Item – Thèses Canada

Numéro d'OCLC
75810099
Auteur
Monaldi, Daniela,1963-
Titre
The fate of the mesotron : the Rome experiment on the nuclear absorption of hard cosmic rays.
Diplôme
Ph. D. -- University of Toronto, 2005
Éditeur
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, [2006]
Description
4 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Résumé
In the 1938-1946 period, cosmic ray studies, nuclear physics, and quantum field theory merged in the cluster of researches related to the spontaneous decay of the particle then called 'mesotron', or 'meson'. For the first time, an elementary particle was observed to be spontaneously unstable. The conceptual framework and the material apparatus far the study of this new phenomenon had to be created and stabilized. Throughout the last part of World War II and its immediate aftermath, a team of young Italian physicists pursued and achieved the "direct" observation of mesotron decays. They worked within the Italian cosmic-ray tradition while successfully innovating upon its instrumentation and experimental methods. The acquired control of mesotron decay, together with the then current understanding of the nature of mesotrons, directed them to the investigation of another new phenomenon, the capture of mesotrons by atomic nuclei. The outcome of their experiment was unexpected and had far-reaching consequences.
ISBN
0494026251
9780494026250