Undergrad How often would a ϕ meson decay to a electron-positron pair?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on estimating the decay frequency of the phi meson to an electron-positron pair, given its mass of 1018 MeV and the mass of the J/ψ meson at 3097 MeV. The J/ψ meson decays to an electron-positron pair 5% of the time, with a total width of 0.092 MeV. The phi meson has a decay time that is 50 times longer than that of the J/ψ, leading to the need for calculations involving Feynman diagrams and the branching fraction formula: BF = partial width / total width. Participants express confusion about how to apply these concepts to estimate the phi meson's branching fraction.

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  • Knowledge of decay width and lifetime relationships in particle physics.
  • Ability to calculate branching fractions using the formula BF = partial width / total width.
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imgamedeving
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TL;DR
If a J/ψ decays to an electron-positron pair 5% of the time, how often would a ϕ
meson decay to a electron-positron pair?
I know the mass of J/ψ to be 3097 mev and the mass of phi to be 1018 mev. I know that J/ψ decays to electron and positron 5% of the time. I also know the full width of j/psi to be 0.092mev and that the phi meson lives 50 times longer than J/ψ
. My professor claims that if I am given that info and can draw the feynman diagrams for both interactions then it should be possible to make an estimate on how often the phi meson decays to electron-positron pair too. But I dont understand how this can done.I have drawn both diagrams (c-cbar or s-sbar to electron and positron with photon boson between). I also know the following formulas:

total width = \hbar / \tau where tau is the decay time of the particle. I also know that the branching fraction is given as:

BF = partial width / total widthIm not sure how one could estimate the branching fraction of phi to electron-positron pair.
 
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imgamedeving said:
My professor claims ,,, But I dont understand
And when you told him you didn't understand, what did he say?

If you are more interested in the answer, you can look it up: pdp.lbl.gov.
 
imgamedeving said:
and that the phi meson lives 50 times longer than J/ψ
You might want to check that.
 

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