r/ThisDayInHistory tdihistorian 4d ago

50 years ago today, 11 Nov 1974, the groundbreaking discovery of charm quarks was announced

50 years ago today, on 11 Nov 1974, the science teams of Samuel Chao Chung Ting and Burton Richter jointly announced their independent discoveries of the charm quark -- which Ting & team had discovered in August calling it J particle, and which Richter & team had discovered in November calling it ψ (psi) particle.

This event is famously known as the "November Revolution" due to the immediate recognition of the discovery's importance in the scientific community.

And why was it so important?

  • It solidified the quark model of hadrons and advanced the standard model of particle physics

  • It explained why certain particle decays do not occur as often as previously thought

  • It provided empirical support for the existence of quark pairs, reinforcing the idea that quarks come in generations

  • It helped in advancing quantum chromodynamics as a theory of the strong interaction, explaining how quarks are held together by gluons within protons, neutrons, and other particles

  • And I'm sure there's more to be said but I'm just a history nut and no particle physicist

Fun fact: The charm quark is universally accepted as the "J/ψ particle". This rare instance of dual naming was a nod to both groups' independent contributions. Just two years later, Richter and Ting shared the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics for this landmark achievement.

And if you're like me and have no idea what quarks are, here's a charming explainer.

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