In: Physics
• A neutral K meson (mass 497.7 MeV/c2 ) is moving with a kinetic energy of 77.0 MeV. It decays into a pi meson (mass 139.6 MeV/c2 ) and another particle of unknown mass. The pi meson is moving in the direction of the original K meson with a momentum of 381.6 MeV/c.
i. Find the momentum and total relativistic energy of the unknown particle.
ii. By finding the mass of the unknown particle show that the unknown particle is also a pi meson.
iii. Determine the energies of the two emitted particles in the decay of the K meson by first making a Lorentz transformation to a reference frame in which the initial K meson is at rest (note that when the K meson decays into the two particles, they will move in opposite directions with equal and opposite velocities, so they share the decay energy equally).
Find the energies and velocities of the two pi mesons in the K meson’s rest frame iv. Transform back to the lab frame to find the kinetic energies of the two pi mesons