MISN-0-358 ANALYSIS OF BUBBLE CHAMBER PHOTOGRAPHS by Robert Ehrlich 1. Particle Reactions a. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 b. Particle Tracks in Bubble Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 c.

Subatomic Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 d. Subatomic Particle Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 e. Recognizing Bubble Chamber Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. Measurement of Photographs a. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 b. Determination of Momentum from Curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 c. Determination of Momentum from Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 d. Determination of the Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 3. Relativistic Dynamics a. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 b. Relativistic Formulas and Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 c. Calculation of the Unknown Neutral Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 4. Program to Calculate the X Mass a. Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 b. Sample Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 5. Procedures a. Calculation of the X Particles Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 b. Calculation of the Sigma Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 A. Fortran, Basic, C++ Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

ANALYSIS OF BUBBLE CHAMBER PHOTOGRAPHS

C S-

p-

p+ B

K-

Project PHYSNET Physics Bldg. Michigan State University East Lansing, MI

ID Sheet: MISN-0-358 THIS IS A DEVELOPMENTAL-STAGE PUBLICATION OF PROJECT PHYSNET The goal of our project is to assist a network of educators and scientists in transferring physics from one person to another. We support manuscript processing and distribution, along with communication and information systems. We also work with employers to identify basic scientic skills as well as physics topics that are needed in science and technology. A number of our publications are aimed at assisting users in acquiring such skills. Our publications are designed: (i) to be updated quickly in response to eld tests and new scientic developments; (ii) to be used in both classroom and professional settings; (iii) to show the prerequisite dependencies existing among the various chunks of physics knowledge and skill, as a guide both to mental organization and to use of the materials; and (iv) to be adapted quickly to specic user needs ranging from single-skill instruction to complete custom textbooks. New authors, reviewers and eld testers are welcome. PROJECT STAFF Andrew Schnepp Eugene Kales Peter Signell Webmaster Graphics Project Director

Title: Analysis of Bubble Chamber Photographs Author: R. Ehrlich, Physics Dept., George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA 22030; (703)323-2303. Version: 3/22/2002 Length: 2 hr; 24 pages Input Skills: 1. Vocabulary: chord, sagitta, rest mass, relativistic mass (MISN-023). 2. Write and run simple programs in FORTRAN (MISN-0-346) or BASIC. Output Skills (Project): P1. Recognize the production and decay of the Sigma-Minus particle in a bubble chamber photograph. P2. Perform measurements on the particle tracks in bubble chamber photographs. P3. Using measurements from a bubble chamber photograph of a Sigma-Minus production decay event, enter and run a canned program to compute the mass of the unseen neutral particle and identify it from a table of known masses. P4. Write and run a simple program to calculate the lifetime of an elementary particle given its track length and momentum. External Resources (Required): 1. A computer with FORTRAN or BASIC, measuring scale (ruler), protractor. Evaluation: Stage 0

ADVISORY COMMITTEE D. Alan Bromley E. Leonard Jossem A. A. Strassenburg Yale University The Ohio State University S. U. N. Y., Stony Brook

Views expressed in a module are those of the module author(s) and are not necessarily those of other project participants. c 2002, Peter Signell for Project PHYSNET, Physics-Astronomy Bldg., Mich. State Univ., E. Lansing, MI 48824; (517) 355-3784. For our liberal use policies see: http://www.physnet.org/home/modules/license.html.

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ANALYSIS OF BUBBLE CHAMBER PHOTOGRAPHS by Robert Ehrlich 1. Particle Reactions

1a. Introduction. A convenient way to study the properties of the fundamental subatomic particles is through observation of their bubble trails, or tracks, in a bubble chamber. Using measurements made directly on a bubble chamber photograph, we can often identify the particles from their tracks and calculate their masses and other properties. In a typical experiment, a beam of a particular type of particle is sent from an accelerator into a bubble chamber, which is a large liquid-lled vessel. To simplify the analysis of the data, the liquid used is often hydrogen, the simplest element. The use of liquid hydrogen, while it simplies the analysis, complicates the experiment itself, since hydrogen, a gas at room temperature, liquies only when cooled to -246 C. For charged particles to leave tracks in passing through the chamber, the liquid must be in a super-heated state, in which the slightest disturbance causes boiling to occur. In practice, this is accomplished by expanding the vapor above the liquid with a piston a few thousandths of a second before the particles enter the chamber. 1b. Particle Tracks in Bubble Chambers. A great deal of information can be obtained by carefully observing the tracks (or bubble trails) particles create in passing through the chamber. The chamber is usually placed in a very strong magnetic eld B which causes charged particles to travel in curved paths. A particle of charge q and momentum p which moves perpendicular to a uniform magnetic eld of magnitude B travels in a circular arc of radius R, given by R= p qB

(clockwise or counterclockwise). In the bubble chamber photographs we shall examine, the magnetic eld points out of the paper, so that the sense of curvature is clockwise for positive particles and counterclockwise for negative particles. Note that to determine the sign of a particles charge, it is necessary to know in which direction the particle traveled along the track. This is not always obvious from looking at a bubble chamber photograph (see Fig. 1). 1c. Subatomic Particles. There are a large number of kinds of subatomic particles, many of which are produced only in very high energy collisions. In this module we shall be particularly interested in the following four subatomic particles: proton (p), kaon (K), pion (), and sigma (). Of these, only the proton is a stable constituent of ordinary matter. Each of the others comes in all three charges plus, minus and neutral. 1d. Subatomic Particle Reactions. In a typical particle physics experiment a beam of one type of particle is allowed to hit a target and various reactions are observed. Figure 1 shows a bubble chamber photograph in which a number of kaons are incident from the bottom of the photograph. The magnetic eld B points out of the photograph. Thus the counterclockwise curvature of the tracks incident from the bottom clearly shows that the incident particles are negatively charged. If we follow the path of each K track, in Fig. 1, we see that some K particles passed through the chamber without incident; others interacted with a hydrogen nucleus (a proton) and initiated various reactions. The simplest type of interaction between two particles is elastic scattering, analogous to a billiard ball collision. Symbolically, the elastic scattering of a K particle and a proton may be written K + p K + p . An incident K meson can also initiate reactions in which new particles are created. In many cases, the created particles live for only 1010 seconds or less, and then disintegrate, or decay, into other particles which themselves may be unstable. We shall be particularly interested in the sigma production reaction K + p + + , in which the K and proton disappear and a sigma minus particle ( ) and a pi plus meson ( + ) are created. Of the four particles involved in the above reaction: K , p, , and + , only the proton p is stable. Among the other three, the is the most unstable, as it lives the shortest time
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For all known charged long-lived subatomic particles, the magnitude of their charge q is the same as that of the electron, e = 1.61019 coulombs. Therefore, if the magnitude of the magnetic eld B is known, we can determine the momentum of a particle by measuring the radius of curvature of its track. We can also infer the sign of its charge if we know the direction of the magnetic eld and we observe in which sense the track curves
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Figure 2. An example of a production and subsequent decay. chamber). We symbolically write the sigma decay reaction as + X0 , where X0 designates the unseen neutral particle. We shall refer to a particular example of the two reactions, sigma production followed by sigma decay, as an event. Thus, in this experiment our attention will be particularly focussed on events of the type Figure 1. Bubble chamber tracks of a beam of kaons. after it is created. After about 1010 seconds a particle decays into a meson and a neutral particle (which leaves no track in the bubble
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+ p

S + p+ p- + C0

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S1

to event. However, an event can usually be identied by its general conguration, or topology. Look through each of the photographs in Figs. 4 through 8 and see if you can identify events.

p-

p+

2. Measurement of Photographs
K
-

Figure 3. A schematic diagram of the event. 1e. Recognizing Bubble Chamber Events. Upon rst examination, bubble chamber photographs may appear to be extremely confusing. Once you know what to look for, however, it is very easy to spot events corresponding to the production and decay reactions in the photograph. In this experiment, the incident K mesons have suciently low energy that many of them slow down and come to rest within the chamber. In order for the sigma production reaction to take place, the K meson and the proton must be very close to one another (about 1015 meters apart). Due to the attractive force between the negatively charged K and the positively charged proton, this is much more likely to happen when the K is moving slowly or at rest. Since the initial momentum of the two-particle (K /proton) system is zero, the law of conservation of momentum requires the and + particles to have equal and opposite momentum, which makes the and + tracks appear as one continuous track. The considerable energy of the and + particles in the energy-liberating sigma production reaction is the result of the conversion of mass into energy. (The combined rest mass of the and + particles is appreciably less than that of the K and proton). In Fig. 2, we have one such event which has been circled. For clarity, the circled event is shown schematically in Fig. 3 with the identity and direction of each track indicated. Note how the and + tracks appear to be one continuous track, implying that the sigma production reaction took place after the K came to rest (at point 1). Notice also the kink in the track less than 1.0 cm from the point of its creation. It is at the kink (point 2) that the decayed into a meson and the unseen neutral particle X0 . In all events, the length of the track will invariably be quite short due to its short lifetime. The details of an event, such as the length, direction, and curvature of each track, generally vary from event
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2a. Overview. A careful quantitative analysis of measurements made on tracks in bubble chamber photographs can reveal much more than can a simple visual inspection of the photographs. First, while reactions can often be unambiguously identied by their topology, such an identication can be conrmed if we make measurements of the length, direction, and curvature of each track, and then analyze these data by computer. Second, through such a procedure we can determine whether an unseen neutral particle was present. Third, we can determine properties of an unseen neutral particle. In each of the photographs in Figs. 4-8, there are one or more events. The circled event in each photograph is the one of particular interest because all of its tracks lie very nearly in the plane of the photograph and this considerably simplies the analysis. Such almost coplanar events are a rare occurrence since all directions are possible for the particles involved. For events that are more non-coplanar we must analyze at least two stereoscopic photographs of each event in order to completely describe its three dimensional kinematics.1 For each of the circled events we will rst determine three quantities: (a) the momentum of the particle (p ); (b) the momentum of the particle (p ) at the point of its decay; and (c) the angle between the and tracks at the point of decay. Methods for nding these quantities are discussed in the remainder of this section (Sect. 2). For each of the circled events we will then nd the lifetime of a visible paricle and the mass and hence identity of an invisible one. Methods for nding the mass and lifetime are discussed in Sect. 3, program input and output are shown in Sect. 4, and project procedures are discussed in Sect. 5. 2b. Determination of Momentum from Curvature. We can determine the momentum of the particle if we measure the radius of curvature of the track and use the relation:
1 In practice three photographs are often used in order to overdetermine the results and hence provide a check on the determinations.

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Figure 4. .

Figure 5. . In our system of units, this can be written p = q R B. (1)

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p = 6.86 R ,

(2)
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Figure 6. . with R in units of cm. (The units for p will be discussed in the next section). For a curved track it is not easy to measure R directly, since
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Figure 7. . the center of the circular arc is not known. However, if we draw a chord

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Figure 9. Sagitta method for determining the radius of curvature. of the sagitta, s, (see Fig. 9), the radius R can then be found in terms of and s. As can be seen in Fig. 9, the Pythagorean theorem gives the following relation between the radius R, chord length , and sagitta s: R2 = (R s)2 + ( /2)2 which can be solved for R to obtain R= 1 + s. 8s 2
2

(3)

Thus we can nd the radius R by drawing the longest possible chord on the track, measuring the chord length and the sagitta s, and then applying Eq. (3). We want to draw the longest possible chord in order to obtain the greatest accuracy of measurement for the chord length and sagitta s. 2c. Determination of Momentum from Range. We cannot determine the momentum of the track from its radius of curvature because the track is much too short. Instead, we make use of the known way that a particle loses momentum as a function of the distance it travels. In each event in which the K comes to rest before interacting, energy conservation applied to the process requires the particle to have a specic momentum of 174 MeV/c. The relatively massive particle loses energy rapidly, so its momentum at the point of its decay is appreciably less than 174 MeV/c even though it travels only a short distance. It is known that a charged particles range, d, which is the distance it traveled before coming to rest, is approximately proportional to the fourth power of its initial momentum, i.e., d p4 . For a particle traveling in liquid
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Figure 8. . on the track and measure both the length of the chord, , and the length

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hydrogen, the constant of proportionality is such that a particle of initial momentum 174 MeV/c has a range of 0.597 cm. The relationship: d = 0.597 p 174
4

(4)

clearly gives the correct range for p = 174 MeV/c and has the correct proportionality d p4 . In most cases the particle decays before it comes to rest, so the distance it travels, the track length , is less than the maximum range d0 = 0.597 cm. Next we nd the residual range, which is the dierence between the maximum range d0 and the track length . The relation between the residual range, p , and the momentum of the particle at the point of decay is: p 4 . d0 = 0.597 174 This can be solved for p to yield:
1/4

C S-

p-

p+ B

K-

p = 174 1 Note that when

0.597

(5)

= 0.597 you get p = 0 as you would expect. Figure 10. Determination of the angle . energy and momentum, we calculate its mass and then identify it from a table that lists the masses of known particles. 3b. Relativistic Formulas and Units. Since the particle speeds here are all a signicant fraction of the speed of light, c, we must use relativistic formulas. In conventional SI units we have the relations: E = mc2 and E 2 = p2 c2 + m2 c4 , 0 where E is the total energy, m is the relativistic mass, m0 is the rest mass and p is the momentum of a particle. Particle physicists prefer to use this system of units: M eV for energy, M eV /c for momentum, and MeV/c2 for mass. In such units all factors of cconveniently disappear, giving: E = m and E 2 = p2 + m2 . 0 (6)

2d. Determination of the Angle . The angle between the and momentum vectors can be determined by drawing tangents to the and tracks at the point of the decay. We can then measure the angle between the tangents using a protractor. In Fig. 10 we show an alternative method which does not require a protractor. Let AC and BC be the tangents to the and tracks respectively. Drop a perpendicular (AB) and measure the distances AB and BC. The ratio AB/BC gives the tangent of the angle 180 . It should be noted that only some of the time will the angle exceed 90 , as shown here.

3. Relativistic Dynamics
3a. Overview. In this section we discuss how the mass of the invisible X0 particle is calculated from measurements made on the photographs. The general approach is to rst use the three measurements discussed in the previous section to determine the energy and momentum of both of the charged particles present in the sigma decay (the and the ). We then use the laws of conservation of energy and momentum to determine the energy and momentum of the invisible X0 particle. Finally, from its
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3c. Calculation of the Unknown Neutral Mass. The unseen X0 particle, whose mass we wish to nd, is produced in the decay: + X0 . Conservation of momentum therefore requires that the X0 has a momentum: pX = p p . Conservation of energy requires that the X0 has an energy: EX = E E . Equation (6) can be solved for m0 to obtain: m0 = E p
2 2 1

4b. Sample Output. The following is an example of the calculated X0 mass using input quantities shown below obtained from measurements of the event in Fig. 4. Input: EVENT NUMBER SIGMA TRACK LENGTH THETA SAGITTA OF PI CHORD LENGTH OF PI Output: MASS OF X PARTICLE = = = = = 1.000 .500 142.000 .970 14.800

/2 .
1/2

915.000

Thus we can calculate the rest mass of the X0 particle using mX = (E E )2 (p p )2 which can be alternatively written: mX = (E E )2 (p2 2 p p cos + p2 )
1/2

5. Procedures
5a. Calculation of the X Particles Mass. Make measurements on each of the photographs in Figs. 4-8. In particular, for each of the circled events measure these four quantities:

(7)

Using Eq. (7), we have a way of calculating the mass of the unseen neutral particle in terms of quantities that can be determined from measurements made on the bubble chamber photograph: p p E is found from the tangent method described in paragraph 2d, is found from the sagitta method described in paragraph 2b, is found from the track length measurement in paragraph 2c, and E are found from the momenta p and p using Eq. (6).

the the the the

length of the track, angle between the and track, sagitta of the track, chord length of the track.

4. Program to Calculate the X Mass

4a. Input. The input consists of values for the quantities N, LSIG, TH, S, and LPI where N LSIG TH S LPI = = = = = an arbitrary identifying number for the event (chord length of the track, in cm) (angle between and tracks, in degrees) s (sagitta of track, in cm) track, in cm). (chord length of

Your values for the event in Fig. 4 should be close to those given in the sample input. Run the program using each set of measurements, and tabulate the computed X0 mass from each event. Compute an average of the calculated masses and nd the average deviation, expressing your result as Mx Mx . Compare your nal result with some known neutral particles listed below and identify the X0 particle based on this comparison. particle 0 K0 n 0 0 0 mass(in MeV/c2 ) 135 498 940 1116 1192 1315

The program then proceeds to calculate the momenta of the pion and sigma particles using Eqs. (3) and (5), respectively, and nally the mass of the unseen X0 particle using Eq. (7).
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5b. Calculation of the Sigma Lifetime. The lifetime can be approximately determined using the measured values of the track
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MISN-0-358 http://www.physnet.org/home/modules/support_programs which can be navigated to from the home page at http://www.physnet.org

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lengths. The average momentum of the particle can be found from its initial and nal values: p = 1 (174 + p ) , 2

where p is found from Eq. (5), using the measured track length . The length of time that the lives (the time between its creation and decay) is , t= v where is the length of the track and v is the average velocity of the particle. This time interval is measured in a coordinate system at rest in the laboratory. In a coordinate system moving with the particle, the rest system, the time is given by t= which can be put in the form t= m0 , p c

by following the links: modules support programs, where the programs are: m358p1f.for, Fortran; m358p1b.bas, Basic; m358p1c.cpp, C++; lib351.h, needed Library for C++ program;

v2 c2

where m0 = 1193 is the rest mass of the particle and c = 3.0 108 m s1 is the speed of light. Write a program that calculates the amount of time that each lives, and determine an average lifetime. The accepted value is 1.49 1010 seconds. Since all our photographs are less than life-size, the computed times must be multiplied by the scale factor 1.71. This method of nding the lifetime can only be expected to give a very approximate result because (a) only four events are used and (b) we have ignored the exponential character of particle decay.

Acknowledgments
Preparation of this module was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Division of Science Education Development and Research, through Grant #SED 74-20088 to Michigan State University.

A. Fortran, Basic, C++ Programs

All programs are at
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ME-1

MISN-0-358 INSTRUCTIONS TO GRADER

ME-2

MODEL EXAM
Examinee: On your computer output sheet(s): (i) Mark page numbers in the upper right corners of all sheets. (ii) Label all output, including all axes on all graphs. On your Exam Answer Sheet(s), for each of the following parts of items (below this box), show: (i) a reference to your annotated output; and (ii) a blank area for grader comments. When nished, staple together your sheets as usual, but include the original of your annotated output sheets just behind the Exam Answer Sheet. 1. Submit your hand-annotated output for determination of the invisibleparticle mass from the bubble chamber photographs. Be sure that it shows: a. your measurements of four quantities ( , , s, ) for each of the ve events, including a comparison to the values listed in the module for the rst of them; b. your computed neutral missing-particle mass for each of the ve events; c. your calculation of the mean and average deviation of the mass in b); d. your identication of the neutral particle. 2. Submit your hand-annotated output for determination of the visibleparticle lifetime from the bubble chamber photographs. Be sure that it shows: a. the program you created for the determination; b. the lifetime of each of the ve particles, the lifetime averaged over the ve events, and a comparison to the accepted value.

If the student has submitted copies rather than originals of the computer output, state that on the exam answer sheet and immediately stop grading the exam and give it a grade of zero.

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