The Origins of Lattice Gauge Theory

 

 

Kenneth Wilson

The Ohio State University

 

 

 

The main focus of this talk is an anecdotal account of the history underlying my 1974 article entitled “Confinement of Quarks.” In preparing this talk, I will draw on a historical interview conducted by the project for History of Recent Science and Technology at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at MIT, and on a theory of invention proposed by Peter Drucker in his book “Innovation and Entrepreneurship.” I will explain this theory; no background is needed. The account will start with related work in the 1960’s. I will end the talk with a plea for lattice gauge researchers to be alert for unexpected scalar or vector colored particles that are invisible to experimentalists yet could start to spoil the agreement of computations with experiment.  

 

 

Note: In association with the Symposium “Lattice 2004,” June 21 – 26, 2004