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Decay of V-Particles

Nature volume 167, pages 501–503 (1951)Cite this article

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IN 1947, Rochester and Butler1, using a Wilson cloud chamber in a magnetic field, observed two F-shaped tracks associated with high-energy penetrating showers. The first event consisted of two tracks at minimum ionization starting from a point in the gas, and the angle of the resulting fork was 67. The second event consisted of a minimum ionization track, which was apparently scattered through 20 in the gas of the chamber, but no recoil track was produced. The two events were interpreted respectively as the spontaneous decay of a neutral and of a charged particle, each with a minimum mass of about 1,000 me.

From 1947 to 1949, Butler et al.∗ and Barker and Butler3 operated the same cloud chamber at sea-level, but no additional F-shaped tracks were observed. Anderson and his colleagues4, using a similar apparatus, both at sea-level and at an altitude of 3,200 m., found thirty-four examples of the F-shaped tracks, thirty neutral and four charged. They concluded that the interpretation suggested by Rochester and Butler was correct. After consultation with Prof. Carl Anderson, Prof. P. M. S. Blackett has suggested that the particles responsible for the F-shaped tracks should provisionally be called ∗F-particles', so postponing a more precise nomenclature until further knowledge of their properties is available.

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References

  1. Rochester, G. D., and Butler, C. C., Nature, 160, 855 (1947).

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  2. Butler, C. C., Rosser, W. G. V., and Barker, K. H., Proc. Phys. Soc., A, 63, 145 (1950).

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  3. Barker, K. H., and Butler, C. C., Proc. Phys. Soc., A, 64, 4 (1951).

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  4. Seriff, A. J., Leighton, R. B., Hsiao, C., Cowan, E. W., and Anderson, C. D., Phys. Rev., 78, 290 (1950).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Laboratories, University of Manchester https://www.nature.com/nature

    R. ARMENTEROS, K. H. BARKER, C. C. BUTLER, A. CACHON & A. H. CHAPMAN

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  1. R. ARMENTEROS
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  2. K. H. BARKER
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  3. C. C. BUTLER
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  4. A. CACHON
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  5. A. H. CHAPMAN
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ARMENTEROS, R., BARKER, K., BUTLER, C. et al. Decay of V-Particles. Nature 167, 501–503 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/167501a0

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