When was Asymptotic Freedom discovered? or The Rehabilitation of Quantum Field Theory

TL;DR

This paper reviews the pivotal discoveries between 1970 and 1974 that revitalized Quantum Field Theory and led to the development of the Standard Model, focusing on the discovery of Quantum Chromodynamics and its historical context.

Contribution

It provides a historical analysis of the key breakthroughs in Quantum Field Theory and Quantum Chromodynamics during the early 1970s.

Findings

Reestablishment of Quantum Field Theory in the early 1970s

Discovery of Quantum Chromodynamics as part of the Standard Model

Reflection on current status of Quantum Field Theory

Abstract

We glance back at the short period of the great discoveries between 1970 and 1974 that led to the restablishment of Quantum Field Theory and the discovery of the Standard Model of Elementary Particles, in particular Quantum Chromodynamics, and ask ourselves where we stand now.