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Production of mesons and the localization of field energy

1953; Royal Society; Volume: 219; Issue: 1138 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1098/rspa.1953.0147

2053-9169

H. J. Bhabha,

Nuclear physics research studies

It is shown that the production of mesons and nucleons in very energetic nucleon-nucleon collisions depends essentially on the extent to which the observed rest mass of a nucleon is due to its meson field* and the spatial distribution of the energy in this field. The production of showers of mesons and nucleons is considered, assuming that a fraction ͼ of the observed rest mass of the nucleon is carried by the field, this rest mass being distributed according to some arbitrary function f of distance from the centre of the nucleon. The remaining fraction of the rest mass is assumed to be concentrated in a sphere of radius ζ round the centre of the nucleon, this radius being of the order of the Compton wave-length of the nucleon or less. It is shown how the experimental study of meson nucleon production in high-energy encounters provides a method of obtaining information on the contribution of the meson field to the rest mass of a nucleon, and the localization of this energy in the meson field.