Wikipedia:WikiProject Physics/Worklist of central experiments
Please, add any missing ‘’’central experiments’’’ in their respective category, and update any status field!
Also, a template to put in each article is being developed.
If you disagree with a listing, do not remove it but discuss the issue on the talk page, first.
Atomic theory
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Gas emission spectrum experiment | Kicked off the discovery of new chemical elements and atomic physics | History covered in Spectrum analysis, good experimental page missing? |
| Lomonosov-Lavoisier experiment | Boosted atomistic theories by demonstrating the conservation of mass in chemical reactions | Missing, but explained in biographic articles. |
| Millikan's Oil-drop experiment | Charge of the electron established | Article describes mostly the generic experiment, not the historical |
Classical mechanics
Cosmology
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Hubble and Humason's discovery of Hubble's law | Big Bang | Good Article |
| Penzias-Wilson microwave detection | Hot Big Bang theory | Within "Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation" (Start?) |
| COBE FIRAS experiment | Crucial test of hot big bang (black body temp curve) | Subsection in COBE, start class |
| High-z supernova observation | Unexpected results show accelerating expansion | Small stubs at High-z Supernova Search Team and Supernova Cosmology Project, subsection in Dark energy |
Forces and fields
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Lamb shift discovery (Lamb-Retherford experiment?) | Inspired and tested Quantum electrodynamics (QED) | Larger section in Lamb shift article. |
| Landé g-factor experiment of the electron | Critical test of Quantum electrodynamics (QED) | Missing. Some text in Anomalous magnetic dipole moment and Landé g-factor |
General and special relativity
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Kaufmann experiment | First test of relativistic mass increase. Initially thought to be at odds with STR | missing |
| Ives-Stilwell experiment | Crucial test of SR. | ? |
| Kennedy-Thorndike experiment | Crucial test of SR. | ? |
| Michelson-Morley experiment | Unexpected result led to questions in pre-SR theory | GA? |
Newtonian gravity
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Eötvös experiment | classical equivalence priniciple | stub in Loránd Eötvös |
Nuclear structure
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Chadwick experiment | Identifying the neutron | Section in James Chadwick, stubby start? |
| Geiger-Marsden experiment a.k.a. Rutherford experiment | Atomic nucleus (Rutherford model) | B-quality |
| Hahn-Strassmann discovery of fission | Unexpected nuclear reaction | Under Nuclear fission#History |
Particles and symmetries
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson's cosmic ray experiment | Proved the existance of antimatter | Missing, mentioned in positron and Carl David Anderson |
| Cowan and Reines neutrino experiment | Direct detection of the neutrino | B-class |
| Cronin-Fitch experiment | Discovery of CP-violation | Subsection in CP-violation, start |
| Parity_violation in β-decay | Parity_violation in weak interactions verified | missing (Chien-Shiung Wu) |
Quantum mechanics
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Davisson-Germer experiment | Wave–particle duality for electrons | stub, see also [1], [2], [3], [4] |
| Aspect experiments | Series of tests of QM using CHSH inequality and similar predictions | Missing (mentioned in "Bell_test_experiments") |
| Clauser and Horne's 1974 Bell test | Tests of QM using CHSH inequality | B-class and under dispute |
| Stern-Gerlach experiment | Discovery of spin of electron/atom | looks reasonably complete; no class rating |
Solid state
Thermodynamics and Statistical mechanics
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Joule experiment | Mechanical equivalent of heat established | start quality in James_Prescott_Joule#The_mechanical_equivalent_of_heat |