Basic Ideas

3C24
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Tricia Vahle & Simon Dean
(based on Lecture Notes from Ruben Saakyan)
UCL
HISTORY
 19th century: atoms indivisible
⇓
1897: Thomson’s discovery of e-
⇓
1900: Photon (γ) postulated by Planck to explain black-body radiation
⇓
1911: Rutherford experiments – central nucleus(+) orbited by e-’s
⇓
Bohr model of atom: first window into quantum physics
⇓
1930: Neutrino (ν) postulated by Fermi to save energy conservation
in β decay
⇓
Nucleus is composite. Nucleons: protons (+e) and neutrons
⇓
1960’s: Nucleons are bound states of quarks which have fractional
electrical charges (-e/3, 2e/3)
 The Standard Model
10 years old Fundamental interactions:
9 Electromagnetic—γ
9 Strong –g (gluons)
9 Weak—W and Z
9 Gravitational—graviton?
50 years
old

Other non-elementary important

Particles: Hadrons

5 years old Baryons Mesons

p – uud π + = ud
>100 years old
n – udd K 0 = ds
Still looking! Λ - uds ψ = cc
 Relativity and antiparticles
• E=mc2⇒ high energies are required to produce new
particles
• λ=h/p ⇒ high energies are needed to study small
things
– Proton radius ~ 10-15m,
– >103 ×me energy needed
• relativistic effects are important!
• Quantum Theory must work with Special relativity ⇒
ANTIPARTICLES
– each particle must have an antiparticle
– Symmetry between particles and antiparticles
– opposite quantum numbers: electric charge, spin, lepton
charge, etc…
• Particle+Antiparticle→ annihilation (γ’s or other)
 Units: Length, mass and energy
• Length, cross-sections
– Tiny distances – fm (10-15 m)
– Proton radius ~ 0.8 fm, range of nuclear force ~ 1-2 fm
range of weak force ~ 10-3 fm
– Cross-section: Barn. 1 b = 10-28m2.
– σ(pp) ~ n×10 mb (~10-30m2) – strong interaction
– σ(νp) ~ n×10 fb (~10-42m2) – weak interaction
• Mass, Energy: electron volt 1 eV = 1.6×10-19 joules
– 1 keV = 103 eV, 1MeV = 106 eV natural radioactivity,
238U,232Th

– 1 GeV = 109 eV, 1 TeV = 1012 eV accelerators

– 1 PeV = 1015 eV ultra high energy cosmic rays
 Natural Units
• In order to create a particle of mass M, we
need an energy at least as great as its rest
energy E = Mc2
• “Typical” masses
– Me = 0.511 MeV/c2, Mp = 0.938 GeV/c2,
Mn = 0.939 GeV/c2, MW = 80.3 GeV/c2,
MZ = 91.2 GeV/c2
• Particle physics convention: Natural units
h ≡ h / 2π = 1 and c = 1 Me = 0.511 MeV
(BTW, it is only 9×10-28 g)
 Particle Reactions
Typically, particle physicists smash particles together, then watch what comes out.

e- + p → e- + p elastic scattering
•Same particles in and out

νe + n → e- + p inelastic scattering
•Different particles out

The same initial particles can lead to different

final states:
e - + e-
e - + e-
γ+γ
 Particle Reactions. Decay.
β decay of neutron
– n → p + e− +ν e
– N(t) = N0×exp(-t/τ), τ ≈ 900 sec
β decay of a nucleus
– ( Z , A) → ( Z + 1, A) + e− +ν e
– Z – number of protons (charge)
A – number of neutrons + protons (mass
number)
 Feynman diagrams
A pictorial representation of a mathematics formalism that allows you to calculate
probabilities for reactions

Electromagnetic interactions
Final State
Initial State

Vertex

time

e- + e- → e- + e- e+ + e+ → e+ + e+ e+ + e- → γ + γ

The arrows do NOT indicate the direction of motion

They are for particles (→) and antiparticles (←)
Charge must be conserved at
vertex

Forbidden process e- → e+ + γ
(charge conservation violated)

Other rules apply at the vertex—these will come in

later lectures
 Feynman diagrams
Weak interactions
Two mediators of the weak force, Z and W bosons

ν e + e- → ν e + e-
Feynman diagrams
Strong interactions

q+q→q+q
 Four-vectors
• Fundamental laws can be written in the
same form for all Lorentz frames.
• Lorentz transformation relates the
coordinates in two frames.
r2
• ( ct , x ) ≡ ( x0
, x1
, x2
, x3
) ≡ x µ
– 4-vector, c t − x
2 2
-
invariant
r
– Convention: x or x – 3-vector
r r
• A⋅ B = A B − A⋅ B
0 0

r
• In special relativity P ≡ ( E , pc) ≡ ( p 0 , p1 , p 2 , p 3 ) ≡ p µ
r2 2
– The basic invariant E − p c = m2c 4
2
 Particle exchange – range of forces
4-vector PA = (EA,pAc)

A(MAc2, 0)→A(EA,pAc)+X(EX,-pAc)

For A and B:
PAPB = EAEB - pApBc2

PA2 = EA2 - pA2c2 = MA2c4

EA = (p2c2 + MA2c4)1/2, EX = (p2c2 + MX2c4)1/2 (p = |p|)
X is virtual particle

∆E = EX +EA – MAc2 → 2pc, p→∞

→ MXc2, p→0
Thus ∆E ≥ MXc2 for all p.
Particle exchange – range of forces

∆E ≥ MXc2 for all p, i.e. energy is not

conserved
• From Heisenberg uncertainty principle it is
allowed for t ≈ h / ∆E
• r ≈ R ≡ h / M X c – the maximum distance over
which X can propagate, the range of the
interaction
• Mγ = 0 ⇒ infinite range of EM interaction
• MW,Z ≈ 80, 91 GeV/c2 ⇒ RW,Z ≈ 2×10-18 m
 Example problem
• Find the range (in fm) of the force
transmitted by the exchange of a W-boson
of mass 80 GeV/c2
• Solution:
The range is
h hc
R≡ = and hc = 0.2 GeV ⋅ fm
mc mc 2
0.2
RW = fm = 2.5 ×10−3 fm = 2.5 ×10 −18 m
80
 Klein-Gordon equation
Merging Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics:

∂ ∂
from E = p c + M c
2 2 2 2 4
using p = −i h and E = ih
∂x ∂t

Special Relativity + Quantum Mechanics

∂ 2
φ ( x, t )
−h 2
= − h c ∇
2 2 2
φ ( x , t ) + M X c φ ( x, t )
2 4

∂t 2

Describes interactions of spin 0 particles

M X2 c 2
The static form (no time dependence): ∇ φ ( x) = h 2 φ ( x)
2
 Yukawa potential
The Solution to the Klein-Gordon Equation:

For MX = 0 (photon) the above equation is the same as for

electrostatic potential. Coulomb potential:

e2 1
V (r ) = −eφ (r ) = −
4πε 0 r

g 2 e− r / R R – range,
If M X ≠ 0 V (r ) = −
4π r g – coupling constant
associated with each vertex
Yukawa potential of a Feynman diagram
g2
Convention: α X = Interaction strength at r ≤ R 2
4π hc e 1
α≡ ≈ fine structure constant
4πε 0 hc 137
(EM interactions)
 The scattering amplitude
In Feynman diagrams each vertex is associated with invariant amplitude f

|f|2 – directly related to the probability of the process

Assume g 4π hc Then perturbation theory can be used:

rr
iq x
r 3r r r r r
f (q ) = ∫ d xV ( x )e h
q = qi − q f
The integration may be done with substitutions:
rr r r r
q x = q r cos θ and d 3 x = r 2 sin θ dθ drdφ , r = x

r − g 2h2
For Yukawa potential: f (q ) = r 2
q + M X2 c 2
Exchange of single particle ~ αX2, two particle exchange ~ αX4,
Example: EM interactions α ≈ 1/137 ⇒ very small contribution from 2-particle exchange
 Cross-sections – a measure of
interaction probability

Beam (e-, p, π, etc…)

N – number of particles
J = nbvi – flux illuminated by beam

The rate Wr = JNσr

Target
L ≡ JN – contains all dependencies on densities and geometries of
the beam and target – luminosity
Cross-section meaning:
Rate per target particle Jσr = Rate at which beam particles would hit a surface of area σ
dimension of area, cm2
σ is a Lorentz invariant
 Cross-section
σ ≡ ∑σ r dWr ≡ JN
dσ r (θ , φ )
dΩ
r dΩ
total partial
Interaction rate differential

d Ω = d cos θ dφ

Then, partial cross-section can be obtained:

2π
dσ r (θ , φ )
1
σr = ∫ dφ ∫ d cos θ
0 −1
dΩ
 Rate and scattering amplitude f(q)
vi
J = nb vi =
V
e- p
vi dσ r (θ , φ )
dWr = dΩ
V dΩ
L

2π 2 Fermi Second
dWr = ∫ d xψ V ( x)ψ i ρ ( E f )
3 *
From perturbation theory f Golden Rule
h
r r r r
iqi x iq f x Density of states
1 1
ψi = e h
, ψf = e h

V V
2π r 2
dWr = 2
f ( q ) ρ (E f )
hV
Rate and scattering amplitude (ctd)
• ρ(Ef) is calculated by setting ρ(E)dE equal to the number
of possible quantum states of the final states particles
with a total energy between E and E+dE
• It is found by firstly evaluating ρ(q) and then changing
dq
variables using ρ ( q ) dE = ρ ( E )dE
qE
• The possible values of q are restricted by the boundary
conditions to be
 2π h   2π h   2π h 
qx =  n
 x , q y =   ny , qz =   nz
 L   L   L 
• The number of final states with momentum lying in the
r
momentum space volume d 3q = q 2 dqd Ω
3
 L  3r V
ρ (q)dq =   d q = q 2
dqd Ω
 2π h  (2π h) 3
Rate and scattering amplitude (ctd)
dq 1 V q 2f
= → ρ (E f ) = dΩ
dE v (2π h) v f
3

dσ 1 q 2f
r 2
= 2 4 f (q )
d Ω 4π h vi v f

Valid for general two-body relativistic scattering process

r r r r
A(qi ) + B (−qi ) → A(q f ) + B(− q f )

But neglects the spins of the particles

 Unstable particles
• For unstable stated
we measure lifetime τ
or
h
Γ=
τ

Γf
Γ = ∑Γ f Bf ≡
f Γ

Total decay width Partial width

Branching ratio
 Unstable particles.
Breit-Wigner formula

Γf
Pf (W ) ~
(W − M ) 2 c 4 + Γ 2 / 4

• M – mass of the decaying state

• W – invariant mass of the decay
products

If an unstable state produced in a scattering reaction, σ for that reaction

will show an enhancement. In this case we are producing a resonance state
Γi Γ f
σ if ~
( E − Mc 2 ) 2 + Γ 2 / 4