What Is the Minimum Photon Energy Needed to Produce a Proton-Antiproton Pair?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PhyzicsOfHockey
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
To produce a proton-antiproton pair, the minimum photon energy required is determined by the rest mass energy of the particles involved. The relevant equation is E^2 = p^2c^2 + m^2c^4, where the rest mass of the proton and antiproton is crucial. Since the photon has zero rest mass, its energy is entirely based on momentum. The total energy needed for the pair production is twice the rest mass energy of a proton, which is approximately 1.88 GeV. Understanding the conservation of momentum and energy is essential in solving this problem.
PhyzicsOfHockey
Messages
41
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



How much photon energy would be required to produce a proton-antiproton pair? Give the answer in SI units.

Homework Equations



E^2=p^2c^2+m^2c^4
E=pc+pc
p=mc
E=2*m*c^2

The Attempt at a Solution



I seem to be confused I know the KE would be zero I also know this would not exist in real life but I need to find the min energy so KE of the photon pairs is 0. I am not sure if the equation has to do with the mass of a photon or the momentum of the photons. In either case I don't know what the mass of a photon would be. I read it was zero but can't figure out how to use this formula then.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
ok... mass of a photon is zero... I think we all know that. But its momentum is not... we can agree on that too I think. Now, your key equation is
E^2=p^2 c^2+m^2 c^4[\tex]<br /> where m here is the rest mass of your particle, p is its momentum and E is its total energy. To do your question: remember 4-momentum is conserved...etc
 

Thread 'Magnitude of buoyant force in fluids of different densities'

The book claims the answer is that all the magnitudes are the same because "the gravitational force on the penguin is the same". I'm having trouble understanding this. I thought the buoyant force was equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. Weight depends on mass which depends on density. Therefore, due to the differing densities the buoyant force will be different in each case? Is this incorrect?
View full post »

Similar threads

Can a 2MeV photon produce a proton-antiproton pair?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
5K
Minimum energy of a photon to produce ##\pi^+##
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
3K
Invariant mass and energy balance
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Pair Production Velocity Calculation
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Photon-electron collision with pair production
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Kinetic Energy of Colliding Protons
  • · Replies 54 ·
2
Replies
54
Views
11K
Energy of the photon emitted in a gamma ray decay
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
3K
Pair Production: Which Conservation Law?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Muon production and decay from relativistic annihilation
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Change in the energy of photon due to recoil of the nucleus
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K