Abstract
Having in mind that physical systems have different levels of structure we develop the concept of external, internal and total improper Lorentz transformation (space inversion and time reversal). A particle obtained from the ordinary one by the application of internal space inversion or time reversal is generally a different particle. From this point of view the intrinsic parity of a nuclear particle (‘elementary particle’) is in fact the external intrinsic parity, if we take into account the internal structure of a particle. We show that non-conservation of the external parity does not necessarily imply noninvariance of nature under space inversion. The conventional theory of beta-decay can be corrected by including the internal degrees of freedom to become invariant under total space inversion, though not under the external one.
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Pavšič, M. External inversion, internal inversion, and reflection invariance. Int J Theor Phys 9, 229–244 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01810695
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01810695