Memories from the W Boson Discovery

TL;DR

This paper recounts the historic discovery of W and Z bosons at CERN, highlighting the experimental efforts, key figures, and technological decisions that led to this breakthrough in particle physics.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical account of the CERN W and Z boson discovery, emphasizing the experimental strategies and key personnel involved.

Findings

Discovery of W and Z bosons at CERN

Role of proton-antiproton collider in the discovery

Recognition of Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer's contributions

Abstract

The fascinating story of a major discovery at CERN is outlined. The bold decision to convert its most powerful, and only recently inaugurated, proton accelerator to a proton-antiproton collider led to the discovery of the W and Z bosons -- mediators of the weak interaction -- in a record time, at the experiments UA1 and UA2. The decisive roles of Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer, who received the 1984 Nobel Prize for physics, are underlined.