Particle physics Definition and 537 Threads

Which experimental physics branch has better job prospects (both inside and outside academia) - particle physics or nuclear physics? Is the difference very big?

I'm given an ultra-high energy cosmic ray with energy 10^20 eV. It is coming from a source 10 Mpc away with an extragalactic magnetic field with strength B = 10^-9 G. I am to determine the maximum angular deflection of this cosmic ray, so it hits Earth. I don't have an attempt of the solution...

The C-parity of π+ π- alone is simply (-1)^L, where L is the angular momentum quantum number for the system. But then what is C-parity of π+ π- π0? Is it simply (-1)^L (+1), where L is the angular momentum quantum number for the π+ π- subsystem (which isn't necessarily the angular momentum of...

Hello! I am taking a course on Electroweak & Strong Interactions (you could equally call it Standard Model I) and I find it absolutely fascinating! 😍 We studied how weak interactions violate parity, introduction to QCD, flavor physics (CKM matrix, CP violation, …) and neutrino physics...

I am having trouble to understand what it means by "physically relevant real parameters" and how does it help us to specify a quantum system. Let say, we have a state of k half spin electrons? My guess is about the local phase of the spin, and this would make it 2^k parameters since each...

Hi hi, I would like clarify this, I'm looking for models that can support to a particles have several properties, I know classic physics, my main problem, if we have a fluid with movement forces and heat, the classic model don't support this, only independent from each other... So, a lot of ppl...

Here are the quotes https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/show-your-affection-with-physics-valentines , I find them funny except for the last one is hurtful, I shouldn't say such a thing for someone on a valentine's day because they would care about the valentine's day, personally I find it...

Hi everyone, I was hoping the internet would be filled with video lectures since lots of universities have been forced to conduct online teaching. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Therefore I was hoping that some of you know of some great video lectures for nuclear and particle...

There is something unusual about water. Without atmosphere, water can't exist. It's as if water is part of atmosphere. In vacuum, liquid water can't exist. What other things like water where it needs other aspects like atmosphere to exist? And what is the analogy of water in particle physics...

Hi! So I have just been studying Yang-Mills theory advanced quantum field theory. In chapter 72 of Srednicki's book Quantum Field Theory they list the Feynman rules for non-abelian gauge theory. I was asked if I could show some sample allowed diagrams but I could not.. In standard particle...

I'm confused on how De Broglie's hypothesis works. I've attached my thinking in a pdf file below. I'm not an expert in the field of particle physics(I'm only in high school), so there may be some error in my logic(I really think so, or else De Broglie was wrong!(hint:he isn't)) I've also read...

I do not really know the relationship between potential energy and mass difference. Isn't the difference in mass of protons and neutrons due to their quarks? (the neutron is made of two down quarks and an up quark and the proton of two up quarks and a down quark.) Please help.

Can you compare the energy loss of electrons and protons due to the radiation they emit? In fact, I want to know which of the two loses more energy when it emits radiation.

In some models of the beginning of the universe, like for example in chaotic inflation, space would stop expanding in some points, creating Hubble volumes that could experience different spontaneous symmetry breaking, which would result in different properties, such as different physical...

I looked in the instructor solutions, which are given by: But I don't quite understand the solution, so I hope you can help me understand it. First. Why do we even know we are working with wavefunctions with the quantum numbers n,l,m? Don't we only get these quantum numbers if the particles...

1. On pg. 343 Griffith's expresses the weak current in terms of left-handed doublets. jμ± = ##\bar χ_L##γμτ±##χ_L## ##χ_L## = ##\begin{pmatrix} ν_e \\ e \end{pmatrix}_L## ##\tau^+## = ##\begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}## , ## \tau^- ## = ##\begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 0...

Most scientists believe neutrinos don't get their mass from the Higgs field due to their tiny mass compared to the next lightest particle(electron).During the electroweak epoch the rest particles were massless but neutrinos shouldn't be. The neutrinos would then decay to the other massless ( i...

Neutrinos oscillate at different flavors while propagating in space and this is due to their mass.Any particle being massless cannot oscillate between different flavors while leptons with the mass of the electron and above are very unlikely to change their flavor. Will we able to detect a change...

Hey everyone, I've got a question on converting bound protons into neutrons. a. What are some methods used to achieve the proton-to-neutron conversion in atomic nuclei? I'm familiar with particle scattering off a proton in the nucleus. I'm also aware of (n,p) reactions. Are there any other...

In many QFT textbooks, we usually see the calculations of vertex function, vacuum polarization and electron self-energy. For example, one calculates the vacuum polarization to correct photon propagator $\langle{\Omega}|T\{A_{\mu}A_{\nu}\}|\Omega\rangle$, where $|\Omega\rangle$ is the ground...

hello all : looking for books to read in this times ,undergraduate level mostly , but i have some problem finding good ones for introductory elementary particle physics other than griffths and for special relativity any recommendations

I'm currently reading various papers on the violation of Lepton Flavour Universality in rare B-decays and I would appreciate some help in understanding the methodology for measuring the ratios in these decays. Here is a quote from a recent paper from the LHCb collaboration (p.5): My question...

Hi, I have attached the question to this post. I understand on the process on getting to the answer in that you use $$\arrowvert 2, 2\rangle=\arrowvert 1,1\rangle \otimes \arrowvert 1,1\rangle$$ and apply the isospin-lowering operator to obtain $$\arrowvert 2,1 \rangle$$. Then I understand you...

Δ ++ → p + π0 Ξ - → Λ0 + π-

I'm currently working my way through Griffith's Elementary Particles text, and I'm looking to understand what's going on with the underlying Hilbert space of a system described using a Feynman diagram. I'm fairly well acquainted with non relativistic QM, but not much with QFT. In particular, I'd...

In decay processes where no mixing between quark families is present, the mediator of the weak force is the neutral ##Z^0## boson. If that is the case, how is it experimentally possible to detect neutral currents in processes such as: $$\bar{\nu}_\mu + e \rightarrow \bar{\nu}_\mu + e$$ What...

Hello, I have been following Tong's notes on QFT and have found them to be a great introduction. I am almost at the end and am trying to figure out how to proceed. I have seen recommendations on David Skinner's notes, but I think I want to use a textbook either with Skinner's notes or maybe...

On page 105 of Peskin and Schroeder's book it says that the integral over ##d^2b## in the expression: $$d\sigma = \left(\Pi_f \frac{d^3 p_f}{(2\pi)^3}\frac{1}{2E_f}\right) \int d^2b\left(\Pi_{i=A,B} \int \frac{d^3 k_i}{(2\pi)^3}\frac{\phi_i(k_i)}{\sqrt{2E_i}} \int \frac{d^3...

Homework Statement: Calculate energy released in the reactions below, and compare them (see full question below) Homework Equations: a) FISSION: 1g of U-235 splits into La-148 + Br-87 b) FUSION: 0.5g of D2O with 0.5g of T20 creates He-4 and a neutron useful equations: E = Δm(c^2) Hey, can...

I've heard it from my classmates that particle physics is just like botany or when physics meets taxonomy. There is even a quote from Enrico Fermi about this "If I could remember all names of these particles I'd be a botanist" I just want to know how true is that.

There is a Theoretical Physicist by the name of Garret Lisi. He gave a ted Talk on one of his unified physics theories that received a lot of attention. The reason why I am bringing him up is because he left academia after he finished his phd and moved to Maui. During his time there he found...

Hello everybody! I am working on a code in which I need to study the dependence of ##<p_T>## vs ##p_L## (the average transverse momentum and the longitudinal momentum of a particle). I am looking for references, papers, books, etc. concerning this topic, but I have not been so lucky. My...

Hi all, I have some doubts regarding the experiment of Madame Wu. I know a strong magnetic field is used to polarise the ##^{60}Co## nuclei, then we have an anthracene scintillator on the top of the sample which will detect the electron produced in the decay: ##^{60}Co \rightarrow...

Hi all. I'd personally consider the De Broglie wavelength λ=h/p, with p being the momentum of the electron beam. I get $$\lambda \simeq 0.6 \times 10^{-18} m $$ and since the radius of a quark is ## \leq 10^{-19} m ##, the proton structure can't be resolved. I'm quite sure there's something...

Hi. Are these two books complementary, or do they have too much in common? https://www.amazon.com/dp/1107034264/?tag=pfamazon01-20 www.amazon.com/Quantum-Field-Theory-Standard-Model/dp/1107034736/ My problem is that I still don't quite understand the difference between university courses in...

Attempt at a solution: $$ -\gamma^{\mu}\gamma^{\nu}D_{\mu} D_{\nu} - im\gamma^{\mu} D_{\mu} + im\gamma^{\nu}D_{\nu} - m^2 =$$ $$ -\gamma^{\mu}\gamma^{\nu}(\partial_{\mu} + ieA_{\mu})(\partial_{\nu}-m) - I am \gamma^{\mu}(\partial_{\mu}+ieA_{\mu})+im\gamma^{\nu}(\partial_{\nu}+ieA_{\nu}) - m^2...

Attempt at solution: By conservation of momentum: $$P = (M,0,0,0) = p_1 + p_2 = (E_1 + E_2, 0, 0,0)$$ thus $$ M = E_1 + E_2 = 2k^2 + m_1^2 + m_2^2$$ Now $$E_1^2 - E_2^2 = m_1^2 - m_2^2 = (m_1 + m_2)(m_1-m_2)$$ $$ = M(m_1-m_2) = (2k^2+m_1^2+m_2^2)(m_1-m_2)$$ Isolating k: $$ k =...

So I worked out the first part and obtained ##E_1 = 478.8MeV##, ##E_2 = 459.4MeV## and ##p = 0.49 MeV/c## but I can't quite wrap my head around the second part. Normally, I'd use the equation for s but I'm confused since I don't know the angle between the gamma rays.

Hi all, I am in a bit of a funny situation where I need to pick up at least a cursory knowledge of QFT and particle physics in the space of two weeks. I borrowed "QFT and the Standard Model" by Schwartz but I have no idea how I should approach it. Ideally I'd pour through every page, but I...

As mentioned above I'm unable to begin because I don't know the relevant equations or method.

I have a belief from something I read on the internet that the superscript 1 means that this is a singlet state so it can only hold one particle but then say 3^S_0 is a triplet so it could hold three. Then the first state I mentioned couldn't have a particle and an antiparticle in it , but the...

I'm working on some stuff for particle physics and I had a few questions I wanted to ask . Heres the outline of the problem : Establish which initial states of the ppbar system amongst 1^S_0, 3^S_1, 1^P_1, 3^P_0, 3^P_1, 3^P_2, 1^D_2, 3^D_1, 3^D_2, 3^D_3 the reaction ppbar->npi^0 can...

That said, my approach was to determine the energies and 3-momenta at the center of momentum reference frame for each particle, with a fixed s, and check it corresponds to each one of the above, but I'm having some trouble proving that, for example, E_A=\frac{s+m^2_A-m^2_B}{2\sqrt{s}}. I've...

It is interesting to consider why sufficiently slow work does not tend to increase entropy. We can model atoms as a collection of quantum particle-in-a-box’s; Compression work will tend to squeeze the size of these quantum boxes, reducing L. Now, suppose instead that you left this quantum...

Homework Statement Homework Equations m2 = E2 - p2 ([/B]The Attempt at a Solution I got stuck by not knowing how to handle the frames and I thought you can view the Z boson (CoM) frame, but then you simply get that mz = 2me

I just saw this public lecture and I really enjoyed it (the lecture begins at about 18 minutes into the video). He is an engaging and rather funny speaker. At the end there is a Q&A in which he for instance goes into some of the misconceptions about quantum mechanics. David Kaplan is also one of...

Homework Statement In perspective to the photoelectric effect I found following question: Electric current is charge flowing per unit of time. If we increase the kinetic energy of the photoelecrons (by increasing the energy of the incident photons), shouldn’t the current increase, because the...

Hi all, I recently got accepted to do a PhD into High Energy Physics groups at Oxford, Imperial, UCL, Cambridge and Manchester. My main interest is neutrino physics, which all of these places are offering. However, I am struggling to pick between Oxford and Imperial. I have met and discussed...