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Asymptotic Freedom, Confinement and QCD

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History of Original Ideas and Basic Discoveries in Particle Physics

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSB,volume 352))

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Abstract

I describe our understanding of the strong interactions at the end of the 1960’s and the impact of the experiments on deep inelastic scattering. I recall the steps that lead from the attempts to understand these experiments to the discovery of asymptotic freedom in 1973, the notion of confinement and the subsequent rapid emergence, development and acceptance of the non-Abelian gauge theory of color (QCD) as the theory of the strong interactions. I end with a discussion of the implications of asymptotic freedom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    David J. Gross

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  1. David J. Gross
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. California Institute of Technology, 256-48, Pasadena, California, 91125, USA

    Harvey B. Newman

  2. Collège de France, 11, place Marcelin Berthelot, F-75231, Paris, France

    Thomas Ypsilantis

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© 1996 Plenum Press, New York

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Gross, D.J. (1996). Asymptotic Freedom, Confinement and QCD. In: Newman, H.B., Ypsilantis, T. (eds) History of Original Ideas and Basic Discoveries in Particle Physics. NATO ASI Series, vol 352. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1147-8_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1147-8_7

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