Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/paper-1/section-a/3/solution

Resolving a length requires momentum transfer of order . Taking a hard relativistic scale gives
The full de Broglie wavelength convention gives , differing by ; the intended scale is roughly , far below a proton radius. Two opposing beams have a larger total collision energy, but proton energy is shared among partons: the actual resolution depends on the hard scattering momentum transfer, not simply on beam energy alone.

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