Theory Of Nuclear Forces

Meson Theory Of Nuclear Forces
Pages: 80

Since the publication of the last edition some of the older experiments particularly those on angular dis tribution in proton-neutron scattering have been ren dered obsolete by more recent work. In addition, some consequences of the strong coupling theory have been clarified. In this respect, improvements have been introduced into the text. On the other hand, the provisional state of the meson theory has become still more obvious as a result of the experimental discovery of at least two kinds of mesons by C. F. Powell and G. P. S. Occhialini, and by the absence of negative meson capture by the lighter nuclei by M. Conversi, E. Pancini, and O. Piccioni. In view of the failure of all present theories in explaining these new facts, the author saw no possibility of making an essential improvement in the substance of this book. But the recent success of C. M. G. Lattes and E. Gardner in producing mesons artificially will presum ably bring forth a great change of the whole situation in the near future. Zurich, Switzerland WOLFGANG PAULI June, 1948 Preface to the First Edition The purpose of this volume is to make accessible to a larger number of readers the lectures which I gave in the autumn of 1944 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Without pretending to contain any thing essentially new, they may serve to give to students and research workers a first orientation in the more recent literature on the theory of the interaction of mesons with protons and neutrons nucleons and the interactions between nucleons derived from it. Despite the imperfections of my lectures, the original notes written by Dr. J. F. Carlson and Dr. A. J. F. Siegert have been amended only slightly, to preserve the in formal character of the lectures and to emphasize the very provisional state of the problems in question, to which new experiments may in the future make im portant contributions