Related papers: Fermi theory of beta decay: A first attempt at ele…
The history of weak interactions starting with Fermi's creation of the beta decay theory and culminating in its modern avatar in the form of the electroweak gauge theory is described. Discoveries of parity violation, matter-antimatter…
Understanding of the weak force is traced from Fermi's theory of beta decay to the V-A theory of the mid 1950's. The theoretical suggestion and experimental confirmation of parity violation in the weak force is discussed. Topics are…
Using numerical electron wave functions and state-of-the-art nuclear many-body methods, I evaluate the $\beta$-decay spectra for typical decay channels of spherical nuclei. I check errors brought by various approximations used for deriving…
The Fermi function $F(Z,E)$ accounts for QED corrections to beta decays that are enhanced at either small electron velocity $\beta$ or large nuclear charge $Z$. For precision applications, the Fermi function must be combined with other…
Fermi helped establish a new framework for understanding matter, based on quantum theory. This framework refines and improves traditional atomism in two crucial respects. First, the elementary constituents of matter belong to a very small…
Electroweak theory joins electromagnetism with the weak force in a single quantum field theory, ascribing the two fundamental interactions--so different in their manifestations--to a common symmetry principle. How the electroweak gauge…
An empirical formula relating the physical masses of elementary particles and the Fermi constant is proposed. Although no mechanism or theoretical model behind this formula is advocated, we seek for a possible physical interpretation. If…
Electroweak unification is implied by the local structure theorem of distribution theory applied to the causal interval R=X-Z between two space-time points X and Z. Taking R as generating function, the potentials of the electromagnetic and…
A quantum mechanical wave of a finite size moves like a classical particle and shows a unique decay probability. Because the wave function evolves according to the Schr\"{o}dinger equation, it preserves the total energy but not the kinetic…
The physics of quantum degenerate Fermi gases in uniform as well as in harmonically trapped configurations is reviewed from a theoretical perspective. Emphasis is given to the effect of interactions which play a crucial role, bringing the…
The Fermi function is historically derived from the Dirac equation or the Schr\"odinger equation. However, we claim that the Fermi function should be derived from quantum field theory. Then, we obtain the following results: (1) We give the…
The physics of supersymmetry is reviewed from the perspective of physics at ever increasing energies. Starting from the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model at the electroweak scale, we proceed to higher energies seeking…
Traditional ideas for testing unification involve searching for the decay of the proton and its branching modes. We point out that several astrophysical experiments are now reaching sensitivities that allow them to explore supersymmetric…
Although the wish to unify theories into something more fundamental is omnipresent and compelling, nonetheless, in a sense, theories must first be unifiable. The reasons for the success of the unification of electricity and magnetism into a…
The Fermi constant ($G_F$) is extremely well measured through the muon lifetime, defining one of the key fundamental parameters in the Standard Model (SM). Therefore, to search for physics beyond the SM (BSM) via $G_F$, the constraining…
Absolute scaling electrical with gravitational forces has remained unsuccessful until today. Using recent results on scaling spectroscopic constants, we now scale the internal electrical potential of a two particle system by its…
Degenerate Fermi gases of atoms near a Feshbach resonance show universal thermodynamic properties, which are here calculated with the geometry of thermodynamics, and the thermodynamic curvature $R$. Unitary thermodynamics is expressed as…
Dawning neutron physics was more complex than one might expect. The chance that the neutron comprised a proton and an electron was diffusely taken into account after the discovery of the neutron. Moreover, uncertainties persisted about the…
We consider Kaluza-Klein theories as candidates for the unification of gravity and the electro-weak model. In particular, we fix how to reproduce geometrically the interaction between fermions and gauge bosons, in the low energy limit.
We summarize basic features associated to dynamical breaking of the electroweak symmetry. The knowledge of the phase diagram of strongly coupled theories as function of the number of colors, flavors and matter representation plays a…