Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-particle-and-nuclear-physics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-b/5/e/solution
Past exam of the particle and nuclear physics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Section B 5 e Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
A spin-zero pion has no preferred emission direction. Choose the antineutrino momentum along . A massless antineutrino has positive helicity, so its spin points along . The muon moves along , and total requires its spin to point along :
The reversed configuration is obtained by rotating the entire event and is equally allowed. The two spins are opposite, while each is aligned with its own particle's momentum; both outgoing helicities are positive. A negative-helicity muon with this fixed antineutrino direction would give a nonzero total spin projection and is forbidden for this two-body decay of a spin-zero parent. The required positive-helicity charged lepton is the suppressed component of the weak charged current.
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