Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-particle-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/5/d/solution
Past exam of the particle physics course of the University of Oxford 2021 5 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For two photons, four-momentum conservation and their vanishing rest masses give the diphoton invariant massTaking a logarithmic differential,For small mutually independent measurement errors, propagation of uncertainty consequently givesPrinted-formula correction. The source's left-hand side, if it means as its description suggests, is missing the factor on the right. Its right-hand side instead equals to first order. A concrete counterexample is a fixed opening angle and an exactly known : because , a small fractional error in produces a fractional error in , not . Likewise, interpreting literally as a small change in would make the unsquared left-hand side incompatible with the squared terms. Correlated errors require the covariance terms as well.
The space angle is determined by the two polar angles and azimuthal separation:At and , and . The angular coefficient is therefore one. Equal contribution of opening-angle uncertainty and the combined two independent photon energy errors requiresFor independent equally precise single-photon polar directions, at this geometry, soAn azimuthal error contributes only at second order about . The corresponding invariant-mass resolution from the two energy errors alone is ; with an equally large angular contribution it is . The common missing factor of four cancels when equating the two contributions, so the angular estimates remain valid despite the printed error.
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