Assignment 01

Particle (and Nuclear) Physics, HE/PH 2151

1
Centre for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
(Dated: October 5, 2023)

Collaborate, but do not copy. meaning to the Eightfold Way discussed in Griffiths
Chapter 1.
1. Feynman diagrams.
(a) Baryon decuplet.
Draw the lowest-order Feynman diagrams for these (a-1) What is the average mass m∆ of the four ∆
processes. Time goes from left to right. baryons? mΣ∗ of the three Σ∗ (J = 3/2) baryons? mΞ∗
[Careful: some of these proceed via more than one di- of the two Ξ∗ (J = 3/2) baryons? The mass mΩ of the
agram/ampitude.] Ω− baryon?
(a) e+ e− → e+ e− in QED. (a-2) Stare at m∆ , mΣ∗ , mΞ∗ and mΩ , and identify an
(b) e− e− → e− e− in QED. approximate relation among them. It is best expressed
(c) µ → eνν. In your diagram label the charges, over- in terms of differences in masses.
bars, and neutrino flavours correctly. It is enough if your relation is correct to within 10%.
(d) n → peν showing quarks. Again, label the charges,
over-bars, and neutrino flavours. (b) Baryon octet.
(e) π → µν showing quarks. Label the charges, over- (b-1) Find mN , average mass of n and p, mΣ of the
bars, and neutrino flavours. three Σ (J = 1/2) baryons, mΞ of the two Ξ (J = 1/2)
(f) q q̄ → q q̄ in QCD. baryons, and mΛ , mass of the Λ baryon.
(g) gg → gg. (b-2) If I tell you that
(h) ∆− → nπ − .
a mN + b mΣ + c mΞ + d mΛ ≈ 0 , (1)
(i) Σ− → nπ − . Compare with (h).
(j) q q̄ → µ+ µ− involving QED and weak interactions. determine integer values of a, b, c, d by trial and error.
(k) q1 q̄2 → τ ν. Label the qi s (first generation only), To within what percent of the nucleon mass is this
as well as charges, over-bars and ν flavours in the final relation correct?
state.
(`) γγ → γγ. (One diagram would do.) (c) Meson octet.
Replace every baryon in the baryon octet with the cor-
2. A new force-carrier. responding meson in the meson octet.
(c-1) Repeat the exercise in Part (b-1).
Recall that interaction vertices such as eeγ, νµ µW and (c-2) Use the values of a, b, c, d obtained in Part (b-2)
qqg make the photon, the W boson and the gluon the to evaluate the LHS of Eq. (1). What do you get?
“force-carriers” of electromagnetism, weak and strong in- (c-3) For the same a, b, c, d, evaluate
teractions respectively. (Here charge and over-bar labels
(a + c) m2K and (b m2π + d m2η ) . (2)
have been omitted in the vertices.)
Now suppose there exists a state – let’s call it & – Comment.
that mediates/carries a force between quarks and leptons:
q`&. 4. Noether’s theorem.
(a) What are the two lowest possible spins of &?
(b) Assuming & couples only to the first generation Loosely: every continuous symmetry in the La-
of matter, draw all possible vertices using Feynman dia- grangian describing a system generates a conserved
gram conventions. Do this for both spins of &. For each quantity, the “Noether charge”.
diagram write down the electric and colour charges of &.
(You may assume that the colour “charge” of a quark is [Parts (d) and (e) will not be graded as they are too
Qc .) distant from “particle physics”, but take a crack for your
(c) Again for just the first generation of matter, draw own erudition.]
the Feynman diagrams for q q̄ → `+ `− , q q̄ → ν ν̄, and
q1 q̄2 → `ν involving &. Label all the states completely. (a) Write down the Noether charges for the symme-
tries of time translation, space translation, and spatial
3. Eightfold way. rotation.
(b) From the above, what can you say about the rela-
Use Particle Data Group (PDG) tables or Wikipedia tion between Noether’s theorem and Heisenberg’s uncer-
to answer the following questions. These give more tainty principle?
 (c) In Lorentz boosts, xµ → Λνµ xµ , a quantity that is (b-2-1) Which of these states is symmetric with respect
conserved is the spacetime interval s2 = xµ xµ . Argue to particle exchange? Which is anti-symmetric?
why this cannot be the Noether charge of Lorentz boosts (b-2-2) Now what happens if you apply C to these
in two different ways: states? From this, determine the intrinsic C factor of
(i) By comparing with spatial rotations. this operation.
(ii) By using the answer to Part (b). (b-3) Finally, there is a factor of (-1) for fermion-
antifermion interchange due to spinor ordering. You
(d) Consider Galilean boosts, don’t have to justify this; it arises in quantum field
theory.
~x → ~x + ~v t . (3)

The Noether charge is given by 6. Clebsch-Gordan coefficients.

~ =Σ
Σ ~ 0 + P~ t . (4) Refer to Griffiths Example 4.3 and
Documents/resources/clebschgordancoeffs-
By comparing with Eq. (3), guess the physical inter- pdg.pdf in Teams.
pretation of Eq. (4) and write it down.
(e) The above can be generalized to Lorentz boosts, I prepare an electron in a hydrogen atom in the orbital
state |1, 0i with ms = −1/2.
x0 = (1 − β 2 )−1/2 (x − βt) ,
(a) What values of the total angular momentum can
t0 = (1 − β 2 )−1/2 (t − βx) . (5) you measure?
(b) What is the probability for each measurement?
(In this course, c = 1, v = β.) As it was for Galilean
boosts, there are again three Noether charges (i = 1, 2, 3):
Z −−−−−−−
Σ = − dx T 00 xi + P i t ,
0i
(6)
7. Allowed and forbidden. [Bonus. Will not be
graded.]
where T µν is the stress-energy tensor. Clearly, this is Griffiths Problem (2.7). Trying to answer these for
a generalization of Eq. (4). But what is the physical yourself will be of help for your mid-term.
interpretation now?
[Hint: In the limit of β  c, the interpretations of
8. Testing C invariance. [Bonus. Will not be
Eqs. (4) and (6) must match.]
graded.]
5. Parity and charge conjugation for fermion
pairs. Consider the process pp̄ → π 0 π + π − .
(a) The intrinsic parity of a pair of fermions with or-
bital angular momentum L is (−1)L . Show this for the (a) What are the possible spin configurations of the
hydrogen atom. initial pp̄ state?
[Hint: What are the wavefunctions? What happens to (b) What is the C of either spin configuration?
them under ~r → −~r?]
(c) What is the C of the final state? Comment on
(b) The intrinsic C of a fermion-antifermion pair with
which of the pp̄ spin configurations drives the process if
orbital angular momentum L and spin S is (−1)L+S .
C is a conserved quantity.
Prove this by multiplying three factors:
(b-1) First, apply the C operation on the fermions one (d) If C is conserved, what might be a relation between
after another. What is the intrinsic C factor of this op- the energy distributions of π + and π − ?
eration? [Hint: Look at Part (a).] (e) Based on your answer to (d), construct an observ-
(b-2) Next, consider the S = 0 and S = 1 states of the able quantity that would test C invariance of strong in-
f -f¯ pair. teractions in this process.