Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-1/section-b/b9/b/solution
Past exam of the physics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 Section B B9 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Boost along at into the centre-of-momentum frame. The composite is stationary. The incoming particle has , while the target has . After decay the two photons have energies and opposite momenta.
Equal laboratory photon energies require the rest-frame photons to have zero momentum component along the boost: must be equal for two opposite photons. Their directions are therefore and in the centre-of-momentum diagram, perpendicular to the incoming collision axis. Boosting those transverse photons gives exactly the laboratory momenta in part (a). A stationary composite has no direction-of-travel arrow in this frame.
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