232 Nuclear and Particle Physics
This allows us to conclude that the spin of the yj* hyperon is | , or a higher
half-integer value. To obtain the true spin, we would have to analyze the
decay in Eq. (9.43) in substantial detail. Measuring the complexity of
the angular decay distribution in the rest frame of the Yj*0 would then
determine its spin value, which is now known to be | .
Similar analyses of other high energy production processes, and the
subsequent decays of the particles, have provided us with the values of spins
of many hadrons. What has been found is that some of the particles can
be related to each other and correlated into groups having similar quantum
numbers.
9.8 Violation of Quantum Numbers
As we have seen, all quantum numbers appear to be conserved in strong
processes, however, some are violated in electromagnetic and weak interac-
tions, and we will discuss these with a few illustrative examples.
9.8.1 Weak Interactions
There are three kinds of weak processes in nature, which can be classified
as follows: (a) hadronic decays, where only hadrons are present in the
final state, (b) semi-leptonic processes, where both hadrons and leptons are
present, and, finally, (c) leptonic processes, where only leptons are present.
For example, the decays
A^7T-+p,
n -> p + e~ +Ve,
H~ -> e~ +Ve + vfi, (9.46)
represent the three different kinds of weak processes. Since most of the
strong quantum numbers are not denned for leptons, it is not meaningful to
discuss their violation in leptonic processes. Furthermore, even in the case
of the semi-leptonic processes, we can only speak about the conservation or
the violation of quantum numbers between the initial and the final hadronic
states. Keeping this in mind, let us now examine some typical reactions.
9.8.1.1 Hadronic Weak Decays:
Consider the following decays of hadrons into other hadrons
Elementary Particles 233
A0 7T- + P,
h =0 h = -l h = \
5=-l 5 = 0 5 = 0
+ > p + n,
h = 1 h = \ h = 0
5 = -l 5 = 0 5 = 0
(9.47)
K > 7T+ + 7T-,
/3 = - I J3 = 1 j 3= -1
5 = 1 5 = 0 5 = 0
S" + A0 + ir~.
h = ~\ Is = 0 J3 = - 1
5 =-2 5 = -l 5 = 0
We see that both isospin and strangeness are violated in these decays, and
that a selection rule for such violations can be summarized by
|AJ 3 | = | , |A5| = 1. (9.48)
Also, we should add that, while both AJ = | and A/ = | transitions
appear to contribute to these processes, the A/ = | contributions are found
to be highly suppressed, and processes involving |A5| = 2 are exceptionally
rare.
9.8.1.2 Semileptonic Processes:
Once again, we examine only a few examples to bring out the essential
features of these decays, and emphasize that we consider only changes in
the quantum numbers of initial and final-state hadrons.
234 Nuclear and Particle Physics
n > p + e~ + Ve,
T 1 T 1
J-Z 2 H 2
5=0 5=0
7T~ > fJL~ + F M ,
/3=-l
5 =0
7T+ > 7T + e + + ^e,
/s = 1 h =0
5=0 5=0
/s = \ (9-49)
5 = 1
/3 = | /s = 0
5 = 1 5 =0
A0 > p + e~ + F e ,
/s = 0 h = \
5 = -l 5 =0
S~ > n + e~ +Ve.
I3 = - 1 j 3= -I
5 = -l 5 =0
Thus, we see that semi-leptonic decays can be classified into two types. The
first kind has no change in the strangeness flavor of hadrons. These pro-
cesses are known as strangeness-preserving decays, and are characterized,
of course, by |A5| = 0. In such processes we see that IA/3I = 1. Thus, the
strangeness-conserving semi-leptonic processes satisfy
|A5| = 0, IA/31 = 1, A / = 1. (9.50)
The second class of semi-leptonic decays do not conserve strangeness.
Consequently, these decays are also known as strangeness-changing pro-
Elementary Particles 235
cesses, and for these we find
|A5| = 1, |AJ8 | = | , A/=i or |. (9.51)
Again, it is observed that the processes with A/ = | are highly suppressed,
as are |A5| = 2 transitions.
9.8.2 Electromagnetic Processes
Let us also consider several samples of electromagnetic decays. Again,
since strong quantum numbers cannot always be defined for a photon, the
meaningful quantity to analyze is the change in the quantum numbers of
the hadrons
7T 7 + 7,
/3=0
5 =0
rf ) 7 + 7,
h =0 (9.52)
5 =0
So > A 0 + 7.
Is = 0 7S = 0
5 = -l 5 = -l
This shows that strangeness is conserved in electromagnetic processes, while
isospin is not. In fact, these processes are characterized by
|A5| = 0, |A73| = 0, A/ = l and 0. (9.53)
In the following chapters we will attempt to incorporate all these results
into a theoretical framework, which is referred to as the Standard Model of
particle physics.
