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Parity Conservation and Violation

In symmetry operations the transformations for both classical vectors should be invariant, meaning that rotations about an axis or spatial inversions do not change from one coordinate system to another. In quantum systems, transformations should be invariant for eigenvalues.

Parity invariance is true for electromagnetic interactions and for strong nuclear interactions, but not for weak nuclear interactions, in which only left-handed particles (and right-handed anti-particles) participate. Biological molecules also violate parity invariance, as left-handed and right-handed molecules - describing which direction the spiral turns - have different biological functions. This is also known as chirality.

Web Resources On Parity Conservation and Violation

Parity (Wikipedia)
Parity Invariance
The Fall of Parity (NIST)

Book Resources On Parity Conservation and Violation

Inward Bound: Of Matter and Forces in the Physical World by Abraham Pais
Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts by Bogdan Povh et al.
Time's Arrows Today: Recent Physical and Philosophical Work on the Direction of Time by Steven F. Savitt, Ed.

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