Naming of the Leptons - Find the Right Word

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
5 replies · 2K views
mimocs
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Hi, I am currently an undergraduate student and I am writing my undergraduate research paper right now.

The thesis is about searching for heavy Majorana type neutrinos.

While writing the paper, I really need some 'right word' but I can't find it so let me explain it here, and it would be very grateful if someone tells me what the right word is.Let's say there is a channel whose final objects have 3 leptons (and other stuffs too).

We usually call the lepton with the biggest transverse-momentum 'leading lepton'.
And the second biggest 'sub-leading lepton'.However, I can't find the word for the smallest transverse-momentum.
Can anyone tell me a proper term for the lepton with smallest transverse-momentum?

Maybe... following lepton? or... sub-sub-leading lepton (since it has the smallest but also the third biggest momentum)?
Doesn't the right term exist??
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The usual name is "third [particly type]". Here: third lepton.
There can always be more leptons at lower energy from hadron decays and so on, something with the smallest pT is not well-defined.
 
Just from a semantics point of view the opposite of leading is either trailing or lagging. But neither of these make sense in this context.
 
Sometimes we say leading, sub-leading, and sub-sub leading, though its nicer to use the Leading Order (LO) Next-to-Leading Order (NLO), Next-to-Next-to Leading Order (NNLO), etc.
 
Since it's a matter of word choice, you can ask your supervisor whether he knows of any such term... otherwise you can just use somekind of naming like "sub-sub-leading" (as Hepth mentioned above) like inventing one and explain in your text what you mean by it.