The scientific heritage of Richard Henry Dalitz, FRS (1925-2006)

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Aitchison, Ian J R, Close, Frank E, Gal, Avraham, Millener, D John
• Format: Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 01.07.2016
• Subjects: Baryons; Biographies; Documents; Hypernuclei; Nuclear physics; Particle physics; Quark models; Scientific papers
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.0603219

Professor Richard H. Dalitz passed away on January 13, 2006. He was almost 81 years old and his outstanding contributions are intimately connected to some of the major breakthroughs of the 20th century in particle and nuclear physics. These outstanding contributions go beyond the Dalitz Plot, Dalitz Pair and CDD poles that bear his name. He pioneered the theoretical study of strange baryon resonances, of baryon spectroscopy in the quark model, and of hypernuclei, to all of which he made lasting contributions. His formulation of the "\(\theta-\tau\) puzzle" led to the discovery that parity is not a symmetry of the weak interactions. A brief scientific evaluation of Dalitz's major contributions to particle and nuclear physics is hereby presented, followed by the first comprehensive list of his scientific publications, as assembled from several sources. The list is divided into two categories: the first, main part comprises Dalitz's research papers and reviews, including topics in the history of particle physics, biographies and reminiscences; the second part lists book reviews, public lectures and obituaries authored by Dalitz, and books edited by him. This provides the first necessary step towards a more systematic research of the Dalitz heritage in modern physics. The present 2016 edition updates the original 2006 edition, published in Nucl. Phys. A 771 (2006) 2-7, doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2006.03.007, and 8-25, doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2006.03.008, by including for the first time a dozen or so of publications, found recently in a list submitted to the Royal Society by Dalitz in 2004, that escaped our attention in the original version.