PROCESSES INVOLVING CHARGED MESONS

Abstract

In recent investigations with the photographic method^1,2, it has been shown that slow charged particles of small mass, present as a component of the cosmic radiation at high altitudes, can enter nuclei and produce disintegrations with the emission of heavy particles. It is convenient to apply the term ‘meson’ to any particle with a mass intermediate between that of a proton and an electron. In continuing our experiments we have found evidence of mesons which, at the end of their range, produce secondary mesons. We have also observed transmutations in which slow mesons are ejected from disintegrating nuclei. Several features of these processes remain to be elucidated, but we present the following account of the experiments because the results appear to bear closely on the important problem of developing a satisfactory meson theory of nuclear forces.