The strong interaction

Abstract

Since the formulation of the periodic table by Mendeleev in the last century and its explanation in terms of atomic structure during the early part of this century, there has been a constant search for ways of accounting for the regularities and symmetries observed in nature’s building blocks. In the case of atoms a detailed understanding of the different families of similar atoms and their properties was achieved in terms of their electronic structures. Of course, each atom had a different nucleus but, in turn, the variety of nuclear species, as we have seen, can be understood in terms of their different nucleonic structures.