Nicola Cabibbo: Difference between revisions
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Cabibbo solved the first issue by postulating weak universality, which involves a similarity in the weak interaction coupling strength between different generations of particles. He solved the second issue with a mixing angle <b>θ<sub>c</sub></b>, now called the Cabibbo angle, between the down and strange quarks. |
Cabibbo solved the first issue by postulating weak universality, which involves a similarity in the weak interaction coupling strength between different generations of particles. He solved the second issue with a mixing angle <b>θ<sub>c</sub></b>, now called the Cabibbo angle, between the down and strange quarks. |
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Before the discovery of the third [[generation (particle physics)|generation]] of quarks (1973), Cabibbo's work was extended by [[Makoto Kobayashi (physicist)|Makoto Kobayashi]] and [[Toshihide Maskawa]] to the [[Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix]]. |
Before the discovery of the third [[generation (particle physics)|generation]] of quarks (1973), Cabibbo's work was extended by [[Makoto Kobayashi (physicist)|Makoto Kobayashi]] and [[Toshihide Maskawa]] to the [[Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix]]. In [[2008]], Kobayashi and Maskawa shared one half of the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for their work. Some physicists, especially Italian, had bitter feelings that the Nobel Prize committee failed to reward Cabibbo for his part. |
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<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14885-physics-nobel-snubs-key-researcher.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news8_head_dn14885|title=Physics Nobel snubs key researcher|date=07 October 2008 |
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|publisher=New Scientist}}</ref> |
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Asked for a reaction on the prize, Cabibbo preferred to give no comment. According to sources close to him, he was very embittered. |
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<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.corriere.it/scienze_e_tecnologie/08_ottobre_07/nobel_fisica_italiani_traditi_d9993120-946d-11dd-a0d8-00144f02aabc.shtml|title=Nobel, l'amarezza dei fisici italiani|date=07 October 2008 |
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|publisher=Corriere della Sera}}</ref> |
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More recently, Cabibbo has been researching applications of [[supercomputer]]s to address problems in modern physics with the experiments [[APE 100]] and [[APE 1000]]. |
More recently, Cabibbo has been researching applications of [[supercomputer]]s to address problems in modern physics with the experiments [[APE 100]] and [[APE 1000]]. |
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==References== |
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Among the recipients of the 2008 Nobel for physics are two japanese researchers, [[Makoto Kobayashi (physicist)|Makoto Kobayashi]] and [[Toshihide Maskawa]], whose work was a generalization of the novel idea proposed by Cabibbo in 1963. |
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{{reflist}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 19:56, 7 October 2008
Nicola Cabibbo (born 10 April 1935) is an Italian physicist, best known for work on the weak nuclear interaction. He was also the president of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics from 1983 to 1992, and since 1993 he has been the president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Cabibbo's major work on the weak nuclear interaction originated from a need to explain two observed phenomena:
- the transitions between up and down quarks, between electrons and electron neutrinos, and between muons and muon neutrinos had similar amplitudes; and
- the transitions with change in strangeness had amplitudes equal to 1/4 of those with no change in strangeness.
Cabibbo solved the first issue by postulating weak universality, which involves a similarity in the weak interaction coupling strength between different generations of particles. He solved the second issue with a mixing angle θc, now called the Cabibbo angle, between the down and strange quarks.
Before the discovery of the third generation of quarks (1973), Cabibbo's work was extended by Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa to the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. In 2008, Kobayashi and Maskawa shared one half of the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. Some physicists, especially Italian, had bitter feelings that the Nobel Prize committee failed to reward Cabibbo for his part. [1] Asked for a reaction on the prize, Cabibbo preferred to give no comment. According to sources close to him, he was very embittered. [2]
More recently, Cabibbo has been researching applications of supercomputers to address problems in modern physics with the experiments APE 100 and APE 1000.
References
- ^ "Physics Nobel snubs key researcher". New Scientist. 07 October 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Nobel, l'amarezza dei fisici italiani". Corriere della Sera. 07 October 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Unitary Symmetry and Leptonic Decays, Cabibbo, Physical Review Letters 10, 531-533 (1963)
- Cabibbo biography from the Instituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (in Italian)
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