Abstract
In 1956, Robert Hanbury Brown and Richard Twiss (HBT) reached an unexpected experimental result that caused a heated debate in the physics community. Contrary to Einstein's quantum of light, they asserted that they had separately detected two photons at the same time. As one may imagine, other physicists challenged this experimental result, noting that if it were correct, quantum theory would need to be reformulated. Once the controversy began, physicists from different subcultures of physics had to create a trading zone capable of making communication possible. As a result, both theoretical and experimental traditions developed significantly during the HBT debate. This paper illustrates how Galison's trading zone aids our understanding of the communication used to discuss the HBT results.
Keywords:
Robert Hanbury Brown; Richard Quentin Twiss; Edward Purcell; Eric Brannen; Harry I. S. Ferguson; The HBT Effect; The HBT Controversy; Trading Zone; Scientific Practice; History of Science; History of Physics
