Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Course: 8.701 – Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics
Term: Fall 2020
Instructor: Markus Klute
TA : Tianyu Justin Yang

Discussion Problems
from recitation on September 22nd, 2020

Problem 1: Decay rate

Calculate the lifetime of A, the particle in our toy experiment.
• The lowest-order contribution to A → B + C is shown in Figure 1. There is no
internal line and one vertex. Following the Feynman rules we find a factor −ig and
a delta function which we have to drop and replace by an i. Thus, we get M = g.

Figure 1: Lowest-order contribution to A → B + C.

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 2
g |p|
The decay is then Γ = 8π~m 2 c with the magnitude of the outgoing particles |p| =
p A
c 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2
2mA
m A + m B + m C − 2mA B − 2mA mC − 2mB mC . The lifetime for A is then
m
1 8π~m2A c
τ= Γ
= g 2 |p|

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Problem 2: Scattering cross section
Calculate the differential cross section for the process A + A → B + B
• The scattering process at lowest order is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Lowest-order contribution to A + A → B + B.

i
We have two vertices and one internal line with the propagator q 2 −m2C C 2
, two delta
4 4 1
functions 2πδ (p1 − p3 − q) and 2πδ (p2 + q − p4 ) and have one integration (2π 4 )
d4 q.
This yields −i(2π)4 g 2 q2 −m1 2 C 2 δ 4 (p1 − p3 − q)δ 4 (p2 + q − p4 )d4 q.
R
C
2
Integrating and replacing the remaining delta function result in M = (p4 −p2 )g2 −m2 C 2 .
C
There is a second Feynman diagram (see Fig. 3) of the same order with p3 and p4
interchanged.
Looking at the specific example of mA = mB =m and mC = 0 we find M =
2 2
g dσ 1 ~cg 2
− p2 sin 2 θ and for the differential cross section dΩ
= 2 16πEp2 sin2 θ
.

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Figure 3: Lowest-order contribution to A + A → B + B.

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8.701 Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics

Fall 2020

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