4.II.17B

Special Relativity | Part IB, 2007

(a) A moving π0\pi^{0} particle of rest-mass mπm_{\pi} decays into two photons of zero rest-mass,

π0γ+γ\pi^{0} \rightarrow \gamma+\gamma

Show that

sinθ2=mπc22E1E2\sin \frac{\theta}{2}=\frac{m_{\pi} c^{2}}{2 \sqrt{E_{1} E_{2}}}

where θ\theta is the angle between the three-momenta of the two photons and E1,E2E_{1}, E_{2} are their energies.

(b) The π\pi^{-}particle of rest-mass mπm_{\pi} decays into an electron of rest-mass mem_{e} and a neutrino of zero rest mass,

πe+ν.\pi^{-} \rightarrow e^{-}+\nu .

Show that vv, the speed of the electron in the rest frame of the π\pi^{-}, is

v=c[1(me/mπ)21+(me/mπ)2]v=c\left[\frac{1-\left(m_{e} / m_{\pi}\right)^{2}}{1+\left(m_{e} / m_{\pi}\right)^{2}}\right]

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