Revision Notes - Unit 1

Particles

INTRODUCTION
to
Elementary Particle Physics
Fundamental building blocks of
which all matter is composed:
Elementary Particles
* Pre-1930s it was thought there
were just four elementary particles
electro
n proton
neutron
photon
1932 positron or anti-electron discovered,
followed by many other particles (muon, pion
etc)
We will discover that the electron and photon
are indeed fundamental, elementary
particles, but protons and neutrons are made
of even smaller elementary particles called
quarks

Cosmic Rays

CLASSIFICATON OF PARTICLES
An elementary particle is a point particle without structure
that is not constructed from more elementary entities

With the advent of particle

accelerator
in the 1950s many new elementary
particles were discovered.

The question arose

whether perhaps there
were too
many to all be elementary.
This has led to the
need
for classification of
particles.

Year of discovery of the particles

FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS AND

THE CLASSIFICATION OF PARTICLES
Fundamental interactions
1.
2.
3.

gravitation
electromagnetic
strong nuclear
force
4.
weak nuclear
force

Participating particles
1.
2.
3.
4.

all particles with mass

those carrying charge
Hadrons (and quarks)
Leptons (and quarks)

HADRONS
Hadrons interact through strong forces.
There are two classes, mesons and
baryons.

Mesons have zero or integral spin (0

or 1) with masses that lie between the
electron and the proton.

Baryons have half integral spin (1/2

or
3/2) and have masses that are
always
greater than or equal to that of the
proton.
Hadrons are not elementary particles.
As we will see later, they are made of
quarks

LEPTONS
Leptons interact through weak interactions, but not via the strong force.

All leptons have spin of 1/2. There are

six kinds of lepton: electron e-, muon
and tau t -, and 3 neutrinos e

Note that each distinct neutrino is

associated with one of the other
leptons

Leptons were originally

named because they were
Light-particles, but we
now know the Tau is twice
as heavy as a proton
Neutrinos were originally
thought to be massless,
but they probably have a
small mass
Read more in Tipler p.
1336

Matter & Antimatter

Every particle has an antiparticle partner

Here are some examples

e- - electron
p - proton

e+ - positron
p - antiproton

n - neutron

n - antineutron

- neutrino

- antineutrino

Antimatter
For each particle there is
an associated
antiparticle
Anti-particles always created
in particle-anti particle pairs

s
Electron Pair Production

s
e-

-> e- + e+

E2 x 511 keV
e+

* Antiparticle has the same mass and

magnitude of spin as the particle
* Antiparticle has the opposite
charge to the particle
* The positron is stable but has a shortterm existence because our Universe has
a large supply of electrons
* The fate of a positron is annihilation

Some Fundamental Particles

Particle Symbol Rest energy MeVCharge Spin Antiparticle

Meson
Pion

Baryons
Proton
neutron

p+
no

Leptons
Neutrino
Electron
Muon

0
0.511
105.7

0
-1
-1

1/2
1/2
1/2

140
135

+1
0

0
0

+1
0

1/2
1/2

pn

938.3
939.6

Mass less
boson
photon

The Conservation Laws

Can a conceivable reaction or decay occur?
Conservation of Lepton number contd:
..because the neutrino associated with an electron is
different to a neutrino associated with a muon, we
assign separate Lepton numbers Le, L and Lto the
particles
e.g. for e and e, Le=+1, for their anti-particles Le=-1,
and for all other leptons and other particles Le=0

Conservation of Strangeness
There are other conservation laws which
are not universal, e.g. strange particles
have a property called strangeness which
must be conserved in a decay or reaction

Checking Baryon Numbers

Answer: a)

2p+ + p + n
_
_
+
p + p+ p
_

a) p+ +
n
b) p+ +
n

Baryons = 1+1 on left hand side

Baryons = 2 on right hand side too!
Allowed reaction!
b) Baryons = 2 on left hand side
Baryons = -1 on right hand side
Forbidden reaction

Checking Lepton Numbers

a)
b) +
-

Answer: a)

_
e- + e +
+ + + e

Before decay Le = 0 and L = +1

After decay Le = 0 and L = +1
Allowed reaction!
b) Before decay L = 0 and Le = 0
After decay L = 0 and Le = 1
Forbidden reaction!

Is Strangeness Conserved?
a) + + n
b) - + p

K+ +
-+

Answer: a) Initial state has S = 0

Final state has S = +1 1=0
Allowed reaction!
b) Initial state has S = 0
Final state has S = -1
Forbidden reaction!

Conservation Laws

Test the following decays for violation of the

conservation of electric charge, baryon number
and lepton number.

(a) n ->
(b) e+ + e- +

Conservation Laws
Solution
Method: Use the table from the formula sheet and
the conservation laws for Baryon number and
Lepton number

(a) n ->
Total charge on both sides = 0 : conserved
Baryon number changes from +1 to 0: violated
L = 0 on both sides : conserved
Process not allowed
(b) e+ + e- +
Total charge on both sides = 0 : conserved
Baryon number on both sides = 0 : conserved
Le = 0 on both sides: conserved
Process is allowed

Three Different Types of QUARKS

There are three elementary quarks (flavors)
That make up the fundamental particles:
Up
Down
Strange

u
d

u
d
s

p
Baryon

Name
Up
Down
Strange

Spin
u
d
s

Charge
Baryon
1/2
+2/3
1/2
-1/3
1/2
-1/3

Strangeness
1/3
0
1/3
0
1/3
-1

Anti-quarks maintain spin, but change sign of S and B!

Meson

u
d

Different types of quarks contd.

Mesons quark + anti-quark q q
Baryons three quarks q q q
Anti-baryons three anti-quarks
By 1967 it was realised that new kinds of quarks
were required to explain discrepancies
between the model and experiment
Charm (c)
Bottom (b) discovered 1977
Top (t) discovered 1995

Quark combinations

Find the baryon number, charge & strangeness of

the following quark combinations and identify the
hadron:
(a) uud
(b) udd
(c) uus
(d) dds

Quark combinations
Solution
Method: for each quark combination determine the
baryon number B, the charge q and the
strangeness S; then use Table from formula sheet
to find a match.
(a) uud

(b) udd

B = 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1

q = 2/3 + 2/3 1/3 = 1
S=0
It is a proton
B = 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 = 1
q = 2/3 1 /3 1/ 3 = 0
S=0
It is a neutron

(c) uus
Ditto, B=1, q=1, S= -1 and it is a +

(d) dds
Ditto, B=1, q=-1, S= -1 and it is a -

True or false?
(a) Leptons consist of three
quarks
(b) Mesons consist of a quark
and an anti-quark
(c) The six flavors of quark are
up, down, charmed, strange,
left and right
(a) False: leptons are fundamental particles e.g e
(d)
(b)
True Neutrons have no charm
-

(c) False: there is no left and right quark, but there are top
and bottom quarks
(d) True: neutrons are made of udd quarks

Quark confinement
No isolated quark has ever been observed
Believed impossible to obtain an isolated quark
If the PE between quarks increases with
separation distance, an infinite amount of energy
may be required to separate them
When a large amount of energy is added to a
quark system, like a nucleon, a quark-antiquark
pair is created
Original quarks remain confined in the original system

Because quarks always confined, their mass

cannot be accurately known

Crib sheet
(or what you need to know to pass the
exam)

The zoo of particles and their properties

Quarks and their properties

Leptons (e-, e
Hadrons (baryons and mesons)
Their anti-particles
The conservation laws and how to apply them
(energy, momentum, baryon number, lepton
numbers, strangeness)
Flavors: up, down, strange, charm, top ,bottom
How to combine quarks to form baryons and mesons
Quark spin and color
The eight-fold way patterns

Fundamental forces and field particles

The standard model

The Photoelectric Effect

What you need to know

Relationship between the energy of a
photon, and the frequency of the
photon
The electronvolt
The work function
Photoelectric equation

What is the photoelectric

effect?
Provides evidence that electromagnetic
waves (eg light) have particle like
behaviour.
When a metallic surface is exposed to
electromagnetic radiation (light) above a
certain frequency (called the threshold
frequency) the photons from the light are
absorbed and current is produced.
An electron in the metal can absorb the
energy from the photon, and if there is
enough energy the electron can escape
the metal!

From experimentation
There is no emission of electrons below
the threshold frequency.
This frequency is different for different
metals.
Above the threshold frequency, electrons
are emitted.
The kinetic energy of the elcectons can
vary.
Their kinetic energy is given as K.E. = 1/2
mv2

Continued
Increasing the frequency of the radiation, increases
the maximum kinetic energy of the electrons.
This however has no effect on the photoelectric
current which is the rate of emission of electrons.
If you increase the intensity of the radiation (for
example by shining more light on the metal), will
have no effect if the frequency is still below the
threshold.
If the intensity is increased, and the frequency is
above the threshold, then you will increase the
photo electric current. (more light in = more
electrons out)

What this means

Frequency BELOW Frequency ABOVE
Threshold
Threshold
Increase
frequency

If frequency still below

threshold then nothing.
If frequency is above
threshold then electrons
are emitted

Increased kinetic
energy of electrons

Increase
intensity

NOTHING

Greater
photoelectric
current

Explanation of Photoelectric
Effect
Relies on the idea of a photon being
a quantum of enegy.
What does this mean?
Quantum is another term for packet.
Therefore the photoelectric affect
relies on the idea that light is not
made up of waves, but that it is
made up of particles called photons,
that have packets of energy.

The relationship between the energy (E)

of a photon and its frequency (f) is:
E = hf
Where h is Planks constant which is
equal to 6.63x10-34 Js

The Electronvolt
This is something that always
scares people when they first see it!
DONT PANIC! It is simply a unit
used to describe energy (like
Joules).
I electronvolt (eV) is the amount of
energy needed to move 1 electron
across a potential difference of 1
volt
1 eV = 1.60x10-19 J

Einsteins Explanation of
Photoelectric Emission
An electron needs to absorb a
minimum amount of energy to
escape from a metal.
This minimum amount is a property
of a metal and is called the work
function ()
If the photons hitting the metal have
energy (hf) which is less than then
no electrons are emitted.
Electrons can be emitted just when
hf = .

The Work Function cont.

For photons with an energy larger than ,
the electrons emitted from the metal have
a ranges of energies.
The electrons with the largest (or
maximum) energy needed the minimum
energy to escape.
Increasing the intensity of the radiation
increases the number of photons emitted,
but does NOT affect the electrons kinetic
energy.

Einsteins Photoelectric
Equation
This relates the maximum kinetic energy
of the emitted electrons to the work
function and the energy of each photon:
hf = + Ek
Ek = (1/2 mv2) which is the maximum
kinetic energy.
At the threshold frequency, Ek equals
zero so hf =