PHYSICS 357S - Problem Set #2 - February 2012

Distributed 1st February be handed in by 17th February before 17:00. Please have a look at the problem set when it comes out. Decide whether it is going to cause you trouble or not. And ask questions well before the due date. The problem sets are supposed to give you an opportunity to ask questions. There are SEVEN questions. As usual, keep an eye out for typos! I am not a very good typist. The first two questions are just standard bookwork. BUT make sure you understand them! 1) In class we discussed how some of the kinetic energy of a beam particle colliding with a target particle can be transformed into the masses of new particles in the final state. Assume that a beam particle A of total energy E collides with a target particle B (remember the LAB is defined as the frame where the target is at rest.) New particles C1 , C2 ... are produced in the final state. We write this according to the notation: A + B C1 + C2 + ... + Cn a) Show that the minimum energy E for A is E=
2 2 M 2 mA mB 2 c , where M m1 + m2 + ... + mn 2mB

This minimum energy is known as the Threshold Energy for producing the final state C1 + C2 + ... + Cn . b) We can imagine producing new particles by firing a beam of protons or pions into a target of liquid hydrogen. A liquid hydrogen target is just a target of stationary protons. Many new bound states of the various quarks were discovered in this way. Use the result above to determine the minimum momentum for the beam particles in the following experiments. Note that I miss out the "+" signs between the lists of particles in the initial and final states. a) pp pp 0 b) pp pp + c) p ppn d) p K 0 0 e) pp p + K 0 You can look particle masses and other properties at http://pdg.lbl.gov/ . I give a summary at the end of this assignment. Its the same table you will get on the exam. To help, I also give them here: p is the symbol for the proton , mass = 938 MeV c 2 . n is the symbol for the neutron, mass = 939.6 MeV c 2 .

 0 is the symbol for the neutral pion, mass = 135 MeV c 2 is the symbol for a charged pion., mass = 140 MeV c 2
K 0 is the symbol for a neutral Kaon, mass = 498 MeV c 2 . The Kaon is a meson, like the pion. is the sigma particle, it is like a heavy proton, the mass is 1189 MeV c 2 if it is charged, and 1193 MeV c 2 if it is neutral. p is the anti-particle of the proton, known as the anti-proton. Anti-particles have the same masses as particles, but opposite electric charges. So the p has the same mass as the proton, but has a negative electric charge 2) The new particles produced in these experiments are often unstable, and rapidly decay. Consider a particle A at rest (i.e. consider the particle in its rest-frame, or CM {centre-ofmass, or centre-of-momentum} frame) decaying according to the scheme:
A BC

Show that the energy of B is: EB =

2 2 2 mA + mB mC 2 c 2mA

and also show that the outgoing momentum are given by

pb = pc = where

2 2 2 ( mA , mB , mC )

2mA

( x, y, z ) x 2 + y 2 + z 2 2 xy 2 xz 2 yz
Use these results to find the energy in the CM frame of each decay product in the following reactions. a) D + + b) 0 c) K + 0 + d) ++ p + c) K + The has a mass of 106 MeV c 2 The photon is the quantum of light, and is massless.

 is massless (well, its so small that you can assume that it is zero). The 0 is in some
way a heavy version of the 0 The ++ particle is in some way like a heavy proton. It has the quark structure (uuu). In fact it can be considered as an excited state of the proton. The mass is 1232 MeV c 2 . The K + is distinguished from the + not only by being heavier; but it also carries one unit of a quantum number called strangeness. The K + and + are mesons; we will learn that this means they are made up of a quark and an anti-quark. A state made of three quarks is called a baryon, The proton is a familiar baryon. The is also a baryon; but it is a strange baryon. It carries three units of this strangeness quantum number. It has a mass of 1672 MeV c 2 .
3) In relativistic collisions the kinetic energy of the colliding particles can be transformed into the mass of new particles. So neither the number of particles, nor the total mass, is necessarily conserved in a relativistic collision. Very short lived particles can be produced, and we detect their presence by looking for a peak in the invariant mass of the products of the decay.

Say we suspected, or predicted, that there was a particle which decayed to an oppositely charged pair of K mesons. We could search for this particle by firing pions into a liquid hydrogen target.
+ p K + K + p

We would then reconstruct the invariant masses of the oppositely charged K mesons, and build up a histogram of the invariant mass distribution over many events. If the invariant mass showed an enhancement at some mass, we could conclude that we had discovered the particle. Consider one event, and assume that the K + and the K , in the final state, are produced so that they have an angle of 6.3 between them , and that they have momenta 10.0 GeV/c, and 5.0 GeV/c respectively, in the LAB. What is the invariant mass of the K + K system? In fact there is a particle known as the meson, which consists of a s-quark and an anti-s quark bound together by the colour force. The has a mass of 1020 GeV c 2 . Do you think this one event would persuade you of the existence of the ? Explain why or why not.

Take the mass of the K meson to be 493 MeV/c2, independent of its electric charge.

4) The largest linear accelerator in the world was the SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) electron LINAC. The accelerator produced electrons of 40GeV c momentum. However, plans are afoot to build a linear collider with momentum in each beam of 500 GeV c . The machine will collide electrons with positrons. a) What is the mass of the most massive new particle one could produce with this machine? What would the momentum of this particle be in the LAB frame? b) If we use these electrons from one beam to probe for structures inside the proton, what structure size could we resolve? How does that compare with the present limits on the size of a quark? c) Calculate the velocity of the electrons as they exit from the accelerator. d) If the electrons experience a constant accelerating force eE and are accelerated over 15 km, find the effective accelerating field E. e) How far would the electrons have to travel in this field in order to reach the same velocity if Newtonian mechanics applied? f) Estimate the length of the one arm of this accelerator as seen in the electron rest frame 5) The discovery of the heavy strangeness = -3 baryon, the , was extremely important. It confirmed a theory originated by Gell-Mann and Neeman which they called The Eightfold Way. Essentially this theory was that baryons are made of three quarks, although it was not originally realized that this was what it meant. We now call this theory SU ( 3) of flavour. If you want to jump ahead a bit you can read pages 471

482 of the text book (you dont have to). The bubble chamber event of the first observation of the is on page 7 of the text book. The was discovered in the reaction,

K p K + K 0 .
(a) In terms of the masses of the various particles, what is the threshold kinetic energy for the reaction to occur, if the proton is at rest? (b) Suppose the K 0 travels at 0.8c. It then decays in flight into two neutral pions. Find the maximum angle in the LAB frame that the pions can make with the K 0 line of flight. Express your answer in terms of the and K masses.

Hint: use a Lorentz transformation to take the pions from the K 0 rest frame to the LAB. Then get the tan of the angle required and find its maximum.

6) An accelerator which I worked in Germany at called HERA. It does not collide particles of the same masses, and the beams are not of equal and opposite momenta. So, although it has an energy advantage over a fixed target machine, the LAB and CM frames are not identical, as they are in the LHC. In fact, HERA collides electron with a momentum of 30GeV c with protons of 800GeV c . a) What is the available center of mass energy for the production of new particles? b) What is the velocity of the centre of mass system as seen in the laboratory frame? c) What is the momentum of either particle in the centre of mass system? d) What was the name of Heras husband?

7) In our discussion of colliding beam machines, I discussed colliding particles of equal masses and equal and opposite momenta head on. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is such a machine; a proton synchrotron. It will accelerate counter rotating beams of protons to an energy of 7 TeV per beam (at the moment it only reaches 3 TeV) a) If the bending magnets in the LHC have an field of 8.7 T, what is the radius of the machine? Assume that the machine is circular, and that the tunnel is full of bending magnets. b) Why is the machine designed to have a CM energy much greater than the supposed mass of the Higgs? All I want is an explanation in words. (hint: the Higgs is not produced alone, and it is not at rest) c) The (now canceled) Superconducting SuperCollider was designed to be similar to the LHC; but with an energy of 20 TeV per beam. Imagine that you wanted to reach the same centre of mass energy by constructing a giant accelerator to reach the same centre of mass energy as the SSC, but with a stationary proton target. What would be the diameter of this machine if the bending magnets were limited to a field of 6 T? e) What is the frequency needed for the R.F. system in the LHC, when the beams are circulating at 7 TeV/c? Note that we keep the R.F. on even at maximum energy. This ensures beam stability; its too technical for this course. f) A little cyclotron has a magnetic field of 1 Tesla, and is 20 cm in diameter. What is the frequency of the R.F. oscillator needed. What is the momentum and kinetic energy of the protons it accelerates when the reach the periphery of the machine?

Possibly Useful Physical Constants:

Avogadro No: pi speed of light:

6 1023 mole1 = 3.1416 c = 3.0 108 m s

= 6.6 1022 MeV s c = 197 MeV . fm

Plank's constant:

( c )2 = 0.4 GeV 2 mb
1 eV = 1.6 1019 Joules 1 eV c 2 = 1.8 1036 kg 1 fm = 1015 m 1 mb = 1027 cm 2

1 year electron charge: electron magnetic moment: fine structure constant: strong coupling constant: Fermi coupling constant: Cabibbo angle: Weak mixing angle: Branching Ratios

1 year 107 s
e = 1.602 1019 C e = 9.3 1024 Joules Tesla 1

( c ) = 1 137.0360 s ( M Z ) = 0.116 0.005

= e2
GF = 1.166 105 GeV 2 sin C = 0.22

sin 2 W ( M Z ) = 0.2319 0.0005

BR Z e + e = 3.21 0.07% BR ( Z hadrons ) = 71 1%

________________________________________________________________________

Particle Properties Boson Mass GeV c 2

< 3 1036 ~0 80.22 91.187
> 116

gluon
W

Lepton

Mass MeV c 2
< 105 0.510999 < 0.27 105.658 < 10
1777

e
e

Mass MeV c 2

H0
Hadron

Quark Content

, ,
+ 0

ud , ( uu dd )

I J PC
+

2 , du

139.57,134.97, 139.57

( ) 1( 0 )
1 0 2

K+, K K0, K 0

us , su ds , sd ud , ( uu + dd )
uud , udd

493.65 497.67 2 , ud 775.7 938.27, 939.57 1232 1115.6 1863 1869 1968
5279
2285 1189 1315

( )

+, 0,
p ,n
, 0 , + , ++ 0 D0 , D0 D , D+
+ DS , DS

1(1 )
1 1+ 22
33 22
+

1 0 2

( )

ddd , udd , uud , uuu

uds

uc , cu dc , cd cs , cs ub , ub
udc

1+ 0 2

1 0 2
1 0 2

( )
( ) ( )
1+ 2

0 ( 0 )
1 0 2 1+ 0 2

B+ , B
+ c

+ , 0 , 0 ,
b

uus, uds, dds

( )
+
+

uss, dss
sss udb

11 22

1672
5624

3 0 2
1+ 0 2