Why can an electron-positron collider only produce particles with spin 1?

  • Thread starter lark
  • Start date
  • Tags
    Collision
In summary, the article discusses a situation where electron-positron collisions can only make particles with spin 1, not spin 0. This process is called Yukawa type coupling.
  • #1
lark
163
0
I read a statement in an article that an electron-positron collider can only make particles with spin 1, not spin 0, if just one particle is generated in the collision.
Why would that be? (Maybe there are more provisos to that. )
Laura
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
Apparently if the electron and positron have spin in opposite directions, the magnetic moments would repel each other. I don't know if this is the explanation.
Laura
 
Last edited:
  • #3
Can you tell us what the article was?

Naively, the Yukawa type coupling [tex] \bar{\psi} \psi \phi [/tex] would permit the annihilation of the fermion and anti-fermion described by [tex] \psi [/tex] into the scalar described by [tex] \phi [/tex] as long as [tex] \phi [/tex] is massive.

Perhaps the article was considering a special situation of some type?
 
  • #4
Physics Monkey said:
Naively, the Yukawa type coupling [tex] \bar{\psi} \psi \phi [/tex] would permit the annihilation of the fermion and anti-fermion described by [tex] \psi [/tex] into the scalar described by [tex] \phi [/tex] as long as [tex] \phi [/tex] is massive.
Precisely how such a collider would produce the Higgs...
 
  • #5
Physics Monkey said:
Can you tell us what the article was?

Naively, the Yukawa type coupling [tex] \bar{\psi} \psi \phi [/tex] would permit the annihilation of the fermion and anti-fermion described by [tex] \psi [/tex] into the scalar described by [tex] \phi [/tex] as long as [tex] \phi [/tex] is massive.

Perhaps the article was considering a special situation of some type?

It was an article in Physics Today about finding the http://blogs.physicstoday.org/update/2008/07/bottomonium-ground-state-in-th.html" , the meson which is composed of the bottom quark and bottom antiquark.
They can make excited spin-1 bottomonium but the spin-0 state only appears as a decay from the spin-1 state. By emitting a photon. The way the article put it, it sounds like a general principle is involved.
Laura
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #6
The process for producing quarkonium exclusively (plus nothing else) is [itex]e^+ + e^- \rightarrow \gamma^* \rightarrow (q\overline{q})[/itex]. The [itex](q\overline{q})[/itex] pair needs to have the same quantum numbers as the photon, 1--.

If you allow inclusive production, you can have reactions like [itex]e^+ + e^- \rightarrow (q\overline{q}) + \gamma[/itex], which opens up many other quantum numbers for the [itex](q\overline{q})[/itex] pair.
 
  • #7
Vanadium 50 said:
The process for producing quarkonium exclusively (plus nothing else) is [itex]e^+ + e^- \rightarrow \gamma^* \rightarrow (q\overline{q})[/itex]. The [itex](q\overline{q})[/itex] pair needs to have the same quantum numbers as the photon, 1--.

I see. So the electron-positron annihilation makes two photons, and one of them might turn into a bottomonium meson?

What does [itex]\gamma^* [/itex] mean? Virtual photon?

Laura
 
  • #8
So in general when an electron collides with a positron, if it's only producing a single particle, that particle would result from a photon, so it would have to have spin 1?
Laura
 

What is an electron-positron collision?

An electron-positron collision is a type of particle collision that occurs when an electron and a positron, which is the antiparticle of the electron, collide with each other. This type of collision is also known as an annihilation event.

How is energy conserved in an electron-positron collision?

In an electron-positron collision, the total energy before and after the collision must be equal. This means that the energy of the two particles before the collision must be equal to the energy of the resulting particles after the collision. This is in accordance with the law of conservation of energy.

What is the significance of electron-positron collisions in particle physics?

Electron-positron collisions are important in particle physics because they can create a variety of different particles, including photons, quarks, and other subatomic particles. These collisions also allow scientists to study the fundamental properties of particles and their interactions.

How are electron-positron collisions studied in experiments?

Electron-positron collisions are studied in experiments using particle accelerators, which accelerate the particles to very high energies before colliding them. The resulting particles are then detected and their properties are analyzed to gain a better understanding of the collision processes.

What practical applications do electron-positron collisions have?

Electron-positron collisions have practical applications in fields such as medical imaging and cancer treatment. In medical imaging, positron emission tomography (PET) uses the annihilation of positrons with electrons in the body to produce images of internal organs and tissues. In cancer treatment, electron-positron collisions can be used to produce high-energy gamma rays that can be targeted at cancer cells to destroy them.

Similar threads

  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
11
Views
1K
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
2
Views
634
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
7
Views
1K
  • Quantum Physics
Replies
6
Views
932
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • High Energy, Nuclear, Particle Physics
Replies
7
Views
2K
Back
Top