J/psi particle

The story

A compound of J, ψ (ps) (psi), and particle. The particle was discovered independently in 1974 by two research groups, leading to the "November Revolution" in particle physics. * The group led by Samuel Ting at Brookhaven National Laboratory proposed the name J, reputedly because the shape of the Chinese character for Ting (丁) resembles a J, though Ting also cited the symbol for electromagnetic current, j_μ(x), as a reason. * The group led by Burton Richter at SLAC proposed the name ψ (psi). Richter initially preferred "SP" (for the SPEAR accelerator), but chose "psi" as it contained "SP" in reverse order and was the only remaining Greek letter deemed suitable; coincidently, the particle's decay pattern in spark chambers resembled the letter ψ. The compromise name J/ψ was adopted to acknowledge both discoveries.