Physics WPH11: Nuclear and Particle Physics Topical Past Paper Questions

When a high energy photon passes through a strong electric field, pair production can occur. In pair production, the high energy photon creates a particle-antiparticle pair. An example of pair production is given by the equation $$ \gamma\rightarrow e^{-}+e^{+} $$ where a photon…

The omega minus baryon ( $ \Omega^{-} $) was discovered in 1964 when a negative kaon meson ( $ K^{-} $) was observed to collide with a stationary proton. The $ \Omega^{-} $ was produced in the following reaction. $$ \mathrm{K}^{-}+\mathrm{p}\rightarrow\mathrm{\Omega}^{-}+\mathrm{…

The source of energy in a main sequence star is the fusion of hydrogen into helium. The fusion of hydrogen to helium occurs in a number of stages but it can be approximated as 4 protons coming together to form a helium nucleus. (a) (i) Show that when 4 protons form a helium nucle…