CP violation: Difference between revisions

In 1964, [[James Cronin]], [[Val Fitch]] and coworkers provided clear evidence from [[kaon]] decay that CP-symmetry could be broken.<ref name=FCE>[http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2008/ph204/coleman1/ The Fitch-Cronin Experiment]</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=This appears to be coursework for a class, and does not appear to be vetted scholarship.|date=February 2024}} This work<ref name=FC1964>{{cite journal |title=Evidence for the 2&pi; Decay of the K{{su|b=2|p=0}} Meson System |journal=[[Physical Review Letters]] |year=1964|volume=13|issue=4 |pages=138 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.13.138|bibcode = 1964PhRvL..13..138C |last1=Christenson |first1=J. H. |last2=Cronin |first2=J. W. |last3=Fitch |first3=V. L. |last4=Turlay |first4=R.|doi-access=free }}</ref> won them the 1980 Nobel Prize. This discovery showed that weak interactions violate not only the charge-conjugation symmetry '''C''' between particles and antiparticles and the '''P''' or parity symmetry, but also their combination. The discovery shocked particle physics and opened the door to questions still at the core of particle physics and of cosmology today. The lack of an exact CP-symmetry, but also the fact that it is so close to a symmetry, introduced a great puzzle.