Cosmic rays (high energy protons) interact with atomic nuclei to produce pions w
ID: 1651293 • Letter: C
Question
Cosmic rays (high energy protons) interact with atomic nuclei to produce pions which then decay into muons as pi^- rightarrow mu^- + v_mu. The properties of the particles are given at the end. What is the fundamental interaction responsible for this decay? Calculate the Q-value for the reaction (1)? Show that the momentum of the muon in the center of mass frame (i.e., the rest frame of the pion) is p = c/2 (m_pi - m^2_mu/m_pi). Calculate the kinetic energy of the mu^- and of v_mu in the center of mass frame (i.e., the rest frame of the pion) Masses of the particles (in MeV/c^2): asymptoticallyequalto m_pi 139.6, m_mu asymptoticallyequalto 105.7, m_v asymptoticallyequalto 0.Explanation / Answer
Out of the four fundamental interactions, Weak interaction is responsible for this decay.