Fermi’s theory of beta decay: a first attempt at electroweak unification

Abstract

The purpose of this study, mainly historical and pedagogical, is to investigate the physical-mathematical similitudes of the spectroscopic and beta decay Fermi theories. Both theories were formulated using quantum perturbative theory that allowed obtaining equations whose algebraic structure and physical interpretation suggest that the two phenomena occur according to the same mechanism. Fermi, therefore, could have guessed well in advance of the times that the two theories could be unified into a single physical-mathematical model that led to different results depending on the considered energy. The electroweak unification found its full realization only in the 1960s within the Standard Model that, however, is mainly based on a mathematical approach. Retracing the reasoning made by Fermi facilitates the understanding of the physical foundations that underlie the unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces.