- #1
Kara386
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Homework Statement
A tau neutrino with energy 1GeV interacts with a stationary neutron. Can the neutrino be detected via a charged current interaction?
Take the mass of tau to be 1784MeV/c##^2##, 105MeV/c##^2## for the muon and 939MeV/##c^2## for the neutron.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
I've got no idea what the criteria for detection via a weak interaction are, and it proved very difficult to google. Is there an energy threshold the neutrino has to reach to be detectable? As in should I be saying something like: it doesn't have 83GeV of energy, i.e. the equivalent of the mass of a W boson, so it can't create one? I know tha's wrong, the boson is virtual so doesn't have to have that mass - do I use the uncertainty principle to work out what the energy of the virtual boson would be?
I feel like I've missed some really important concept here, any help would be much appreciated. :)