Archive of historical materials
First draft: On the Interaction of Elementary Particles. IV
OU1938-B6 (11 pages) Date: 1938
This is most likely the first draft of the manuscript written based on the lecture (see the program in OU1938-B5) given in the 18th Meeting of the Physical and Mathematical Society of Japan, Osaka Branch held on May 28, 1938. Yukawa started writing this in June 1938. This handwritten manuscript was co-authored by three researchers, Hideki Yukawa, Shoichi Sakata and Minoru Kobayashi, but the final version of the paper (see OU1938-B8) shows an additional co-author, Mitsuo Taketani, and lists four authors in total. This draft includes the discussions on the topics mentioned in sections 1 and 2 of the final paper and some of the topics in sections 4 and 5.
Yukawa et. al. considered charged U particles and neutral N particles as bosons (mesons) that mediate the nuclear force. At that time, Yukawa et. al. understood the U particles and N particles as vector fields with a spin, and wrote the equations and described interactions. In 1938, noted physicists in Europe showed great interest in and respect for Yukawa’s idea of mesons (as the mediator of the nuclear force). As mentioned in the note at the bottom of the draft page, Yukawa et. al. were grateful for Kemmer and Heisenberg for letting Yukawa know the results of their research before the announcement. Many other physicians, such as Bhabha, Froerich, Heitler and Stueckelberg, were also striving to resolve the mysteries of the nuclear force. (Written by Yutaka Hosotani)
