ASYMMETRY THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

The article introduces the known discrete transformation – a mirror reflection (in other words – mirror transformation) from a new point of view. The mirror symmetry leads to the preservation of P-parity (spatial parity) in physical phenomena. The mirror symmetry has not been questioned – till recently – the reflection in the mirror interchanges the right and the left, in other respects original object and its reflection remain completely identical. In this work we show that this situation is apparent at first glance, but in general does not correspond to reality. In most cases, the real experimental situation is described by the vectors, and in most cases a combination of true vectors (polar vectors) and pseudovectors (axial vectors) takes place. The vectors of these two types behave differently in the mirror, while the overall reflection in the mirror is assymetrical to the initial object. This situation is applied both to a single mirror transformation and to the spatial inversion, which is equivalent to the successive reflection in three mutually perpendicular mirrors. Both of these versions are considered in detail in this paper. The discovery of P-parity nonconservation in 1956 caused a shock in the physical circles. An attempt of introducing the combined CP-parity instead of P-parity was made. It was not successful, as experiment showed CP-parity is not conserved in the decay of kaons. The essence of CP-parity nonconservation (for more than half century) has had no satisfactory conventional solutions. We believe that the given article gives a solution and it is connected with asymmetry of mirror reflection. Furthermore we believe that P-parity nonconservation is possible not only in the physical processes caused by the weak interaction, but also in the processes related to other types of interactions – electromagnetic, strong. Thus, this paper introduces a new aspect of the relationship of space and physical phenomena.

symmetry mirror (looking glass), real vectors, pseudo-vectors, weak interaction, spatial inversion, spatial parity

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