How is Muon Speed Derived from Pion Decay Using Special Relativity?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on deriving the speed of a muon from the decay of a pion using conservation of momentum and energy principles in special relativity. The problem states that a pion decays into a muon and a neutrino, with the neutrino's mass approaching zero and the pion initially at rest. The user initially misinterprets the momentum conservation, concluding that the muon's momentum is zero, which contradicts the expected result. They attempt to equate the mass energy of the pion with the total energy of the muon but arrive at an incorrect solution, prompting questions about potential algebra errors or the need to account for the neutrino's momentum. The discussion emphasizes the importance of correctly applying relativistic equations to solve the problem.
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I'm not sure whether this should go in this forum or the Advanced forum, but here goes.

Homework Statement


Given:
A pion+ decays into muon+ and neutrino,
\pi^+ \rightarrow \mu^+ + \nu
neutrino mass approaches zero, and
the pion is initially at rest.

Problem statement: Use conservation of momentum and energy to show that the speed of the muon is given by:

\frac{u}{c} = \frac{(m_\pi/m_\mu)^2 - 1}{(m_\pi/m_\mu)^2 + 1}

Homework Equations


E_total = KE + rest energy = (gamma-1)m*c^2 + m*c^2 = gamma*m*c^2

E_t = (\gamma-1)mc^2 + mc^2 = \gamma mc^2

p = \gamma mv

The Attempt at a Solution


I assume that the fact that pion is initially at rest, in combination with conservation of momentum, means that total momentum of the muon and neutrino is zero. Given that the neutrino mass ~ zero (as stated in the problem), it would seem that it's momentum is zero, therefore the momentum of the muon is zero, therefore the velocity of the muon is zero. This is obviously not the case, as the problem gives me an equation to solve towards.

I tried setting the mass energy of the pion equal to the total energy of the muon (mass energy plus kinetic energy), and solving for v/c, but I got an answer quite different from the stated solution. Is the problem here an algebra error or do I need to account somehow for the momentum of the neutrino?

Thanks for the help.
 
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Trying to figure out LaTeX... sorry it's transitionally ugly.
 
after setting c=1 (for convenience) use the following to help establish the result
E_\nu = p_\nu
E^2_\mu = p^2_\mu+m^2_\mu
m_\pi=E_\pi = E_\mu+E_\nu
p_\mu + p_\nu=0

write everything in terms of E_\mu, p_\mu, m_\pi, m_\nu and note that u=p_\mu/E_\mu.
 
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