"Alastair" wrote in message
...

AIUI, they are theoretical bubble chamber diagrams describing the
interaction of sub atomic particles.

Bubble chambers don't really come into it (unless you arrange your particle
collision to happen inside one I suppose). As you say, they are just
notional or theoretical sketches of what might happen when 2 or more
specified atomic/subatomic particles collide and interact to produce
offspring.

OT, but not totally, I did think this was quite an interesting YouTube talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0KuAx1COEk

(NB The first few minutes are just an introduction - you can skip that).
These REBCO ribbons or tapes seem like a real step forwards in
superconductors.