Strangeness

Strangeness is a property of elementary particles, which is part of the quantum number system used in quantum mechanics to describe the different states of these particles. It was first proposed in 1953 by Murray Gell-Mann and Kazuhiko Nishijima to explain the behavior of certain particles in particle accelerators.

Definition

Strangeness is defined as the difference between the number of strange quarks and strange antiquarks in a particle. It is a conserved quantity in strong and electromagnetic interactions, but not in weak interactions. This means that the total strangeness of a system of particles is unchanged during interactions that involve the strong or electromagnetic forces, but can change in interactions involving the weak force.

History

The concept of strangeness was introduced to account for the fact that certain particles, known as kaons and hyperons, were produced readily in particle accelerator experiments, but decayed much more slowly than expected. This was explained by proposing that these particles contained a new type of quark, the strange quark, which could be created easily, but decayed via the weak force, which is much slower than the strong force.

Strangeness in Quarks

In the quark model, each type of quark carries a different quantum number, including strangeness. The strange quark has a strangeness of -1, while the strange antiquark has a strangeness of +1. Other types of quarks have a strangeness of 0.

Strangeness Conservation

Strangeness is conserved in all strong and electromagnetic interactions, which means that the total strangeness of a system remains constant during such interactions. However, it is not conserved in weak interactions, which allows strange particles to decay into non-strange particles.

See Also

• Quantum Mechanics
• Elementary Particles
• Quark Model
• Particle Accelerators
• Quantum Number
• Strong Force
• Electromagnetic Force
• Weak Force