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An intermediate excited atomic nucleus formed when the reactants' available energy is redistributed among nuclear degrees of freedom before decay. Its resolved levels can appear as resonances. An isolated level's formation and decay into particular channels are described by partial decay widths in the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section; direct reactions and overlapping resonances need not obey that simple one-level description.

For a purely electromagnetic interaction continuum with five active quark flavors, the usual estimate is $N_{e^{+}{e}^{-}}/N_{\mathrm{had}}=3/11$. The unspecified particle resonance and the word “total” require qualifications before this can be treated as a unique physical prediction.

In natural units, neglecting final masses, single-photon annihilation givesHere $\alpha$ is the fine-structure constant, $Q_f$ the quark electric charge in elementary-charge units, and the factor three counts orthogonal colour final states. Consequently the inverse hadronic R ratio isWith $u,d,s,c,b$ accessible, the denominator is $3[2(2/3{)}^2+3(1/3{)}^2]=11/3$. The corresponding values for $u,d,s$ and $u,d,s,c$ are $1/2$ and $3/10$. Inclusive quantum chromodynamics corrections increase the hadronic denominator, approximately by $1+{\alpha }_s/\pi$ away from thresholds and particle resonances. These are annihilation ratios before selection and detection efficiency corrections, not ratios of uncorrected detector counts.

A future muon-collider Higgs resonance is a plausible reading of part (c), since its narrow decay width makes a detuning of a few $\mathrm{MeV}$ relevant. Even then, two further assumptions are necessary. First, being a few $\mathrm{MeV}$ below the Higgs boson peak does not eliminate it: for detuning $\Delta =\sqrt{s}-m_H$, the ideal narrow Breit-Wigner resonance cross section retains the relative factorFor ${\Gamma }_H=4\mathrm{MeV}$ and $\Delta =-4\mathrm{MeV}$ this is $1/5$, not zero. Resonant hadronic production can still change the requested denominator substantially.

Second, at $\sqrt{s}\simeq 125\mathrm{GeV}$ the Z boson continuum is not negligible. A more complete annihilation estimate including both tree-level Feynman diagrams usesHere $s_W^2$ is the squared sine of the weak mixing angle, $T_3^f$ is weak isospin, and $N_c^f$ is one for a lepton and three for a quark. Thus the continuum ratio is $F_e/[3(2F_u+3F_d)]$, rather than necessarily $3/11$. For example, $s_W^2=0.231$, $m_Z=91.1876\mathrm{GeV}$ and ${\Gamma }_Z=2.4952\mathrm{GeV}$ give approximately $0.102$ at $125\mathrm{GeV}$ before quantum chromodynamics corrections.

If the unspecified particle resonance instead means the Z boson, detuning by a few $\mathrm{MeV}$ is tiny compared with its $2.5\mathrm{GeV}$ decay width. The resonant ratio remains approximately $\Gamma (Z\to e^{+}{e}^{-})/\Gamma (Z\to \mathrm{hadrons})=1/20.767\simeq 0.0482$.^[ref] This is a concrete counterexample to treating any slight downward detuning as permission to discard the particle resonance. The source supplies neither its identity nor the detuning and selection needed for a unique all-process ratio. The boxed continuum formula is the charge-counting answer under its stated approximation; a literal total must also include remaining resonant and other accepted hadronic channels.

A constant-width Breit-Wigner resonance cross section is the simplest nonrelativistic curve; a P-wave scattering width and relativistic kinematics explain important expected distortions. A comparison to specific observed deviations cannot be made without the missing plot.

Write $E$ for the centre-of-mass frame kinetic energy, $\mu =m_p{m}_{\pi }/(m_p+m_{\pi })$ for the reduced mass, and $k$ for the relative wave number. The nonrelativistic relations areFor an isolated particle resonance of spin $J$, averaging over the initial proton spin and using the zero pion spin givesFor the nearly elastic ${\Delta }^{++}$ state, $J=3/2$ and ${\Gamma }_{\pi p}\simeq \Gamma$, soFreezing $k$ at $k_R$ gives a symmetric Lorentzian centered at $E_R$, with full width at half maximum $\Gamma$ and height $8\pi /k_R^2$. This is the local curve to sketch. If the displayed variable is the beam kinetic energy $T$, its width is $\Delta T\simeq (m_p+m_{\pi })\Gamma /m_p$ within this nonrelativistic approximation. Keeping $k(E)$ changes the prefactor and hence the symmetry. Extending a constant-width approximation all the way to $E=0$ produces a spurious divergence, so it is not a valid threshold model.

The pion has intrinsic parity $-1$ and the proton has $+1$. The positive parity and $J=3/2$ of the Delta baryon require odd orbital angular momentum, with the lowest choice $l=1$. The finite-range partial-wave threshold law gives ${\Gamma }_{\pi p}(k)\propto k^{2l+1}=k^3$ near threshold. Inserting this in the elastic numerator makes ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{el}}\propto k^4$ away from the pole as $k\to 0$, rather than diverging. Equivalently the elastic scattering phase shift has ${\delta }_1=O(k^3)$, and ${\sin }^2{\delta }_1/k^2=O(k^4)$. Away from threshold, form factors and other channels modify the simple cubic width.

At the illustrative peak of part (d), the incident pion kinetic energy is comparable to its rest energy, so a nonrelativistic pion treatment is already inaccurate. The exact relative momentum iswith $\sqrt{s}=\sqrt{(m_p+m_{\pi }{)}^2+2m_{p}T}$. Relative to the symmetric local estimate, this changes the horizontal conversion, peak normalization and tails. The illustrative $1232\mathrm{MeV}$ peak has $p_{\ast }\simeq 227\mathrm{MeV}/c$, giving $8\pi (\hslash c{)}^2/(p_{\ast }c{)}^2\simeq 190\mathrm{mb}$ before small inelastic effects.

Finally, nonresonant partial waves can interfere with the resonant scattering amplitude, higher particle resonances and inelastic scattering channels can enter, and instrumental resolution can broaden a measured peak. These are physically distinct possible deviations; the missing data do not justify claiming any particular one was actually observed. Both the missing graphical overlay and its data-specific explanation remain source gaps.

An unstable isolated level has survival amplitude $a(t)=\theta (t)e^{-i{E}_{0}t/\hslash }{e}^{-\Gamma t/(2\hslash )}$, because its survival probability falls as $e^{-\Gamma t/\hslash }$. Its energy-domain amplitude is proportional toTaking the modulus squared gives the denominator of the Breit-Wigner resonance cross sectionAt $E-E_0=\pm \Gamma /2$ the resonant factor is half its peak, so $\Gamma$ is the full width at half maximum. exponential decay is the isolated-level approximation; energy-dependent thresholds or overlapping levels need a more general lineshape.

In the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section, $E$ is the total centre-of-momentum energy, $E_0$ the resonance energy, and $p$ either incident particle's center-of-momentum momentum magnitude. The total decay width is $\Gamma =\hslash /\tau$, while ${\Gamma }_i$ and ${\Gamma }_f$ are partial widths into the entrance and specified exit channels. Their ratios to $\Gamma$ are the corresponding branching fractions. The factor $g$ averages over incident spin states and sums over the resonance's magnetic substates.

In natural units, $\hslash =c=1$, the resonant partial-wave cross-sectional scale is an area proportional to the squared reduced de Broglie wavelength, $1/p^2$. Equivalently a partial-wave scattering amplitude carries one factor $1/p$, and its squared modulus supplies $1/p^2$. In SI area units the same scale is $(\hslash /p{)}^2$; if $p$ is expressed in energy units, multiply the final inverse-energy-squared answer by $(\hslash c{)}^2$.

For unpolarized spin-half incident muons, the unpolarized resonance spin factor isHence $g_Z=3/4$ and $g_H=1/4$. The outgoing tau spins do not supply another independent multiplicity here: their allowed final states are already included in ${\Gamma }_f$.

Near a narrow resonance, treat the smooth prefactor $p^{-2}$ and the partial widths as constant across the line. At the peak the denominator is ${\Gamma }^2/4$. Half its height occurs when $(E-E_0{)}^2+{\Gamma }^2/4={\Gamma }^2/2$, namely at $E=E_0\pm \Gamma /2$. Thus the full width at half maximum is $\Gamma$ within the Breit-Wigner narrow-line approximation. A varying prefactor or convolution with the beam-energy distribution can modify an observed line shape.

The production amplitude has a muon pair joined to a Higgs propagator through their Yukawa coupling, followed by the bottom-quark pair at a second Yukawa vertex. The separate $H\to b\bar{b}$ graph is a tree-level Higgs–fermion vertex. There are no tree-level $Hgg$ or $H\gamma \gamma$ vertices in the renormalizable Standard Model: their lowest nonzero graphs are loops. A quark triangle, dominated by the top contribution, produces two gluons. Charged-fermion triangles contribute to two photons; charged-W loops also contribute and are dominant in the Standard Model amplitude. Photon permutations and the W contact topology belong to the full amplitude; the diagram shows these topologies rather than claiming one triangle alone is the entire gauge-invariant W contribution.^[ref]

Continuum amplitudes. The leading quantum electrodynamics diagram is electron-positron annihilation into a virtual photon, followed by conversion to a muon pair. Replacing the outgoing muons with a quark-antiquark pair gives the quark-level hadronic diagram. The first two panels below show these processes.

The Feynman rules give, up to signs and factors of $i$,The two vertices supply $e^2$, and the photon propagator supplies $1/s$. Each external current scales as $\sqrt{s}$, so the complete amplitude is of order $e^2$, and its squared magnitude is of order $e^4\propto {\alpha }^2$. The two-body relativistic scattering cross-section supplies the remaining $1/s$ from flux and phase space. Integrating the angular distribution yields ${\sigma }_{\mu \mu }=4\pi {\alpha }^2/(3s)$. Keeping only the squared propagator while ignoring the external currents would incorrectly predict $1/s^2$.

A quark of charge $Q_{f}e$ contributes $N_c{Q}_f^2$ times the massless muon rate. With $u,d,s,c,b$ open and $N_c=3$, the hadronic R ratio isThis is the requested massless leading-QED continuum approximation. Strong corrections, physical hadron thresholds, resonance contributions and Z exchange are separate effects; the pure photon formula is not a complete high-energy electroweak cross section throughout the entire stated range.

Efficiency normalization. Read the original PDF plot as a continuum of about $0.8\mathrm{nb}$ and a maximum around $1.7\mathrm{nb}$ at $E\simeq 10.58\mathrm{GeV}$. The supplied conversion constant givesHence near the peak,If $C$ multiplies the displayed cross sections, the required scale isHere $ϵ$ is the implied detection efficiency under the common-scale assumption. Using continuum readings $0.75$–$0.85\mathrm{nb}$ gives approximately $C=3.4$–$3.8$, illustrating the graph-reading precision. The nearby open-bottom threshold also limits the precision of the ideal continuum approximation.

Resonance quantum numbers and widths. Direct formation through a single photon requiresThese are the quantum numbers of the electromagnetic current. This concerns single-photon formation; associated production or two-photon reactions need not obey this restriction.

For a Breit-Wigner resonance cross section, subtract the continuum before finding the full width at half maximum. The plotted excess is about $0.9\mathrm{nb}$, so its half-height occurs at a total displayed cross section near $1.25\mathrm{nb}$, not $0.85\mathrm{nb}$. The crossings are roughly $10.57$ and $10.59\mathrm{GeV}$, with a separation around $0.02$–$0.025\mathrm{GeV}$. ThusFor spin-one formation from unpolarized electrons and positrons, $g=3/4$ and $p\simeq M/2$. With ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{had}}\simeq \Gamma$, the peak resonance cross section and branching fractions relation becomesThe corrected excess is $C(1.7-0.8)\simeq 3.2\mathrm{nb}$. Taking $\Gamma \simeq 24\mathrm{MeV}$ as a representative graph reading givesThus the plot supportsThe width and electronic partial width are estimates from the printed graph under the prescribed Breit-Wigner and efficiency assumptions; these are not precision world-average values. A scale correction changes the peak height and inferred partial width, but not the peak position or width.

Why the lower Upsilon states are narrow. In electromagnetic production and decay of vector quarkonium, every $nS$ state can annihilate as $b\bar{b}\to {\gamma }^{\ast }\to e^{+}{e}^{-}$. The electronic width probes the wavefunction at the origin, ${\Gamma }_{ee}\propto {\alpha }^2{Q}_b^2|{\psi }_{nS}(0){|}^2/M_n^2$. The radial overlaps differ, but the same short-distance annihilation mechanism operates, so electronic widths remain of comparable order.

The hadronic mechanism changes sharply at $2m_B\simeq 10.560\mathrm{GeV}$. The first three Upsilon mesons lie below it and cannot produce an on-shell B-meson pair. Their leading purely strong annihilation channel is $b\bar{b}\to ggg$, followed by hadronization: a color-singlet pair cannot annihilate to one gluon, and two gluons cannot match its negative charge-conjugation parity. Three-gluon annihilation carries three powers of ${\alpha }_s$ in the rate and requires quark-antiquark overlap. Electromagnetic annihilation to light quarks and, for excited states, transitions to lower bottomonium plus pions or photons also contribute.

The fourth state lies above the pair threshold and can instead undergo ${\rm Y}(4S)\to B\bar{B}$ through light-pair creation, keeping the b and anti-b in separate outgoing mesons. The final panel depicts this quark-line topology; it represents a nonperturbative strong decay, not a free on-shell b quark radiating a real gluon. For two pseudoscalar B mesons the pair is in a P wave to give $1^{-}$. Although close to threshold, this open strong channel has a much larger rate than the annihilation channels. Consequently a total width of tens of MeV can coexist with an electronic width below a keV; below threshold the total widths are smaller by hundreds or more, while their electronic widths remain of similar order.

Hyperfine estimate. For two spin-half constituents,The meson hyperfine mass splitting therefore raises the vector mass above the pseudoscalar mass. To infer its coefficient from only one measured mass, adopt the intended simple constituent ansatz that the spin-independent baseline is $m_b+m_q=5.31\mathrm{GeV}$. ThenFor the spin-one partner,The estimate is the same for $\bar{b}u$ and $\bar{b}d$ with the supplied equal light-quark masses. The splitting is below $m_{\pi }$, so the strong decay $B^{\ast }\to B\pi$ is closed. An electromagnetic transition is open and dominates over weak decay:It preserves electric charge, giving the corresponding charged or neutral B meson; the photon energy is approximately $40\mathrm{MeV}$, slightly reduced by recoil. Strictly, the statement that the mass merely includes a spin-spin term does not fix $A$: an independent spin-independent binding energy would leave the baseline unknown. The numerical prediction above explicitly uses the additive constituent-mass approximation.

Treat the quoted maximum as the resonant Z boson contribution described by the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section. The electron and Positron each have spin $1/2$, while the Z boson has spin one, soNeglect the electron mass at this centre-of-mass energy. Each incident momentum magnitude is then $p_i=E_0/2$ in natural units. Write $B_e={\Gamma }_{ee}/\Gamma$. At the resonance peak the denominator is ${\Gamma }^2/4$, and the same partial decay width appears for production and decay:The peak resonance cross section and branching fractions relation contains $B_e^2$, because the electronic channel occurs at both ends of the resonant process.

For an area in ordinary units, restore $(\hslash c{)}^2$. The original PDF prints $\hslash c=197.5\mathrm{MeV}$, which is dimensionally incomplete: the intended standard conversion is $197.5\mathrm{MeV}\mathrm{fm}=0.1975\mathrm{GeV}\mathrm{fm}$. Also,ConsequentlyThis estimate uses the supplied resonance model. The full physical elastic electron-Positron cross section also contains nonresonant photon exchange and interference; an experimental use of the formula must isolate the resonant contribution.

For the resonant contribution only, subtract nonresonant Bhabha scattering and its interference before interpreting a fitted area. The integrated narrow vector resonance area follows from the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section, with $J=1$, $s_{e^{-}}=s_{e^{+}}=1/2$, and $p\simeq M/2$, becomesAcross a narrow scattering resonance, treat the prefactor and partial decay widths as constant and extend the integral over $E-M$ to the real line. Since ${\int }_{-\infty }^{\infty }du/(u^2+a^2)=\pi /a$,A normalized beam-energy response convolves the line shape without changing this full area. It can completely change the observed peak height and apparent width. If a uniform acceptance $ϵ$ is not already unfolded, use ${\mathcal{I}}_{ee}={\mathcal{I}}_{ee}^{\mathrm{obs}}/ϵ$. The distinction between $B_{ee}^2$ for this exclusive final state and $B_{ee}$ for an inclusive final state is essential.

At a hadron collider, select $W\to \ell \nu$ events and reconstruct the transverse massusing missing transverse momentum for the neutrino. Fit the shape, especially the region above the nominal Jacobian edge, with finite-width resonance templates convolved with detector resolution, recoil modelling and backgrounds. The Breit-Wigner width controls this off-shell tail. Calibrated momentum and missing-momentum resolutions must be separated from the physical width. This is a lineshape measurement; the lifetime is far too short for a direct flight-distance measurement.

Tag an energetic initial-state radiation photon in $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to \gamma Z^{(\ast )}\to \gamma +\text{invisible}$, observing a single-photon signature with missing energy and missing momentum. At known squared center-of-mass energy $s$, the leading single-photon recoil invariant mass isAbove the Z boson mass, radiative-return events cluster at $m_{\mathrm{recoil}}\simeq M_Z$. At or near the pole the full off-shell recoil spectrum is fitted instead. Folding the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section with the calculable QED radiation kernel gives a predicted tagged rate proportional to ${\Gamma }_e{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{inv}}$ for fixed total decay width. A fit with the known luminosity and visible line-shape parameters therefore determines ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{inv}}$ directly from invisible events, rather than subtracting visible widths. Comparing identically selected radiative-return events with visible Z boson decays can instead constrain ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{inv}}/{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{vis}}$ while cancelling much of the luminosity normalization.

The detector needs efficient single-photon triggering, good photon energy and angular resolution, reliable timing, and nearly hermetic charged-particle and particle calorimeter coverage. Forward vetoes reject radiative Bhabha scattering with escaped electrons; additional-photon vetoes reject $\gamma \gamma$ events with a lost photon. Require sufficient transverse photon momentum that a recoiling visible system could not all disappear down a beam hole. Timing rejects cosmic rays and beam backgrounds. Detector inefficiencies and beam holes must be measured, since visible final states with lost particles imitate the signal. The irreducible $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to {\nu }_e{\bar{\nu }}_e\gamma$ contribution from $t$-channel W boson exchange and its interference must be included when isolating the Z boson invisible decay width.

Take $\varphi (p_1)+\bar{\varphi }(p_2)\to \varphi (p_3)+\bar{\varphi }(p_4)$ with the Mandelstam variables of i. The allowed tree-level Feynman diagram is the crossed $u$-channel $\Phi$ exchange in panel (c) of b's figure. At one end the incoming particle and outgoing antiparticle transfer charge $+2$; the other end absorbs that charge. The zero-charge $s$- and $t$-channel assignments are forbidden by the interaction vertices. ThusIn the center-of-mass frame with $|\mathbf{p}|\ll m$, $s=4m^2+O(|\mathbf{p}{|}^2)$ and $u=O(|\mathbf{p}{|}^2)$. For $M\gg m$, both scattering amplitudes approach $g^2/M^2$. The elastic two-body Lorentz-invariant phase space and incident flux agree for the two experiments. Usingfor distinguishable final particles, and an extra factor $1/2!$ when integrating the identical-particle final state over the whole sphere, givesThere is no additional division for identical incoming particles in the definition of a beam scattering cross-section. Before taking $M/m\to \infty$, the zero-momentum ratio is $\frac{1}{2}[M^2/(M^2-4m^2){]}^2$, provided the threshold is away from the heavy pole.

Near $s=M^2$, the bare $s$-channel scalar propagator makes fixed-order perturbation theory fail: repeated self-energy insertions contain powers of ${\Sigma }_{\Phi }(s)/(s-M^2)$. The $\Phi \to \varphi \varphi$ channel is open for $M>2m$, giving the leading decay widthResumming the self-energy gives a finite Breit-Wigner resonance cross section, with denominator $s-M_{\mathrm{pole}}^2+i{M}_{\mathrm{pole}}{\Gamma }_{\Phi }$ near the pole, rather than an infinite scattering cross-section. Also, $s\simeq M^2$ with $M\gg m$ lies outside the assumed nonrelativistic incoming kinematics; the ratio $1/2$ is not a resonance prediction.

For $g=0$, the invariant scattering amplitude from the tree-level Feynman diagram in i has a pole at $s=M^2$. The intermediate heavy antiparticle can go on shell and live for a time of order its mean lifetime. Near this scattering resonance, inserting a single self-energy is no longer a uniformly small correction. Dyson resummation gives, to leading accuracy in a narrow decay width,Here $M$ is understood as the renormalized resonance mass; the real self-energy shifts the original pole position. The imaginary term removes the unphysical divergence of the fixed-order invariant scattering amplitude.

For equal incoming and outgoing light masses, the two-body momentum ratio cancels in the cross section. The angle-independent invariant scattering amplitude, integrated over the full solid angle with the identical final-state symmetry factor $1/2!$, gives $\sigma =|\mathcal{M}{|}^2/(32\pi s)$. Thus the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section isAt $s\gg M^2$ it reproduces $h^4/(32\pi s^3)$. At the resonance peak,This is also $8\pi /k_{\ast }^2$ for $k_{\ast }=M\beta /2$, the elastic identical-boson S wave partial-wave unitarity limit when this is the only open decay channel. The approximation assumes ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{phys}}\ll M$ and a resonance sufficiently far from threshold for the width to vary slowly across it.

If one mechanically uses the unsymmetrized ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{printed}}=2{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{phys}}$ from d, the same displayed Breit-Wigner resonance cross section would have that doubled width and predict a peak $8\pi /(M^2{\beta }^2)$. This is the literal-width substitution, rather than the consistent physical result: the given high-energy cross section already includes the identical-final-particle factor that the printed decay width integral omits.

Under the stipulated peak-energy approximation, set $E=m_V$ separately for $V=W,Z$ in the supplied Breit-Wigner resonance cross section. For a spin-one resonance,Define the measured ratio as $R=\sigma (W\to \ell \nu )/\sigma (Z\to \ell \ell )$. With the known production prefactor ratio neglected as instructed, the spin factors cancel andSolving for the positive physical width givesIf the production prefactors are retained as $C_W,C_Z$, multiply the quantity under the square root by $C_W/C_Z$. The partial decay widths in this extraction are calculated inputs, while the total decay width being inferred need not be fixed to its Standard Model value.

The peak and integrated resonance width dependence explains why the square root is essential to the specified peak approximation. An energy-integrated narrow-width cross section contains one inverse power of the total decay width, because integrating over the resonance supplies a factor proportional to its width. That different observable leads to a different extraction formula. Real hadron-collider analyses also include parton distribution functions and the energy convolution; the present result follows the explicit approximation in the source.

At $E=E_R$, the Breit-Wigner resonance cross section loses its explicit dependence on the total decay width after writing ${\Gamma }_{ab}=B_{ab}\Gamma$ and ${\Gamma }_X=B_X\Gamma$. For an unpolarized ultrarelativistic electron-Positron initial state and a spin-one resonance, $g=3/4$ and $p_i=E_R/2$, giving ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{peak}}=12\pi B_e{B}_X/E_R^2$ in natural units. An elastic resonant channel therefore measures the square $B_e^2$, rather than one power of the electronic branching fraction.

For unpolarized incident particles, the resonant cross section sums over the resonance's magnetic substates and averages over the incident spin states. This gives the displayed statistical weight under the conventional Breit-Wigner resonance cross section normalization. A spin-zero resonance formed from two spin-half particles has $g=1/4$, whereas a spin-one resonance has $g=3/4$. This counting is distinct from final-state color charge multiplicities.