neutrino hypothesis

E237108

The neutrino hypothesis is Wolfgang Pauli’s 1930 proposal of a neutral, nearly massless particle to explain missing energy and momentum in beta decay, laying the groundwork for the discovery of the neutrino.

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neutrino hypothesis canonical 1

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Predicate Object
instanceOf physical hypothesis
theoretical proposal in particle physics
acceptedByCommunity gradually during 1930s and 1940s
addressesProblem apparent violation of energy conservation in beta decay
apparent violation of momentum conservation in beta decay
associatedWithInteraction weak nuclear force
associatedWithParticle lepton
assumesProperty conservation of angular momentum in beta decay
conservation of energy in beta decay
conservation of momentum in beta decay
electrically neutral
very small mass
weakly interacting
concernsNucleus beta-unstable nucleus
concernsParticle beta electron
concernsProcess nuclear beta decay
eventuallyConfirmedBy Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment
neutrino detection experiments
formalizedIn Fermi theory of beta decay
historicalSignificance early example of predicting a particle from conservation laws
key step in development of weak interaction theory
laid groundwork for discovery of the neutrino
influencedField nuclear physics
particle physics
weak interaction theory
inspiredDevelopmentOf Fermi theory of beta decay
surface form: Fermi’s beta decay theory
introducesConceptOf nearly massless particle
neutral elementary particle
spin-1/2 fermion
motivatedSearchFor neutrino in nuclear reactors
originalNameGivenByPauli neutron
originatedFrom Pauli’s letter to the Tübingen conference
predictsExistenceOf electron neutrino
neutrino
proposalDate 1930
proposedBy Wolfgang Pauli
proposedIn 1930
proposedInContextOf beta decay
proposedToExplain continuous beta spectrum
missing energy in beta decay
missing momentum in beta decay
relatedConcept lepton number conservation
three-body decay in beta processes
relatedToConservationLaw angular momentum conservation
energy conservation
momentum conservation
renamedBy Enrico Fermi
renamedTo neutrino
status confirmed by experiment

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Wolfgang Pauli notableConcept neutrino hypothesis