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GIM mechanism
In quantum field theory, the GIM mechanism (or Glashow–Iliopoulos–Maiani mechanism) is the mechanism by which flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNCs) are suppressed. It also explains why weak interactions that change strangeness by 2 (ΔS = 2 transitions) are suppressed while those that change strangeness by 1 (ΔS = 1 transitions) are allowed. The mechanism was put forth by Sheldon Lee Glashow, John Iliopoulos and Luciano Maiani in their famous paper "Weak Interactions with Lepton–Hadron Symmetry" published in Physical Review D in 1970.[1]
At the time the GIM mechanism was proposed, only three quarks (up, down, and strange) were thought to exist. Glashow and James Bjorken predicted a fourth quark in 1964,[2] but there was little evidence for its existence. The GIM mechanism however, required the existence of a fourth quark, and the prediction of the charm quark is usually credited to Glashow, Iliopoulos, and Maiani.
References
^ S.L. Glashow, J. Iliopoulos, L. Maiani (1970). "Weak Interactions with Lepton–Hadron Symmetry". Physical Review D 2 (7): 1285. Bibcode 1970PhRvD...2.1285G. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.2.1285.
^ B.J. Bjorken, S.L. Glashow (1964). "Elementary particles and SU(4)". Physics Letters 11 (3): 255–257. Bibcode 1964PhL....11..255B. doi:10.1016/0031-9163(64)90433-0.
Further reading
A. Das, T. Ferbel (2003). "Standard Model and Confrontation with Data". Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics (2nd ed.). World Scientific. pp. 345ff. ISBN 981-238-744-7.
J. Iliopoulous (2010). "Glashow–Iliopoulos–Maiani mechanism". Scholarpedia 5 (5): 7125. doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.7125.
B. Popescu (February 2006). "Weak Interactions(1)". Physics 842. University of Cincinnati. pp. 45–48. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
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