Higgs decay to two Z bosons 2026-10-05
For , the Higgs boson coupling to Z bosons gives . The massive vector polarization sum gives , with . The two-body decay phase space and identical final-state symmetry factor giveThe contraction uses . The on-shell rate vanishes at threshold; below threshold an off-shell calculation is required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 305 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Both the D meson and kaon are spin-zero pseudoscalars. The strong interaction states obey parity symmetry in quantum field theory. Consequently an axial current matrix element between them would have to be a pseudovector formed from only and , which is impossible: an totally antisymmetric tensor would require more linearly independent vectors. ThusLorentz covariance then leaves two linearly independent vectors for the vector current matrix element, giving the pseudoscalar-to-pseudoscalar form factorsThe vanishing axial current here follows from strong interaction parity symmetry in quantum field theory, not parity symmetry in quantum field theory of the weak interaction.
To obtain the requested decay formula, use naive factorization of a nonleptonic meson decay: approximate the four-quark matrix element by the product of the current matrix element and the vacuum-to-pion matrix element. This is an additional hadronic approximation; tree-level weak vertices alone do not establish it, and nonfactorizable Quantum chromodynamics effects can change the result. The vacuum-to-pion vector current matrix element vanishes by parity symmetry in quantum field theory, while the specified pion decay constant normalization givesThe cancels the in the four-fermion interaction. Up to an irrelevant overall phase, the scattering amplitude is thereforeFor , , so only survives. Integrating the two-body decay phase space in the D meson rest frame givesHenceThis coefficient uses exactly the stated pion decay constant convention and the stated massless-pion approximation.