzip) states that two or more identical particles with half-integer spins (i.
Read commentary →Physics: Homestake experiment
Homestake experiment By: Raymond Davis Jr. (1967) The Homestake experiment (sometimes referred to as the Davis experiment or Solar Neutrino Experiment and in original literature called Brookhaven Solar Neutrino Experiment or Brookhaven 37Cl (Chlorine) Experiment) was an experiment headed by astrophysicists Raymond Davis, Jr.
Read commentary →Physics: Coulomb's law
Coulomb's law Form: q₁q₂/4πε₀r² Coulomb's inverse-square law, or simply Coulomb's law, is a scientific law of physics that describes the amount of force between two electrically charged particles at rest.
Read commentary →Physics: 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics
1927 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Arthur Holly Compton, Charles Thomson Rees Wilson His discovery of the effect named after him / for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour.
Read commentary →Physics: Chicago Pile-1
Chicago Pile-1 By: Enrico Fermi (1942) Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the first artificial nuclear reactor.
Read commentary →Physics: Proton mass
Proton mass mₚ = 1.673×10⁻²⁷ kg A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol p, H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 e (elementary charge).
Read commentary →Physics: Temperature
Temperature In classical thermodynamics and kinetic theory, temperature reflects the average kinetic energy of the particles in a system, providing a quantitative measure of how energy is distributed among microscopic degrees of freedom.
Read commentary →Physics: 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics
1938 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Enrico Fermi His demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons.
Read commentary →Physics: Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung In particle physics, bremsstrahlung (; German: [ˈbʁɛms.
Read commentary →Physics: 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics
1935 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: James Chadwick The discovery of the neutron.
Read commentary →Physics: Potential energy
Potential energy In physics, potential energy is the energy of an object or system due to the body's position relative to other objects, or the configuration of its particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Electroweak unification developed
1967: Electroweak unification developed In particle physics, the electroweak interaction or electroweak force is the unified description of two of the fundamental interactions of nature: electromagnetism (electromagnetic interaction) and the weak interaction.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr radius
Bohr radius aB = 5.292×10⁻¹¹ m In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: Tau mass
Tau mass mτ = 3.167×10⁻²⁷ kg The tau (τ), also called the tau lepton, tau particle or tauon, is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with negative electric charge and a spin of 1/2.
Read commentary →Physics: Top quark discovered
1995: Top quark discovered The top quark (symbol: t) is the most massive of all observed elementary particles.
Read commentary →Physics: Takaaki Kajita
Takaaki Kajita (1959) Takaaki Kajita (梶田 隆章, Kajita Takaaki; Japanese pronunciation: [kadʑita takaːki]; born 9 March 1959) is a Japanese physicist, known for neutrino experiments at the Kamioka Observatory – Kamiokande and its successor, Super-Kamiokande.
Read commentary →Physics: 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics
1963 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Eugene Paul Wigner, Maria Goeppert Mayer, J. Hans D. Jensen His contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles / for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure.
Read commentary →Physics: Pair production
Pair production Pair production is the creation of a subatomic particle and its antiparticle from a neutral boson.
Read commentary →Physics: Electron
Electron The electron (e−, or β− in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge.
Read commentary →Physics: Newton's law of universal gravitation
Newton's law of universal gravitation Newton's law of universal gravitation describes gravity as a force by stating that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers of mass.
Read commentary →Physics: Cosmic ray
Cosmic ray Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light.
Read commentary →Physics: 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics
2009 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Charles Kuen Kao, Willard S. Boyle, George E. Smith Groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication / for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit - the CCD sensor.
Read commentary →Physics: 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics
1988 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, Jack Steinberger The neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino.
Read commentary →Physics: Rutherford model
Rutherford model The Rutherford model is a name for the concept that an atom contains a compact nucleus.
Read commentary →Physics: Neutron
Neutron A neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol n or n0, that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton.
Read commentary →Physics: Nuclear fission
Nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei.
Read commentary →Physics: Planck length
Planck length lp = 1.616×10⁻³⁵ m In particle physics and physical cosmology, Planck units are a system of units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of four universal physical constants: c, G, ħ, and kB.
Read commentary →Physics: Search for the Higgs boson
Search for the Higgs boson By: CERN (2012) The search for the Higgs boson was a 40-year effort by physicists to prove the existence or non-existence of the Higgs boson, first theorised in the 1960s.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr model energy levels
Bohr model energy levels Form: E = -13.6/n² eV In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: Samuel Ting
Samuel Ting (1936) Chao Chung Ting (Chinese: 丁肇中; pinyin: Dīng Zhàozhōng, born January 27, 1936), also known by his English name Samuel, is a Taiwanese-American particle physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976 with Burton Richter for discovering the subatomic J/ψ particle.
Read commentary →Physics: Jack Steinberger
Jack Steinberger (1921) Jack Steinberger (born Hans Jakob Steinberger; May 25, 1921 – December 12, 2020) was a German-born American physicist noted for his work with neutrinos, the subatomic particles considered to be elementary constituents of matter.
Read commentary →Physics: String theory
String theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings.
Read commentary →Physics: Bohr model explains atomic spectra
1913: Bohr model explains atomic spectra In atomic physics, the Bohr model or Rutherford–Bohr model is an obsolete model of the atom that incorporated some early quantum concepts.
Read commentary →Physics: 1968 Nobel Prize in Physics
1968 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Luis Walter Alvarez His decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis.
Read commentary →Physics: Henri Becquerel
Henri Becquerel (1852) Antoine Henri Becquerel (15 December 1852 – 25 August 1908) was a French experimental physicist who shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Marie and Pierre Curie for his discovery of radioactivity.
Read commentary →Physics: Lise Meitner
Lise Meitner (1878) Elise "Lise" Meitner ( MYTE-ner; German: [ˈliːzə ˈmaɪtnɐ] ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian and Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission.
Read commentary →Physics: Muon mass
Muon mass mμ = 1.883×10⁻²⁸ kg A muon ( M(Y)OO-on; from the Greek letter mu (μ) used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 e and a spin of 1/2 ħ, but with a much greater mass.
Read commentary →Physics: 1950 Nobel Prize in Physics
1950 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Cecil Frank Powell His development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method.
Read commentary →Physics: Coulomb's law
Coulomb's law Coulomb's inverse-square law, or simply Coulomb's law, is an experimental law of physics that calculates the amount of force between two electrically charged particles at rest.
Read commentary →Physics: Chien-Shiung Wu
Chien-Shiung Wu (1912) Chien-Shiung Wu (Chinese: 吳健雄; pinyin: Wú Jiànxióng; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997), also known as Madame Wu, was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics.
Read commentary →Physics: Geiger–Marsden experiments
Geiger–Marsden experiments By: Rutherford (1909) The Rutherford scattering experiments were a landmark series of experiments by which scientists learned that every atom has a nucleus where all of its positive charge and most of its mass is concentrated.
Read commentary →Physics: Universe
Universe The universe comprises all of existence: all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from sub-atomic particles to entire galactic filaments.
Read commentary →Physics: Nuclear fission discovered
1938: Nuclear fission discovered Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei.
Read commentary →Physics: 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics
2015 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Takaaki Kajita, Arthur B. McDonald The discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.
Read commentary →Physics: 1990 Nobel Prize in Physics
1990 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to: Jerome I. Friedman, Henry W. Kendall, Richard E. Taylor Their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics.
Read commentary →Physics: Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation.
Read commentary →Physics: Quark
Quark A quark ( ) is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.
Read commentary →Physics: Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford (1871) Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937), was a New Zealand physicist and chemist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics.
Read commentary →Physics: Law of universal gravitation
Law of universal gravitation Form: F = Gm₁m₂/r² Newton's law of universal gravitation describes gravity as a force by stating that every particle attracts every other particle in the universe with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers of mass.
Read commentary →Physics: Tsung-Dao Lee
Tsung-Dao Lee (1926) Tsung-Dao Lee (Chinese: 李政道; pinyin: Lǐ Zhèngdào; November 24, 1926 – August 4, 2024) was a Chinese-American physicist known for his work on parity violation, the Lee–Yang theorem, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons, and soliton stars.
Read commentary →Physics: W boson mass
W boson mass mW = 80.379 GeV/c² In particle physics, the W and Z bosons are vector bosons that are together known as the weak bosons or more generally as the intermediate vector bosons.
Read commentary →Physics: Z boson mass
Z boson mass mZ = 91.188 GeV/c² In particle physics, the W and Z bosons are vector bosons that are together known as the weak bosons or more generally as the intermediate vector bosons.
Read commentary →Physics: Proton
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol p, H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 e (elementary charge).
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