Solving a Momentum Question: Struggling with Simple Cons?

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on a momentum problem involving a particle of rest mass 2m moving with velocity v in frame S, where its momentum is defined as p=2mv/√(1-v²). Upon splitting into two particles of mass m with velocities v and -v in the rest frame S', the participant encounters discrepancies in momentum and energy conservation. The velocity addition formula is applied, yielding a new velocity v_new=2v/(1+v²), but the resulting momentum does not match the initial momentum, indicating a violation of energy conservation. The participant concludes that the total energy after the split exceeds the initial energy, highlighting a critical misunderstanding in relativistic momentum and energy conservation.

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stallm
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Hi, I've been struggling with this question for a while, can't help but think I'm missing something obvious
Let's say I have a particle of rest mass 2m. In the frame S, it moves with velocity v. S' is the rest frame of the particle. In S, the momentum of the particle (c=1)
p=\frac{2mv}{\sqrt{1-v^2}}

Now, in S', the particle splits into two particles of mass m with velocities v and -v. The particles with -v will be stationary in S, the particle with v will have velocity vnew
v_{new}=\frac{v+v}{1+v^2}=\frac{2v}{1+v^2}
by the velocity addition formula

So the momentum in S
p=\frac{mv_{new}}{\sqrt{1-v_{new}^2}}

This doesn't appear to be equal to the p before (just by trying v=0.5), so something's clearly gone wrong. Can someone help?
Thanks
 
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Now, in S', the particle splits into two particles of mass m with velocities v and -v.
This step does not conserve energy. In S' before the split the total energy was 2m. But after the split each particle will have energy greater than m, since it has rest energy m plus kinetic energy.
 
Ah I see. Thank you
 

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