Special Relativity: Lecture 5

1 Units
Many of the practical applications of relativistic mechanics are in nuclear and particle
physics for which SI units are not appropriate. A convenient and standard unit is the
MeV (\mega" electron volts) as the unit of energy | it is the energy gained by an
electron in falling through a potential of 106 volts:
1 MeV = 1:6 10;13 J:
Similarly one can use GeV (\giga" ) 109 eV), TeV (\tera" ) 1012 eV), etc. Since
p = (p
iE=c) is a 4-vector, its length is a Lorentz invariant and has the value ;m20c2.
Hence
E 2 = p2c2 + m20c4: (V:1)
This is a very useful relation. It also shows that we can measure momentum and
mass in energy units, or more precisely:
momentum p in MeV/c
mass m0 in MeV/c2
Quite often c is set equal to 1 | which is ne if you remember at the end to check
for factors of c, or to measure speeds in units of c.

2 Techniques
1. Use 4-vectors, particularly 4-momentum p = (p
iE=c). Then under the stan-
dard LT S ! S 0:
0 p0 1 0  0 0 i 1 0 p 1
BB px0y CC BB 0 1 0 0 CC BB pxy CC
B@ p0 CA = B@ 0 0 1 0 CA B@ p CA (V:2)
z z
iE 0=c ;i 0 0  iE=c
2. Use invariants where possible | e.g. lengths of 4-vectors and 4-vector products
(A  B ).
3. Relativistic parameters  and  for a single particle or system:
 
Since p = m0 (v
ic) = p
i Ec

q
 = mEc2
and  = ( 2 ; 1)= 2
0
= pc=E :
(V:3)
3 CMS system:
Consider rst a system of two particles with 4-momenta p1 and p2 in some IF S . The
centre of mass system (CMS) for the two particles is dened as the IF in which the
total 3-momentum of the two particles is zero, i.e. p1 + p2 = 0 (we denote CMS
quantities with a star). The 4-vector p1 + p2 takes the following forms:

p1 + p2 = (p1 + p2
i(E1 + E2)=c) in IF S

= (0
i(E1 + E2)=c) in IF CMS:
Thus the system behaves as though it was a single \particle" of mass (E1 + E2)=c2.
The velocity of the CMS frame wrt IF S is then:
CMS = ((pE1 ++pE2))c :
1 2
The same idea can be extended to a group of particles with 4-momenta pk = (pk
iEk =c)
in IF S . The CMS frame is dened to be the one for which
k pk = 0:
Then
CMS = k pk c= Pk Ek

CMS = k Ek =ECMS

(V:4)
are the  and  for the CMS relative to the IF S .
An Useful Invariant:
Consider the 4-vector
cP = k cpk = k (cpk
iEk ):
In the CMS frame k pk = 0 by denition, so cP = (0
ik Ek) = (0
iECMS ) and
(cP )2 = ;ECMS
2 .

This is an invariant quantity (usually denoted by s)

s = ;(cP )2 = ECMS
2
(V:5)
which is much used in high energy physics.
4 Example Lab $ CMS
Consider:
a+b!c+d
Lab: EaLab | energy of projectile (beam)
b at rest
CMS: pa + pb = 0

Use the invariant s to nd the relation between ECMS and EaLab:

Lab : s = ;fcpa
i(EaLab + mbc2)g2

= ;c2p2a + (EaLab + mbc2)2
= (m2a + m2b )c4 + 2mbEaLabc2
using (EaLab)2 ; p2ac2 = m2ac4
CMS : s = ECMS
2
by denition

hence
ECMS
2 = (m2 + m2 )c4 + 2m E Labc2 :
a b b a (V:6)

q
Note that for energies  masses, ECMS  2mb c2EaLab, so that useful energy ECMS
increases only as the square root of EaLab.
(This is why modern particle accelerators are usually colliding-beam
rather than fixed-target machines.)

Threshold energy for a 2-body reaction:

The minimum energy in the CMS, ECMS min , is reached when the nal particles are
produced at rest:
min = (m + m )c2
ECMS (V:7)
c d
What is the corresponding lab energy (EaLab)min? Invert eq.(V.6) to get:

(EaLab)min = f(mc + md)2m

; ma ; mb gc

2 2 2 2
(V:70)
b
or
KE : (TaLab)min = (EaLab)min ; mac2
= f ( m c + md ) ; (ma + mb ) gc
2 2 2
:
2m b

(V.7")
which shows clearly how the dierence in mass is related to the minimum KE of the
projectile.
5 Invariant Mass
The invariant mass of two particles with 4-momenta p1 and p2 is dened by
m212c2 = ;(p1 + p2 )2. Invariant mass is particularly useful for example, in nding
the masses of short-lived unstable particles from the momenta of their observed
decay products. Consider the decay of a particle X ! a + b:

since
pX = pa + pb
;m2X c2 = (pa + pb)2
= p2a + p2b + 2pa :pb
= ;m2ac2 ; m2b c2 + 2pa :pb ; 2EaEb=c2
so
m2X c4 = (m2a + m2b )c4 + 2(EaEb ; pa:pbc2)
In a high energy experiment, the 3-momenta and masses of the particles a and b
must be measured. For charged particles this requires a magnetic eld and tracking
of the trajectory to measure the bending, as well as some means of particle
identication (e.g. through the rate at which they lose energy in passing through
matter). One must also identify the vertex and measure the opening angle.

6 Relations between Angles

Consider a particle moving in the xy plane and making an angle  with the axis Ox
in IF S . What is the corresponding angle 0 in IF S 0, moving with a velocity v along
Ox?

 E 
In S : p = p cos 
p sin 
0
i c
 0!
In S 0 : 0 0 0 0 0 E
p = p cos 
p sin 
0
i c
Apply the Lorentz transformation S ! S 0:
 E 
p cos  =  p cos  ;  c

0 0  

p0 sin 0 = p sin 

so,
p sin 
tan 0 =  (p cos  ;  E=c)

or
tan 0 =  (cossin 
 ;  = )

(V.8)
where   = v=c is the velocity of S 0 wrt S and  = pc=E is that of the particle in S .
The inverse relation is:
tan  =  (cossin 0 (V:80)
0 +  = 0)

where  0 = p0 c=E 0 is the velocity of the particle in S 0.

7 Two body decay

Consider the decay process M ! a + b.
The frame in which M is at rest is the CMS frame for a and b, in which a and b
have equal and opposite 3-momentum q. Then conservation of energy gives:
Mc2 = Ea + Eb
but
Ea2 = m2ac4 + q2c2
Eb2 = m2b c4 + q2c2 :
Taken together these three relations imply:
2 ; m2 )c 2
Ea = (M + m2M
2
a b

2 ; m2 )c2
Eb = (M + m2M
2
b a
:
(V.9)
Note that the energies of the decay products are completely determined by the
particle masses involved it is irrelevant what the K.E. of the decaying particle is!
8 Angular Distribution of Fragments in the Lab

Suppose the particle M is moving with velocity  = jpcj=E in the Lab system. Use
the inverse LT.
pLab
a cos a =  (q cos  + Ea=c)

pb cos b =  (;q cos  + Eb=c) :
Lab

Example: 0 ! 2
What is the opening angle between the two  s for 0 decay in ight? In the CMS
Ea = Eb = qc. Use equation (V.8') twice to get:
tan 1 =  (cossin +  )
sin 
tan 2 =  (; cos  + )

so
tan(1 + 2) = 1tan 1 + tan 2

; tan 1 tan 2
= 2 2 sin2 :
( ; 1) sin  ; 1
(V.10)
Here  and  refer to the parent 0.
9 Two body scattering
Consider again the reaction a + b ! c + d. In the Lab system b is at rest (xed
target) and a is the projectile with energy EaLab travelling in direction Ox.

The velocity of the CMS system in the Lab is

CMS = E Labpa+ m
Labc
a c2 :
b

The CMS energy ECMS is given by eq.(V.6). Suppose that the nal state particles
have 4-momenta (in the CMS):
pc = (q cos 
q sin 
0
i Ecc )

pd = (;q cos 
;q sin 
0
i Ecd ) :
Now : Ec + Ed = ECMS

and Ec2 = m2c c4 + q2c2

Ed2 = m2dc4 + q2c2:
A calculation similar to eq.(V.9) above gives:
E 2 + (m2 ; m2 )c4
Ec = CMS c d

etc
2ECMS
In the case of two-body scattering the energies of the particles depend only on the
masses and EaLab. Once the CMS quantities have been evaluated, the Lab
4-momenta can be found using the inverse LT with velocity CMS.
The angular distribution of nal state particles c and d in the Lab can be found in a
manner similar to the decay example above. Again the reaction products will be
boosted forward along the direction pLab
a .
In a colliding beam accelerator, such as LEP (CERN, Geneva) or the Tevatron
(Fermilab, nr Chicago), particles of equal mass and opposite charge travel in
opposite directions on the same machine orbit. Hence at collision
pa = (p
0
0
iE=c)
pb = (;p
0
0
iE=c)
and the Lab frame is also the CMS frame with ECMS = 2E .