Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/2/c/b/solution

The center-of-momentum frame moves with velocity . Using the total four-momentum in solution gives
For , its direction bisects the two photon directions, and its speed decreases from the limiting value to zero. At , the lab already is the center-of-momentum frame. At , the formal speed is and no inertial rest frame exists; this endpoint is a limit, not an allowable boost.
Figure 1.
Center-of-momentum speed for equal-energy photons, with the parallel endpoint excluded, and the unchanged electron Larmor radius under longitudinal deceleration
. Details.

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