Nuclear Physics Exercise sheet 1

Exrecise 1. Water is flowing with constant velocity v with respect to an

inertial frame K. The speed of light in water is c/, where is the refractive
index. We note u0 the speed of light emitted in the rest frame of water and
u the speed of light mesured in the frame K, and we assume that the light is
emitted in the direction of v. Using the relativistic composition of velocities,
show that
!

1
0
u ' u + 1 2 v,

where higher orders in v are neglected.

Exercise 2. Two events occur in an inertial frame S as follows:
Event A: tA = 2a/c , xA = a , yA = zA = 0;
Event B: tB = 3a/c , xB = 2a , yB = zB = 0,
where a is a length and c is the speed of light. Explain if it is possible to find
a frame where the two events are simultaneous.
Exercise 3. Electrons and positrons collide head-on, with energies Ee = 9
GeV and Ee+ = 3.1 GeV respectively. The mass of the electron is 0.51 MeV.
Calculate the speed of the electrons and the positrons when they collide.
Exercise 4. A particle X collides with its antiparticle X to produce a
particle f and its antiparticle f at threshold (= such that the kinetic energies
of f and f are zero). Express, in the centre of mass frame, the kinetic energies
of the colliding particles in terms of the masses of X and f .
Exercise 5. Calculate the minimum kinetic energy protons must have in
the head-on collision p + p + + d to produce the deuteron d and
the pion + . (The masses are mp ' 938 MeV, md ' 1875 MeV, m+ ' 140
MeV)
Exercise 6. An electron, with kinetic energy 1000 MeV, collides head-on
with a positron at rest. The two particles anihilate each other to produce two
photons of equal energy, each traveling at equal angles from the original
electron velocity. Derive the energy and the momentum of the two photons,
as well as the angle . (The mass of the electron is ' 0.51 MeV)

Exercise 7. A spacecraft is prepared to visit -Centauri, which is at the

distance 4.37 light years from the Sun. Provisions for the crew are prepared
for the duration of 16 years. How fast must the spacecraft travel for this
provision to be enough? Answer this question in two ways: by considering
(i) time dilation; (ii) length contraction. (The period of acceleration, decelaration, turnaround and visit are neglected compared to the whole time of
the travel)
Exercise 8. (section B - 2013)
A point particle of mass m and electric charge q, is initially at rest in an
inertial frame with coordinates (t, x, y, z), at the origin z = 0. The particle
~ = E ~n, where ~n is
is submitted to a constant and uniform electric field E
the unit vector parallel to the z-axis.
8.a) The potential energy of the particle is qEz. Using energy conservation, show that when the particle at position z, its relativistic gamma factor
is
qEz
=1+
.
mc2
8.b) Show that the equation of motion of the particle can be written
d2 z
qE
=
,
2
d
m
where is the particle proper time.
8.c) Infer from the last two questions that

qE
mc2
z=
cosh
qE
mc

1 ,

where = 0 corresponds to the initial condition.

8.d) Show that the time t can be written as

mc
qE
t=
sinh
qE
mc

8.e) Calculate the speed dz/dt of the particle as a function of . Sketch this
speed as a function of and discuss the difference with Newtonian mechanics.