Parity violation in chiral molecules
The weak nuclear force does not treat left and right equally, so the two mirror-image forms of a chiral molecule should have very slightly different energies. This difference is predicted to be tiny and has never been measured.
Why it matters
A measurement would test electroweak theory in a new system, check relativistic quantum chemistry, and address whether a fundamental force contributes to the handedness of life's molecules.
Review
M. Quack, J. Stohner and M. Willeke, High-resolution spectroscopic studies and theory of parity violation in chiral molecules, Annual Review of Physical Chemistry, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.physchem.58.032806.104511 reference checked
Timestamp record
- Signed record
- f9dbbd39bd52…
- Public log
- Entry 16, in checkpoint 2,123
- In the log by
- Block 969,698, 2026-10-03
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