James Cronin Created 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-11-05
James Cronin coauthored the 1964 discovery of CP violation in neutral kaon decays. Magnetic analysis and spark chambers reconstructed two charged tracks from a long-lived neutral beam. The small two-pion component was incompatible with the simple CP-conserving assignment of that state. A rare decay channel thus tested a fundamental symmetry of the weak interaction.[ref]