Composição histórica da teoria eletrofraca: da reformulação V-A à detecção dos bósons W+, W- e Z0

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de apresentar uma Composição Histórica a respeito de estudos que culminaram na elaboração da teoria de unificação das interações eletromagnéticas e fracas, a Teoria Eletrofraca. Entende-se que as contribuições teóricas e experimentais envolvidas nesse processo constituíram novos rumos para a Física de Partículas daquela época e elucidaram questões relevantes para o entendimento da estrutura da matéria. Neste artigo, serão apresentados estudos que partem da Teoria V-A, apresentam as primeiras hipóteses de bósons mediadores para a interação fraca, possíveis relações entre as interações fracas e eletromagnéticas, e as contribuições teóricas e experimentais que consolidaram a Teoria Eletrofraca. Este artigo foi elaborado com base em encaminhamentos metodológicos de pesquisas em História da Ciência e pressupostos da elaboração de uma Composição Histórica, considerando fontes primárias e seguindo os princípios de inteligibilidade, valores cognitivos e fidedignidade, que resultam em um material que reúne elementos históricos, epistemológicos, axiológicos e científicos para a inteligibilidade de um conteúdo científico com objetivos pedagógicos e de disseminação de conhecimentos.Historical composition of electroweak theory: from V-A reformulation to detection of W+, W- and Z0 bosonsAbstractThis paper aims to present a Historical Composition about studies that culminated in the elaboration of the theory of unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions, the Electroweak Theory. It is understood that the theoretical and experimental contributions involved in this process constitute new directions for Particle Physics of that time and clarified relevant issues for the understanding of the structure of matter. In this article we will present studies that depart from Theory V-A, present the first hypothesis of mediating bosons for the weak interaction, possible relations between weak and electromagnetic interactions, and the theoretical and experimental contributions that consolidated the Electro-Theory Theory. This article was elaborated based on methodological referrals of research in History of Science and assumptions of the elaboration of a Historical Composition, considering primary sources and following the principles of intelligibility, cognitive values and reliability, which result in a material that brings together historical, epistemological elements axiological and scientific for the intelligibility of a scientific content with pedagogical purpose and knowledge dissemination.Keywords: Electroweak theory; Historical composition; Unification; Historical experiments.

Unification through Generalised Proper Time: The Elementary Construction of the Theory

Unification based upon the generalisation of proper time is proposed as a comprehensive framework to account for the fundamental structure of matter, in a manner contrasting with the more familiar approach based on extra dimensions of space. The elementary properties of matter to be incorporated include the Standard Model of particle physics together with a source for the dark sector and a coherent formalism for quantum gravity. We elaborate upon the manner in which all such material phenomena and empirical properties as distributed in an extended 4-dimensional spacetime can be encompassed within, and derived from, the continuous flow of time alone via a generalised arithmetic form for infinitesimal intervals of proper time. This approach will also be compared and contrasted with the basic structure of causal set theory as a means of demonstrating how it is possible to construct a full physical theory essentially from elements of time alone, as explicitly developed from the most elementary level. The conception of time as utilised and elucidated in this theory, with emphasis upon the causal continuum properties and as the basis for unification, will be clarified.

reciprocalspaceship: a Python library for crystallographic data analysis

Crystallography uses the diffraction of X-rays, electrons or neutrons by crystals to provide invaluable data on the atomic structure of matter, from single atoms to ribosomes. Much of crystallography's success is due to the software packages developed to enable automated processing of diffraction data. However, the analysis of unconventional diffraction experiments can still pose significant challenges – many existing programs are closed source, sparsely documented, or challenging to integrate with modern libraries for scientific computing and machine learning. Described here is reciprocalspaceship, a Python library for exploring reciprocal space. It provides a tabular representation for reflection data from diffraction experiments that extends the widely used pandas library with built-in methods for handling space groups, unit cells and symmetry-based operations. As is illustrated, this library facilitates new modes of exploratory data analysis while supporting the prototyping, development and release of new methods.

NMR for Single Ion Magnets

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance is particularly sensitive to the electronic structure of matter and is thus a powerful tool to characterize in-depth the magnetic properties of a system. NMR is indeed increasingly recognized as an ideal tool to add precious structural information for the development of Single Ion Magnets, small complexes that are recently gaining much popularity due to their quantum computing and spintronics applications. In this review, we recall the theoretical principles of paramagnetic NMR, with particular attention to lanthanoids, and we give an overview of the recent advances in this field.

On the Dressed Photon Constant and Its Implication for a Novel Perspective on Cosmology

As an important follow-up report on the latest study of the first author (H.S.) on an off-shell quantum field causing a dressed photon and dark energy, we further discuss a couple of intriguing subjects based on the new notion of simultaneous conformal symmetry breaking. One is the dressed photon constant. If we use it, in addition to h¯ and c, as the third component of natural units, it is defined as the geometric mean of the smallest and the largest lengths: Planck length and that relating to the cosmological constant. Interestingly, this length (≈50 nanometers) seems to give a rough measure of the Heisenberg cut for electromagnetic phenomena. The other is a new perspective on cosmology that combines two original notions, i.e., twin universes and conformal cyclic cosmology, proposed, respectively, by Petit and Penrose, into one novel picture where universes expand self-similarly. We show the possibility that twin universes having a dual structure of (matter with (dark energy and matter)) vs. corresponding anti-entities, separated by an event horizon embedded in the geometric structure of de Sitter space, undergo endless cyclic processes of birth and death, as in the case of the pair creation and annihilation of elementary particles through the intervention of a conformal light field.

Dressed Photon Constant as a Key Parameter for the Conformal Cyclic Cosmology of Twin Universes

As an important follow-up report on the latest study of the first author (H.S.) on an off-shell quantum field causing a dressed photon and dark energy, we further discuss a couple of intriguing subjects based on our new theory. One is the dressed photon constant. If we use it, in addition to h¯ and c, as the third component of natural units, then it is defined as the geometric mean of the smallest and the largest lengths: Planck length and that relating to the cosmological constant. Interestingly, this length (≈ 50 nanometers) seems to give a rough measure of the Heisenberg cut for electromagnetic phenomena. The other is a new perspective on cosmology that combines two original notions, i.e., twin universes and conformal cyclic cosmology, proposed respectively by Petit and Penrose, into one novel picture where universes expand self-similarly. We show the possibility that twin universes having a dual structure of [matter with (dark energy & matter)] vs. corresponding anti-entities, separated by an event horizon embedded in the geometric structure of de Sitter space, undergo endless cyclic processes of birth and death, as in the case of the pair creation and annihilation of elementary particles through the intervention of a conformal light field.

Parallelohedrons of Higher Dimension and Partition of N-Dimensional Spaces

For more than 100 years in science, many researchers, when trying to solve Hilbert's 18th problem of constructing n-dimensional space, used the principles of the Delaunay geometric theory. In this book, as a result of a careful analysis of the work in this direction, it is shown that the principles of the Delaunay theory are erroneous. They do not take into account the features of figures of higher dimensionality, do not agree with modern advances in the physics of the structure of matter, and lead to erroneous results. A new approach to solving the 18th Hilbert problem is proposed, based on modern knowledge in the field of the structure of matter and the geometric properties of figures of higher dimension. The basis of the new approach to solving the 18th Hilbert problem is the theory developed by the author on polytopic prismahedrons.

The tree and the table: Darwin, Mendeleev and the meaning of ‘theory’

Darwin and Mendeleev revolutionized their respective disciplines by organizing diverse facts into simple, pictorial representations—a tree and a table. Each representation provides a foundation for a scientific theory for two reasons. First, a successful theory unites diverse phenomena under a single explanatory framework. Second, it does so in a way that defines paths for future inquiry that extends its reach and tests its limits. For Mendeleev, this meant creating a table that accommodated the current understanding of the elements but also contained blanks that predicted the discovery of previously unknown elements. More importantly, the structure of the table helped shape future research to define the structure of matter. For Darwin, envisioning life as a tree meant defining the rules that govern the origin of adaptations, species and shape the constantly shifting diversity of life. At the same time, his theory inspired research into the laws of inheritance and created diverse new areas of research, like behaviour, sexual selection and biogeography. The shared property of Darwin and Mendeleev's contributions was to provide a unifying rational explanation for natural phenomena. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Mendeleev and the periodic table’.