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 |
|---|---|---|
| Franck–Hertz experiment | Investigation and support of Bohr model of the atom | Good start level page |
| 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, more historical, more picture. Improving to GA-Article |
Classical mechanics
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Foucault pendulum | Direct demonstration of rotation of earth | solid article, with referencing and editing could be a GA |
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 |
| COBE DMR experiment | Crucial test of cosmic inflation | 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 |
Optics
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Young's Double-slit experiment | Wave nature of light | Reasonable coverage in article on generic experiment, more historical background would be nice |
Classical electromagnetism
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1887 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz EM-wave transmission | First wireless communication | Start quality in bio |
Quantum fields
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar | Indirect confirmation of the existence of gravitational radiation | strong stub in PSR B1913+16 |
| Pound-Rebka experiment | Direct test of the gravitational redshift of light | strong stub |
| Eddington experiment | Direct test of the gravitational deflection of light | discussed in Arthur Stanley Eddington and tests of GR |
| Hafele-Keating experiment | Test of SR and GR time dilation (velocity and gravity difference) | B-class, needs improvement, under dispute on inclusion of GPS |
| Kaufmann–Bucherer–Neumann experiments | First test of relativistic mass increase. Initially thought to be at odds with STR | ? |
| 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 principle | stub in Loránd Eötvös |
| Cavendish experiment | established the value of the Newton constant | strong stub |
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 |
| Fermionic condensate | Fermions | more detail, data, and explanation needed |
Particles and symmetries
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson's cosmic ray experiment | Proved the existence 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) |
| Thomson cathode ray tube experiments | Identified the electron via mass-to-charge ratio | Part of Electron |
| UA1 and UA2 | Discovery of the W and Z bosons | Stubs. But also see W and Z bosons. |
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
| Article | Relevance | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bragg diffraction | Proved the periodic structure of atoms within certain solids | B-class, concentrates mostly on theory |
| Onnes experiment | Superconductivity discovered by Onnes | Missing. Section in History of superconductivity |
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 |
