30 years of weak neutral currents

Abstract

We trace the early history of Neutral and Charged Weak Current studies from the 1930’s to the discovery of the W and Z in 1983. The period from approximately 1963 to 1983 saw a great advance in our knowledge of Weak Neutral Currents; the first search for Flavor Changing Weak Neutral Currents (FCNC) in 1963, the discovery of Weak Neutral Currents (WNC) in 1973, as well as the rise of the Standard Model (1974–1978) and the discovery of the (W,Z) in 1983! This report follows an International Symposium on 30 Years of Neutral Currents from Weak Neutral Currents to the (W)/Z and Beyond held in Santa Monica, California, on February 3–5, 1993. Neutral Currents (NC) are important in Supernova explosions and the Early Universe. Recently, the bold speculation has been made that NC can give rise to the chirality of life (DNA). We briefly discuss the pro’s and con’s of this idea and present some recent simulation results.