THE UNIVERSAL FERMI INTERACTION AND THE CAPTURE OF MUONS IN HYDROGEN

The theory of the universal Fermi interaction with (V-A) coupling proposed by Marshak and Sudarshan¹ and by Feynman and Gell-Mann² is supported by all existing experimental evidence on β decay. To explain the equality of the Fermi β-decay constant and the constant for the μ decay, Feynman and Gell-Mann have put forward the hypothesis of a conserved vector current in the weak interactions. This hypothesis leads to the appearance of an anomalous magnetic-moment effect in the β decay (“β magnetism”). Calculations of the effect have been made by Gell-Mann and others³⁻⁵ and have apparently already received experimental confirmation in β decay.⁶…