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Hey there, this isn't a homework / coursework question so I didn't think it should be posted in that section.
I can't seem to find a source which explicitly tells you how to determine which bosons are used in reactions.
I understand how to work out if a reaction is legal or not by using charge conservation and lepton number conservation. I also understand why virtual particles exist and which particles are on shell or off shell. - atleast I think I do.
But what i don't understand, is how someone can look at a process such as
[tex]e^+ e^- \rightarrow \tau^+ \tau^-[/tex]
ie
[PLAIN]http://hepwww.rl.ac.uk/OpenDays98/Century%20of%20electrons/images/tt_f.gif [Broken]
and be like "yep, a [tex]Z^0[/tex] is here".
I know it can be seen if you have the interaction lagrangian is present but when this is not the case, are there certain rules you can use?
My notes have little bits like
"[itex]W[/itex] changes neutrinos into non neutrinos"
and
"[tex]\gamma[/tex] only interacts with charged particles, [tex]Z^0[/tex] if they're non charged" (which doesn't seem right with the example process I gave)
So are there some basic rules I can remember so I will always be able to atleast determine the boson correctly?
Much appreciated
(and why are my Latex tags not working? :( )
I can't seem to find a source which explicitly tells you how to determine which bosons are used in reactions.
I understand how to work out if a reaction is legal or not by using charge conservation and lepton number conservation. I also understand why virtual particles exist and which particles are on shell or off shell. - atleast I think I do.
But what i don't understand, is how someone can look at a process such as
[tex]e^+ e^- \rightarrow \tau^+ \tau^-[/tex]
ie
[PLAIN]http://hepwww.rl.ac.uk/OpenDays98/Century%20of%20electrons/images/tt_f.gif [Broken]
and be like "yep, a [tex]Z^0[/tex] is here".
I know it can be seen if you have the interaction lagrangian is present but when this is not the case, are there certain rules you can use?
My notes have little bits like
"[itex]W[/itex] changes neutrinos into non neutrinos"
and
"[tex]\gamma[/tex] only interacts with charged particles, [tex]Z^0[/tex] if they're non charged" (which doesn't seem right with the example process I gave)
So are there some basic rules I can remember so I will always be able to atleast determine the boson correctly?
Much appreciated
(and why are my Latex tags not working? :( )
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