Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-1-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021-resit/10/solution
Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford 2021 resit 10 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Invariant and collision. For a particle of rest mass , special relativity gives relativistic energy and momentumTherefore the relativistic energy-momentum relation isIt is the squared Minkowski norm of the four-momentum, multiplied by , and hence is preserved by every Lorentz transformation. Explicitly a boost with speed along gives , , with , . Expanding gives because . Spatial rotations preserve , completing the invariance argument for all inertial frames.
For the incoming moving particle, and . The total laboratory energy and momentum before the perfectly inelastic collision areFour-momentum conservation identifies these with the final particle's energy and momentum. Its rest mass is thereforeThe result exceeds the sum of the incoming rest masses; some initial kinetic energy has become internal rest energy. Since for a massive particle,
Two-body decay. Work first in the parent's rest frame, denoted by a star. Four-momentum conservation requires equal and opposite daughter momenta. Their equal rest masses give equal energies:Thus their rest-frame velocities are . Applying the relativistic velocity-addition formula with boost gives the two laboratory velocities:Their laboratory energies follow directly from the Lorentz transformation of four-momentum:The corresponding signed laboratory momenta areTheir sums recover and , and each satisfies . One daughter moves forwards and the other backwards in the laboratory; both are collinear with the original flight axis. Numerically, , , and .
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