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lmstaples
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Homework Statement
The proper mean lifetime of a [itex]\pi^{+}[/itex] mesons is 26ns.
(a) (i) What is the mean lifetime of [itex]\pi^{+}[/itex] mesons traveling with [itex] \beta=\frac{v}{c}=0.73[/itex]?
(ii) What distance is traveled at this velocity during one mean lifetime?
(iii) What distance would be traveled in the absence of time dilation?
(iv) How long would the laboratory-frame distance calculated in part (ii) appear to be in
the rest frame of the [itex]\pi^{+}[/itex] meson?
(b) In the experiment of Alvager and co-workers in 1964, gamma ray photons from the decay
of neutral [itex]\pi^{+}[/itex] mesons traveling at 0.99975c were found to travel at c in the samedirection as the [itex]\pi^{+}[/itex] mesons.
What was the speed of the photons in the rest frame of the [itex]\pi^{+}[/itex] mesons?
The Attempt at a Solution
(a) (i) Mean Lifetime = [itex]\frac{26}{\sqrt{1-(0.73)^{2}}}=38ns[/itex]
(ii) Distance traveled = [itex](0.73)*(2.9979*10^{^})*(38*10^{-9})=8.32m[/itex]
(iii) Distance traveled = [itex](0.73)*(2.9979*10^{^})*(26*10^{-9})=5.69m[/itex]
(iv) Not sure how to do that?
(b) Because of the postulates of Special Relativity, surely the speed of the photons is just c (speed of light) as light travels the same speed in all reference/inertial frames? Is it a trick question or not?