tzs@mit-ccc@sri-unix (11/23/82)
I just thought of something about the little beasties. Does anyone actually
believe in a fundamental particle that weights as much as an amoeba? Also,
now that Gell'Mann et al. have come up with the wonderful symmetry of the
Eight-fold way, what will the monopole do to it? I seem to remember that
supposedly the difference between the electron, the muon, and the neutrino
could be explained as more and more violent examples of symmetry breaking
among the S(2) groups. Where does the monopole go? What happens to the
beautiful idea of the S-matrix? Can monopoles change into electrons? Is there
any reason why electrons are released in reactions involving neutrinos, which,
after all, "are distinguished from other particles mainly by what they do
not have and do not do."and certainly don't have charge, magnetic or
otherwise?
And in closing...will "The Tao of Physics" have to be re-written?
(having fun)---tzs---gwyn@BRL@sri-unix (11/23/82)
From: Doug Gwyn <gwyn@BRL> The 8-fold way long ago became much more elaborate; I haven't been keeping track lately but with "charm", "color", "flavor", "beauty", etc., etc. this whole business smacks of numerology. It is my impression that the elaborateness is needed because of the very idea of basing a field theory on a literal infinity of particles -- thus the "renormalizations" to eliminate divergences, and so forth. The S matrix is just fine, for an inherently linear theory such as quantum theory. It is not tied to any particular symmetry group, as far as I am aware.