Xi decay quarks conserved but flavour not conserved

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the decay of the Xi particle (\Xi) and the conservation of quark flavors during this process. Participants explore the implications of flavor conservation in particle physics, particularly in the context of weak and strong interactions.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that while quark numbers are conserved in the decay of the Xi particle, flavors are not conserved, prompting a request for clarification.
  • Another participant challenges the claim that flavors are not conserved, suggesting that it appears conserved to them and questioning the reasoning behind the initial assertion.
  • A different participant suggests that the decay is governed by weak interactions due to the non-conservation of flavors, although they acknowledge that it seems flavors are conserved upon further examination.
  • One participant proposes that the long lifetime of the Xi particle indicates complexities in the decay diagrams, possibly related to parity issues or partial cancellations.
  • Another participant corrects a previous statement about the quark content of the Xi particle, asserting that it is dss rather than dds, and reiterates that the decay is weak due to the non-conservation of strangeness.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express disagreement regarding the conservation of flavors in the decay process. Some assert that flavors are not conserved, while others believe they are conserved. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing views.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions about the nature of the interactions involved in the decay and the implications of the particle's long lifetime on the decay process.

Howlin
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Hi

I have been looking into particle physics and i came across this question but i can not find the answer,

the quetsion is as follows:

the xi particle decays into the following
[itex]\Xi -> \wedge + \Pi^{-}[/itex]
dds -> sud + [itex]\overline{u}d[/itex]
the quark numbers are conserved but the flavours are not conserved.

I cannot understand why the flavours are not conserved. Can anyone help me?
 
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the flavours are not conserved.
Where does that come from?
Looks conserved to me.

The long lifetime (~10-10s) is suspicious.
 
It says on it why isn't it conserved and is it decayed by strong or weak forces.
I would say weak because flavours are not conserved but by looking at it, it seems to be conserved
 
Well, it is easy to draw a diagram for the strong interaction.

The long lifetime indicates that those diagrams are problematic in terms of parity, or cancel each other partially, or something else.

Edit @Bill_K's post: Oh, that explains everything. And ##\Sigma^-## with dds is too light to decay into ##\Lambda + \pi##
 

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The Ξ- (aka cascade particle) is not dds, it's dss. The decay is weak because it does not conserve strangeness.
 

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