A detector records a of energy and a of energy

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Particle Physics & Quantum Fields · Particles, interactions and experiment · Particles, interactions and experiment

Particle Physics, Ch Invariant mass: decays, thresholds and the collider frame

Problem

A detector records a

K^-

of energy

600\,\mathrm{MeV}

and a

\pi^+

of energy

500\,\mathrm{MeV}

, emerging

10.0^\circ

apart, believed to come from the decay of a short-lived neutral particle

X \to K^-\pi^+

. Take

m_{K^-}c^2 = 493.7\,\mathrm{MeV}

and

m_{\pi^+}c^2 = 139.6\,\mathrm{MeV}

. Compute the invariant mass

M

of the

K^-\pi^+

pair.

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