Left--right symmetric gauge theories of weak and electromagnetic interactions

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6728240

Sidhu, D P

We review the recent progress in spontaneously broken left-right symmetric gauge theories of weak and electromagnetic interactions. Recently gauge theories based on the group SU(2)/Sub L/ x SU(2)/sub R/ x U(1) have been proposed as serious candidates for a unified description of the weak and electromagnetic interactions. Such theories have a number of attractive features which are not shared by the standard SU(2) x U(1) theories. Parity violation as well as CP-violation are spontaneous in origin and, therefore, theories are parity conserving before spontaneous breakdown of the symmetry and also afterwards at asymptotic energies. The asymmetry in low energy charged current weak interaction, i.e., predominance of left-handed charged current interactions over the right-handed ones, is a consequence of the symmetry breaking thus leading to a conceptually different picture of weak interaction at low energies. Another appealing feature of these theories is the beauty and richness of the structure of weak neutral current interactions. One can have a parity conserving structure of the neutral currents (one neutral boson (Z/sub V/) has pure vector and the other (Z/sub A/) pure axial vector coupling to quarks and leptons) which is natural in the technical sense of the word. Models of this type provide the most elegant explanation of the failure to find parity violation in atoms at the level predicted on the basis of the Weinberg-Salam model. In spite of manifestly parity conserving neutral current interactions, ..nu../sub ..mu../N and anti ..nu../sub ..mu../N (also ..nu../sub ..mu../e and anti ..nu../sub ..mu../e) neutral current cross-sections have to be unequal in these theories because of the definite parity and charge conjugation of the Z-bosons.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-02-0016
• OSTI ID: 6728240
• Report Number(s): BNL-24129; CONF-780453-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

645202* -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Interactions & Properties-Theoretical-- Electromagnetic Interactions & Properties
645203 -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Interactions & Properties-Theoretical-- Weak Interactions & Properties
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
GAUGE INVARIANCE
INTERACTIONS
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PARTICLE MODELS
REVIEWS
SYMMETRY BREAKING
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
WEAK INTERACTIONS