Wu experiment
E400610
The Wu experiment was a landmark 1956 nuclear physics experiment that demonstrated the violation of parity conservation in weak interactions, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of fundamental symmetries in nature.
All labels observed (4)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Wu experiment canonical | 3 |
| Wu experiment on cobalt-60 beta decay | 1 |
| Wu parity violation experiment | 1 |
| Wu–Lee–Yang experiment | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3921536 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Wu experiment Context triple: [Chien-Shiung Wu, knownFor, Wu experiment]
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A.
Kamiokande experiment
The Kamiokande experiment was a pioneering Japanese neutrino observatory that provided key evidence for solar and atmospheric neutrinos, contributing to the discovery of neutrino oscillations.
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B.
Ives–Stilwell experiment
The Ives–Stilwell experiment is a classic test of special relativity that measured the relativistic Doppler effect to confirm time dilation for fast-moving ions.
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C.
Brookhaven E821 experiment
The Brookhaven E821 experiment was a high-precision particle physics experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory that measured the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, providing an important test of the Standard Model.
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D.
Cockcroft–Walton experiment
The Cockcroft–Walton experiment was a pioneering 1932 nuclear physics experiment that achieved the first artificial disintegration of atomic nuclei using accelerated protons, confirming Einstein’s mass–energy equivalence.
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E.
Kennedy–Thorndike experiment
The Kennedy–Thorndike experiment is a classic test of special relativity that examined the constancy of the speed of light using an interferometer with unequal arm lengths and varying laboratory velocity.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Wu experiment Target entity description: The Wu experiment was a landmark 1956 nuclear physics experiment that demonstrated the violation of parity conservation in weak interactions, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of fundamental symmetries in nature.
-
A.
Kamiokande experiment
The Kamiokande experiment was a pioneering Japanese neutrino observatory that provided key evidence for solar and atmospheric neutrinos, contributing to the discovery of neutrino oscillations.
-
B.
Ives–Stilwell experiment
The Ives–Stilwell experiment is a classic test of special relativity that measured the relativistic Doppler effect to confirm time dilation for fast-moving ions.
-
C.
Brookhaven E821 experiment
The Brookhaven E821 experiment was a high-precision particle physics experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory that measured the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, providing an important test of the Standard Model.
-
D.
Cockcroft–Walton experiment
The Cockcroft–Walton experiment was a pioneering 1932 nuclear physics experiment that achieved the first artificial disintegration of atomic nuclei using accelerated protons, confirming Einstein’s mass–energy equivalence.
-
E.
Kennedy–Thorndike experiment
The Kennedy–Thorndike experiment is a classic test of special relativity that examined the constancy of the speed of light using an interferometer with unequal arm lengths and varying laboratory velocity.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
landmark experiment
ⓘ
nuclear physics experiment ⓘ physics experiment ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Wu experiment
ⓘ
surface form:
Wu–Lee–Yang experiment
Experimental test of parity conservation in beta decay ⓘ
surface form:
cobalt-60 beta decay parity violation experiment
|
| associatedScientist |
C. N. Yang
ⓘ
surface form:
Chen-Ning Yang
T. D. Lee ⓘ
surface form:
Tsung-Dao Lee
|
| conductedBy | Chien-Shiung Wu ⓘ |
| confirmedPredictionOf |
Experimental test of parity conservation in beta decay
ⓘ
surface form:
Lee–Yang parity violation theory
|
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| dateAnnounced | 1957 ⓘ |
| demonstrated |
parity nonconservation in weak interactions
ⓘ
violation of parity conservation ⓘ |
| evidenceFor |
chiral nature of weak interaction
ⓘ
violation of mirror symmetry in weak processes ⓘ |
| field |
nuclear physics
ⓘ
particle physics ⓘ weak interaction ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance | one of the most important experiments in 20th-century physics ⓘ |
| impact |
provided experimental basis for parity violation Nobel Prize
ⓘ
reshaped understanding of fundamental symmetries in nature ⓘ |
| inspiredBy |
Experimental test of parity conservation in beta decay
ⓘ
surface form:
Lee–Yang parity violation hypothesis
|
| interactionTypeStudied | weak interaction ⓘ |
| ledTo |
acceptance of parity violation in weak interactions
ⓘ
development of V-A theory of weak interactions ⓘ rejection of parity conservation as a universal symmetry ⓘ two-component neutrino theory ⓘ |
| location |
Low Temperature Laboratory, National Bureau of Standards
ⓘ
National Institute of Standards and Technology ⓘ
surface form:
National Bureau of Standards, United States
|
| measured | angular distribution of emitted electrons ⓘ |
| observed |
asymmetry in electron emission
ⓘ
preference for electron emission opposite to nuclear spin direction ⓘ |
| principalInvestigator | Chien-Shiung Wu ⓘ |
| processStudied | beta decay ⓘ |
| refuted | universal parity conservation ⓘ |
| relatedNobelPrize | 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
CP symmetry
ⓘ
beta decay of cobalt-60 ⓘ parity symmetry ⓘ weak nuclear force ⓘ |
| showed | maximal parity violation in beta decay ⓘ |
| testedTheory | parity conservation ⓘ |
| usedCondition |
low temperature
ⓘ
strong magnetic field ⓘ |
| usedIsotope |
60Co
ⓘ
cobalt-60 ⓘ |
| usedMaterial | polarized cobalt-60 nuclei ⓘ |
| year | 1956 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Wu experiment Description of subject: The Wu experiment was a landmark 1956 nuclear physics experiment that demonstrated the violation of parity conservation in weak interactions, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of fundamental symmetries in nature.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Wu experiment on cobalt-60 beta decay
this entity surface form:
Wu–Lee–Yang experiment
this entity surface form:
Wu parity violation experiment