Does radioactive decay slow in a particle accelerator

AI Thread Summary
Radioactive decay is influenced by time dilation effects in particle accelerators, where particles like muons experience extended lifespans due to their high speeds. Experiments such as those at CERN and Fermilab have demonstrated this phenomenon, with muons in storage rings showing significant time dilation. The discussion highlights the relevance of natural particle accelerators, like cosmic rays, which also exhibit similar effects. The evidence of time slowing as particles approach the speed of light is confirmed through these observations. Overall, time dilation is a critical factor in understanding particle behavior in both artificial and natural accelerators.
nonphysicsman
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I am a non physicist-scientist, but landed here searching the internet for this answer. Has it ever been done? Thank you for any answers.
 
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The CERN and Brookhaven muon g-2 experiments have high speed muons in a storage ring. The time dilation factor is around 30.
 
russ_watters said:
Welcome to PF!

I would assume it is taken into account, with the lifespan of particles created in the collisions, but I couldn't find any quick references. But how about a natural particle accelerator?
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/relativ/muon.html
russ_watters said:
Welcome to PF!

I would assume it is taken into account, with the lifespan of particles created in the collisions, but I couldn't find any quick references. But how about a natural particle accelerator?
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/relativ/muon.html
 
When I was in graduate school 35 years ago, one of my friends worked on an experiment involving beams of sigma and xi hyperons at Fermilab. Without the time dilation of their lifetimes, the hyperons would not have been able to travel from the production target to the detector.
 
Thank you for the response. I'm trying to find out if there has been evidence of time slowing or accelerating as particles approach the speed of light. What would be a natural accelerator?
 
jtbell said:
When I was in graduate school 35 years ago, one of my friends worked on an experiment involving beams of sigma and xi hyperons at Fermilab. Without the time dilation of their lifetimes, the hyperons would not have been able to travel from the production target to the detector.
Thank you. Is this considered evidence of time dilation?
 
nonphysicsman said:
Thank you. Is this considered evidence of time dilation?

Absolutely.
 
nonphysicsman said:
What would be a natural accelerator?
Did you reat the link? It's pretty descriptive, yet succinct.
 
  • #10
nonphysicsman said:
Thank you for the response. I'm trying to find out if there has been evidence of time slowing or accelerating as particles approach the speed of light. What would be a natural accelerator?
Muons produced by cosmic rays demonstrate this effect.
 
  • #11
nonphysicsman said:
What would be a natural accelerator?
That hyper physics link that Russ W gave you tells you all about it. It's a 'natural' event.
 
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