Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/section-b/9/solution

Momentum identity. From the Lorentz factor, . The relativistic three-momentum therefore satisfies
Together with relativistic energy , this gives the energy–momentum relation .
Parent in the laboratory. The rest energy is , while the total relativistic energy is . Consequently
Its momentum magnitude is .
Daughters in the zero-momentum frame. The centre-of-momentum frame is initially the parent's rest frame. Conservation of momentum gives . Equal daughter rest masses then imply equal relativistic energies. Conservation of relativistic energy gives
Their speeds are therefore
The two velocities are opposite, and . Their total kinetic energy is .
Invariant of the complete system. Before the decay, in the centre-of-momentum frame,
After the relativistic two-body decay,
In the laboratory, four-momentum conservation fixes the summed daughter energy to and their summed momentum to the parent's . Thus the same calculation is
The invariant is formed after summing the daughter four-momenta; adding their separate squared rest energies would omit the relative-motion contribution to the invariant mass of the pair.

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