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Is a proton a pion?

Is a proton a pion?

The proton looses a small fraction of its energy in each pion production event. Indeed, consider the pion production near the threshold. In the reference system comoving with the proton, both the proton and the newly produced pion are almost at rest. Their energies are mp and mπ, respectively.

What happens in a proton proton collision?

When they collide, interesting things can happen. In most proton collisions the quarks and gluons inside the two protons interact to form a wide array of low-energy, ordinary particles. Occasionally, heavier particles are produced, or energetic particles paired with their anti-particles.

Is a pion heavier than a proton?

The muon appeared first, in experiments in 1936 which revealed a charged particle some 210 times as heavy as the electron, or 11 per cent the mass of the proton. The pion is only about 30 per cent heavier than the muon, but it behaves very differently.

What happens if neutron and proton collide?

In the early universe the key reaction was the collision of a proton and a neutron to form a deuterium nucleus (an isotope of hydrogen). Collisions between protons and neutrons had been happening continuously since the Beginning, but their energies were too high to allow them to stick together to form deuterium nuclei.

How to calculate pion production in proton-proton collision?

We note that pμp′μ = ⟨pμ|p′μ⟩ is invaraiant in all frames of reference and that pμpμ = m2c2, we can therefore simplify: If we consider that the second proton is initially at rest we have: pμ1 = (E c,→p) and therefore: Using the constants mp = 938 MeV/c2 and mπ = 139.6 MeV/c2, we get:

What kind of particles are produced in pp collisions?

Thus, pion production in pp collisions results in production of γ-rays, neutrinos and high-energy electron / positrons. Gamma-ray emission induced by interactions of cosmic rays with the protons from the interstellar medium is the main source of high-energy γ-rays from the Milky Way galaxy, see Fig. 2.27.

Why does pion carry only a fraction of its energy?

This means that the pion carries away only a fraction κ = mπ/mp≃ 10−1of the proton energy. This means that proton looses a significant fraction of its energy in several collisions. The cross-section of this process is determined by the physics of strong interactions.

What happens when Pion transforms to lab frame?

Transforming to the lab frame, both the proton and the election energy is boosted by the proton gamma factor, to mpγ and mπγ, respectively. This means that the pion carries away only a fraction κ = mπ/mp≃ 10−1of the proton energy.