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Articles: My Thoughts | In quest of Infinity-06
- Prof. venkata ramanamurty mallajosyula
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A Version 2.0 was needed but it was not easy to find. However, three young people, Feynman and Schwinger in America and Tomanaga in Japan independently discovered this version, and it made great waves. This new, improved version [that almost sounds like a toothpaste ad but this version of QED deserved all the adjectives one could use!] was put to one test after another and it explained experimental results with hitherto unimaginable precision.
I mean they would do a very precise experiment, yielding a result accurate to seven or eight places of decimals. QED calculations would give the same answer. In fact, they would give to more decimal places, forcing experimenters to improve their accuracy. So for some time, it was experiment and theory each trying to outdo the other. QED was so successful, that Feynman described it a Jewel of Physics.
After a while, physicists said, “OK, QED is great but let us move on and turn our attention to the mysteries inside the nucleus more carefully.” Thus from 1954 or so to say 1970, a lot of attention was given to nuclear physics. The first question asked was: “What on earth is the nucleus exactly?” Bohr said it is a small entity with positive charge and Rutherford in Cambridge had not only determined the size to be around 10-12 cm or so, but also figured out that the nucleus was made up of protons and neutrons. From then on, it was one question after another, almost endlessly. When one question got answered, another popped up – that is the way it is in science which is why many head for science; it gives a high non-stop, without drugs that is!
So where was Physics, say around the seventies? That can be summarised as follows:
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