Physics and Chemistry of Aging – Early Developments+

The aging phenomena are very complex physical and chemical processes. The author attempts to qualitatively discuss various physical processes contributing to aging. The satisfactory quantitative explanation is not presently available. In this sense, there is little progress made since the 1986 LBL Aging Workshop. However, what was accomplished during the past decade is a heighten awareness from the research and management sides to pay more attention to this problem, and as a result a number of aging tests have increased in quantity and quality. These efforts will undoubtedly yield some new results in the future. Examples in this paper are mainly from a “pre-LHC and pre-HERA-B era of aging,” where the total charge doses is limited to much less than one C/cm.