Problem 1
A neutral pion at rest decays into two photons. Find the energy, frequency, and wavelength of each photon. In which part of the electromagnetic spectrum does each photon lie? (Use the pion mass given in terms of the electron mass in Section .)
Problem 2a
Two equal-energy photons collide head-on and annihilate each other, producing a pair. The muon mass is given in terms of the electron mass in Section . Calculate the maximum wavelength of the photons for this to occur. If the photons have this wavelength, describe the motion of the and immediately after they are produced.
Problem 4a
A proton and an antiproton annihilate, producing two photons. Find the energy, frequency, and wavelength of each photon if the and are initially at rest.
Problem 4b
A proton and an antiproton annihilate, producing two photons. Find the energy, frequency, and wavelength of each photon if the and collide head-on, each with an initial kinetic energy of MeV.
Problem 7
The starship Enterprise, of television and movie fame, is powered by combining matter and antimatter. If the entire -kg antimatter fuel supply of the Enterprise combines with matter, how much energy is released? How does this compare to the U.S. yearly energy use, which is roughly J?
Problem 8a
An electron with a total energy of GeV collides with a stationary positron. What is the available energy?
Problem 9a
Deuterons in a cyclotron travel in a circle with radius cm just before emerging from the dees. The frequency of the applied alternating voltage is MHz. Find the magnetic field.
Problem 10a
The magnetic field in a cyclotron that accelerates protons is T. How many times per second should the potential across the dees reverse? (This is twice the frequency of the circulating protons.)
Problem 11a
A high-energy beam of alpha particles collides with a stationary helium gas target. What must the total energy of a beam particle be if the available energy in the collision is GeV?
Problem 13a
What is the speed of a proton that has total energy GeV?
Problem 14
Calculate the minimum beam energy in a proton-proton collider to initiate the reaction. The rest energy of the is MeV (see Table ).
Problem 15b
In Example , it was shown that a proton beam with an -GeV beam energy gives an available energy of GeV for collisions with a stationary proton target. In a colliding-beam experiment, what total energy of each beam is needed to give an available energy of GeV GeV?
Problem 16a
You work for a start-up company that is planning to use antiproton annihilation to produce radioactive isotopes for medical applications. One way to produce antiprotons is by the reaction in proton-proton collisions. You first consider a colliding-beam experiment in which the two proton beams have equal kinetic energies. To produce an antiproton via this reaction, what is the required minimum kinetic energy of the protons in each beam?
Problem 17a
A meson at rest decays into two mesons. What are the allowed combinations of , , and as decay products?
Problem 18
How much energy is released when a muon at rest decays into an electron and two neutrinos? Neglect the small masses of the neutrinos.
Problem 20a
Table shows that a decays into a and a photon. Calculate the energy of the photon emitted in this decay, if the is at rest.
Problem 20b
Table shows that a decays into a and a photon. What is the magnitude of the momentum of the photon? Is it reasonable to ignore the final momentum and kinetic energy of the ? Explain.
Problem 21
If a at rest decays into a proton and a , what is the total kinetic energy of the decay products?
Problem 25
In which of the following reactions or decays is strangeness conserved? In each case, explain your reasoning.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Problem 28
What is the total kinetic energy of the decay products when an upsilon particle at rest decays to ?
Problem 31a
The spectrum of the sodium atom is detected in the light from a distant galaxy. If the -nm line is redshifted to nm, at what speed is the galaxy receding from the earth?
Problem 31b
The spectrum of the sodium atom is detected in the light from a distant galaxy. Use the Hubble law to calculate the distance of the galaxy from the earth.
Problem 32
In an experiment done in a laboratory on the earth, the wavelength of light emitted by a hydrogen atom in the to transition is nm. In the light emitted by the quasar 3C273 (see Problem ), this spectral line is redshifted to nm. Assume the redshift is described by Eq. () and use the Hubble law to calculate the distance in light-years of this quasar from the earth.
Ch 44: Particle Physics and Cosmology