ABSTRACT
The discovery of parity nonconservation had serious implications for the previous analyses of ß decay, suggested new experiments, and paved the way for a final decision concerning the mathematical form of the interaction in Enrico Fermi's theory. In 1956 Lee and Yang realized that a possible solution to the puzzle would be the nonconservation of parity in the weak interactions. In the two-component theory, the neutrino could have only a spin antiparallel to its momentum and the antineutrino parallel, or vice versa. The neutrino would be left-handed and the antineutrino is right-handed, or vice versa. The direction of the orientation of the nuclei could be changed and any difference in counting rate in the fixed electron counter observed. An important factor in estimating the correction to the correlation results was the fact that decay electrons from gas in the chimney could penetrate the pumping diaphragm.
