Wissink

P640 Subatomic Physics I

Fall 2007

Problem Set # 2
SOLUTIONS

1. Easy as !
(a) Consider the decay of a charged pion, the + , that is at rest in the laboratory frame.
Most charged pions decay according to the scheme
+ + +
In this expression, represents a muon, a lepton similar to the electron, but with a rest
energy m c2 = 105.7 MeV. The symbol is for a neutrino, which we will assume (for
now) to have zero rest mass. When the above process occurs, the charged muons can be
detected, and are found to have a kinetic energy of 4.1 MeV. Based on just the information
given here, what is the mass of the + ?
(b) Now consider the decay of a neutral pion which is moving in the laboratory frame.
About 98.8% of all neutral pions decay into a pair of photons,
0 +
The rest energy of the 0 is approximately 135 MeV. If the pion has a kinetic energy
of 0.6 GeV as measured in the lab, then what are the measured photon energies if the
two photons are emitted back-to-back along the pions line of motion, that is, one going
forward and one going straight back?
(c) At what angle is each photon emitted if the two photons are emitted at equal angles
left and right of the original pion momentum? You can solve for parts b and c (and get the
same answer!) either working directly in the lab frame, or work in the pions rest frame,
and then boost to the lab frame.

SOLUTION
(a) In this problem, we examine the weak decay of a charged pion into a muon and a
neutrino. In the pion rest frame, the and the must be emitted with equal momentum,
but in opposite directions. We also are told that the neutrino is massless, while the outgoing
1

muon has a rest mass energy of 105.7 MeV and a kinetic energy of 4.1 MeV. It is useful
to summarize what we know about E and p for each particle; with c = 1, we have:
+ :

p = 0 ,

+ :

E = m + T = 105.7 + 4.1 = 109.8 MeV


1/2

1/2
p = E2 m2
= (109.8)2 (105.7)2
= 29.7 MeV

m = 0 ,

and so

and so

E = m

E = p

We now apply conservation of linear momentum and total energy to the decay process.
For momentum, we see that p = p = 29.7 MeV, in the direction opposite that of p~ . To
conserve total energy, we have:
E = E + E
But E = 109.8 MeV, and E = p = 29.7 MeV, so with p = 0, we find:
m = E = 109.8 + 29.7 = 139.5 MeV
which is very close to the correct (PDG) value.

(b) We next examine the electromagnetic decay of a neutral pion into two photons, as
observed in a frame where the pion has a kinetic energy of 0.6 GeV. Like most problems
of this sort, they can be approached in multiple ways. Ill present two here: using brute
force E and p~ conservation in the lab frame, or solving the problem in the easier pion
rest frame, and then boosting to the frame of interest.
Method I lab frame In the lab, we are given that T = 600 MeV. Knowing m =
135 MeV, we solve for the pions total energy as E = m + T = 735 MeV, and so
p =

1/2

1/2
 2
= (735)2 (135)2
= 722.5 MeV
E m2

To determine the kinematics of the decay products, we use conservation of both linear
momentum and total energy. For convenience, Ill use subscripts 1 and 2 to label the
outgoing photons. If we know the two photons are emitted along the pions momentum
direction, with one going forward and one going back, then
p~ = p~1 + p
~2

p = p1 p2

Using E = p for each photon, we conclude

p = 722.5 MeV = E1 E2
2

Conservation of energy gives us directly:

E = 735 MeV = E1 + E2
Combining these last two equations yields our final results
E1 = 729 MeV

E2 = 6 MeV

Method II pion rest frame A more elegant way to approach this problem (though
not necessarily any easier algebraically) is to work in the rest frame of the pion, where
p~ = 0, and then transform the energy and momentum values we obtain into the lab frame.
In general, this is a much more powerful and intuitive way to solve these kinds of problems.
We first note that in the pion rest frame (which I will denote as the primed frame),
momentum conservation requires that the two photons be emitted with equal and opposite
momenta. Because E0 = m = 135 MeV in this frame, and E 0 = p0 for photons, we see
immediately
E10 = p01 = E20 = p02 = E0 /2 = m /2 = 67.5 MeV
To transform these quantities to the lab frame, we note that the relative velocity v f between
the two frames is just the velocity of the pion as measured in the lab frame, so
f = = p /E = 722.5 / 735 = 0.983
and :

f = = E /m = 735 / 135 = 5.44

You can verify that and indeed obey their usual relationship. This gives us everything
we need to now transform to the lab frame. Because the two 67.5 MeV photons are moving
in the +x0 and x0 directions, we see
E1 = (E 0 + p0x ) = 5.44(67.5 + 0.983 67.5) = 729 MeV
E2 = (E 0 p0x ) = 5.44(67.5 0.983 67.5) = 6 MeV

(c) Finally, we consider the case where the two photons are emitted symmetrically left and
right of the pions momentum axis at some angle . Because of this symmetry, we know
that p1 = p2 (same magnitudes) and the transverse components (p sin ) must be equal
and opposite. Thus, we only need to concern ourselves with the momentum components
along the original pion direction. These statements all hold in both frames. Working in
the lab frame first:
p = p1 cos + p2 cos
Combining this with our results from part b, we see
3

p = 722.5 MeV = 2 E cos

For energy conservation, we again use symmetry to obtain
E = 735 MeV = E1 + E2 = 2 E
Combining these last two results, we get our final answer:
cos = 722.5 / 735 = 0.983

= 10.6

Or, we can start in the pion rest frame. To be left/right symmetric and back-to-back
means 0 = 90 , and so p0x = 0 in this case. We then have:
and

px = (p0x + E 0 ) = 5.44(0 + 0.983 67.5) = 361 MeV

py = p0y = 67.5 MeV/c

And so we see:
tan = py /px = 67.5 / 361 = 0.187

= 10.6 ,

as before.

2. I Need Some First !

Consider the decay of the eta meson, which only comes in a neutral variety, and decays
according to 0 . Let E1 and E2 be the energies of the daughter photons, and o be
the opening angle between them, all measured in the lab. Using invariant masses, show
sin(o /2) =

E 1 z 2

where z is the so-called energy-sharing parameter, defined as

z

|E1 E2 |
E1 + E 2

Note that this means that for a highly relativistic 0 or 0 , there is a minimum 2 opening
angle given approximately by min
m/E.
o

SOLUTION
Working in the lab frame, the invariant mass of the system is given by
q

m21 + m22 + 2E1 E2 (1 1 2 cos o )

p
2E1 E2 (1 cos o )
=

Minv = m =

where we used the fact that m = 0 and = 1 for each photon to obtain the second line.
If we use the trig identity 1 cos = 2 sin2 (/2) , we obtain immediately
m = 2 sin(o /2)

p
E1 E2

p
sin(o /2) = m /2 E1 E2

With no loss of generality, we can let E1 be the larger, and E2 the smaller, of the two
photon energies. Then using conservation of total energy, and our definition of z, we see
E1 + E 2 = E

and

E1 E2 = z E

so
E1 = (E /2) (1 + z)

and

E2 = (E /2) (1 z)

Using these in our previous equation, we obtain the desired result

sin(o /2) =

m
m

p
=
2
2
2 (E /2) (1 z )
E 1 z 2
5

3. Mary Found a Little

(a) Prove that if m3 + m4 > m1 + m2 for the reaction 1 + 2 3 + 4 (so the final rest mass
energy exceeds that in the initial state), then if m2 (the target) is initially the rest, the
reaction can only proceed if m1 (the beam) has a lab kinetic energy greater than
T1min =

(m3 + m4 )2 (m1 + m2 )2
2 m2

(b) Now consider a particle, with mass m = 1116 MeV, produced at threshold via the
reaction p K + , e.g., by having a beam of real photons impinge on a fixed hydrogen
target. If you know that the has a proper mean lifetime = 2.63 1010 s, what is the
probability that the produced gets at least 5 cm (lab frame) away from its production
point before decaying?
(c) A common decay mode for the Lambda is p . Using your results from part
b, what is the maximum possible angle between the momenta of the parent and the
daughter proton, as measured in the lab?

SOLUTION
(a) Like many problems in kinematics, there are several ways to solve this, all of which are
correct, but some of which will be much simpler algebraically than others. So, rather than
just jumping in and using brute force E and p~ conservation in the lab (which will work),
we start by realizing that bringing in just enough kinetic energy to allow the reaction to
proceed means that well have no KE available in the final state. Thus, when T1 is at
T1min , particles 3 and 4 will created at rest in the c.m. frame. Thus,

Ecm s = m3 + m4
Here we see the power of working with Lorentz invariants: this is not only the total finalstate energy in all frames, but is also the total initial-state energy in all frames. Working
out the latter in the lab (unprimed) frame, where p
~2 = 0, gives us

1/2

1/2
Ecm = (E1 + E2 )2 (~
p1 + p~2 )2
= m21 + m22 + 2m2 E1
Equating these two expressions for Ecm , squaring each side, and then using E1 = m1 + T1 ,
gives us the nice result
(m3 + m4 )2 = m21 + m22 + 2m1 m2 + 2m2 T1
Rearranging this, and recognizing T1 as our threshold energy, we obtain the final result:
T1min =

(m3 + m4 )2 (m1 + m2 )2
2 m2
6

(b) We now apply this result to photo-production at threshold, bombarding a fixed

proton (hydrogen) target with photons. To address the question of interest, we will obviously need to know the velocity of the produced in the lab frame, which will depend on
how much total energy is available. For the reaction p K + , we see m1 = 0, m2 =
938.3 MeV, m3 = 493.7 MeV, and m4 = 1115.7 MeV. Sticking all of these into our result
from part a tells us that
E = T1min =

(1609.4)2 (938.3)2
= 911.1
1876.6

which is also p (as usual, I am taking the lab frame to be the unprimed frame).
When created right at threshold, the outgoing will be at rest in the c.m. frame, and so
will be moving in the lab frame at velocity
= cm =

p1
911.1
= 0.493
=
E1 + m 2
911.1 + 938.3

where I have used an expression given in lecture for the c.m.-to-lab relative velocity.
Now, an observer in the lab frame will see the decay with a dilated mean lifetime
2.63 1010
= cm 0 = p
= 3.022 1010 s
2
1 (0.493)
We can easily convert this to a distance, the lab-frame mean decay length, via
` = c = (0.493) (3.00 108 ) (3.022 1010 ) = 4.47 cm
Putting this all together, the probability for a produced to travel at least 5 cm before
decaying or equivalently, the fraction of all s that survive this distance is given by

Psurvive = ed/` = e5.0/4.47 = 0.327

that is, about 1/3 of all s will travel at least this far from the collision point where they
are created before they undergo weak decay. This sets the scale for the accuracy required
in the vertex reconstruction (primary and secondary) for such an experiment.

(c) Fuhgeddaboudit!