Past exam of the nuclear and particle physics course of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 2 / c

The labels X and Y cannot be uniquely assigned from the surviving text: their decay vertices and daughter tracks were contained in the missing figure. The available conservation laws nevertheless specify how the assignment would be obtained.

The initial ${\pi }^{-}p$ state has $(Q,B,S)=(0,1,0)$, with $S$ denoting strangeness. At a primary strong interaction vertex all three numbers must be reproduced. A final Lambda baryon or Sigma baryon has $B=1$, $S=-1$ and therefore needs accompanying $S=+1$, for example a neutral kaon $K^0=d\bar{s}$ or a positive kaon $K^{+}=u\bar{s}$, with the remaining electric charge balanced. At later weak interaction decay vertices, strangeness need not be conserved; it would be wrong to enforce it there.

A displaced $p{\pi }^{-}$ pair with the appropriate invariant mass identifies ${\Lambda }^0\to p{\pi }^{-}$. A displaced ${\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ pair can identify $K_S^0\to {\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ after an invariant mass and kinematic check. For a candidate radiative Sigma-to-Lambda transition, the neutral parent satisfiesin natural units. Its photon energy in the parent rest frame is $(m_{\Sigma }^2-m_{\Lambda }^2)/(2m_{\Sigma })$. With known charged four-momenta, each unobserved neutral momentum is the difference between the incoming and visible outgoing momenta at its vertex; its inferred direction must agree with the dashed segment.

This information cannot establish which dashed segment was called X. For a concrete ambiguity, bothobey the primary electric charge, baryon number, and strangeness constraints and can yield a neutral kaon decay plus a displaced Lambda baryon decay. Their distinct neutral segments and the extra photon would be resolved by the missing topology and kinematics. The supplied possible Sigma baryon decay alone is insufficient to label X and Y. A labelled answer is therefore a source gap, rather than a completed identification.