Chapter 4

The Conservation Laws

Conservation Laws:

The Total Amount of

■ Mass
■ Linear Momentum
■ Energy
■ Angular Momentum
■ Electric Charge
■ Baryons and Leptons
■ Strangeness
■ Parity
■ Isotropic Spin

In an Isolated System is Constant

2
3
 The Standard Model

■ Introduction: What is Particle Physics?

■ The study of the basic building blocks of matter
and the interactions between them.
■ The Standard Model: What it is and what it
is not?
■ Unification of Forces
■ Unification of Matter
■ Some examples of combining matter and forces
■ Creation of the Universe
4
Particle Physics and its Questions

■ Some questions that drive this research:

Are there fundamental constituents of matter in the
Universe?
If so, what are they and what are their properties?
What are forces and how are they transmitted?
What is mass?
What is anti-matter and where did it all go?
What does this tell us about the origins of the Universe
and its fate?

5
 The Standard Model
■ What is it? The best theoretical framework we have for particle physics
today

■ It has been a remarkable success BUT we know it is incomplete

■ So, what does the phrase “STANDARD MODEL” mean?

A unification of all matter into two types of particles
A unification of the Electromagnetic and Weak Nuclear forces
A description of the interaction between fundamental particles
in terms of the exchange of fundamental force particles

■ Some things it does not do:

It does not unify the Strong and Electroweak forces (GUTS?)
It ignores Gravity, so does not tell us anything about how it
might be unified with the other forces
It does not explain why there are so many generations of particles
It does not explain the disappearance of anti-matter in the Universe.
6
Unification of Matter
First Attempt

wat fire
er

air

eart
earth
h

7
8
 How are Forces transmitted?

In the 19-th century the Force Field was proposed

q m

E G

Q
M
In Quantum Mechanics a particle associated with each Force
Field transmits the force (our most modern view)
9
How do particles create forces?

e.g. Electromagnetic Force

10
Back to the Unification of Matter

11
The Fundamental Particles of Nature

Matter Particles: spin 1/2

Force Particles (Bosons): Integer spin

12
1 Gev = 109 eV, (mc2)proton ≈ 1 GeV
Feynman Diagram

■ Feynman presented a particularly simple graphical technique to

describe interactions.
■ For example, when two electrons approach each other, according to
the quantum theory of fields, they exchange a series of photons
called virtual photons, because they cannot be directly observed.
■ The action of the electromagnetic field (for example, the Coulomb
force) can be interpreted as the exchange of photons. In this case
we say that the photons are the carriers or mediators of the
electromagnetic force.

Figure : Example of a Feynman

spacetime diagram. Electrons interact
through mediation of a photon. The
axes are normally omitted.

13
Yukawa’s Meson

■ The Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa had the idea of

developing a quantum field theory that would describe the
force between nucleons analogous to the electromagnetic
force.

■ To do this, he had to determine the carrier or mediator of the

nuclear strong force analogous to the photon in the
electromagnetic force which he called a meson (derived from
the Greek word meso meaning “middle” due to its mass being
between the electron and proton masses).

14
Yukawa’s Meson

■ Yukawa’s meson, called a pion (or pi-meson or π-

meson), was identified in 1947 by C. F. Powell (1903–
1969) and G. P. Occhialini (1907–1993)
■ Charged pions have masses of 140 MeV/c2, and a
neutral pion π0 was later discovered that has a mass of
135 MeV/c2.

Figure: A Feynman diagram indicating the

exchange of a pion (Yukawa’s meson)
between a neutron and a proton.

15
15
The Fundamental Interactions

■ The fundamental forces in nature responsible for all

interactions:
1) Gravitation
2) Electroweak (electromagnetic and weak)
3) Strong

■ The electroweak is sometimes treated separately as the

electromagnetic and the weak force thus creating four
fundamental forces.

16
Mesons

■ We previously saw that Yukawa’s pion is responsible for the

nuclear force. Now we know there are other mesons that
interact with the strong force. Later we will see that the
nucleons and mesons are part of a general group of particles
formed from even more fundamental particles quarks. The
particle that mediates the strong interaction between quarks is
called a gluon (for the “glue” that holds the quarks together);
it is massless and has spin 1, just like the photon.

■ Particles that interact by the strong interaction are called

hadrons; examples include the neutron, proton, and mesons.

17
Classification of Elementary Particles

■ Particles with half-integral spin are called fermions

and those with integral spin are called bosons.

■ This is a particularly useful way to classify

elementary particles because all stable matter in the
universe appears to be composed, at some level, of
constituent fermions.

18
Bosons and Fermions

■ Photons, gluons, W ±, and the Z are called gauge

bosons and are responsible for the strong and
electroweak interactions.
■ Gravitons are also bosons, having spin 2.
■ Fermions exert attractive or repulsive forces on each
other by exchanging gauge bosons, which are the
force carriers.

19
The Higgs Boson

■ One other boson that has been predicted, but not

yet detected, is necessary in quantum field theory
to explain why the W± and Z have such large
masses, yet the photon has no mass.

■ This missing boson is called the Higgs particle

(or Higgs boson) after Peter Higgs, who first
proposed it.

20
The Higgs Boson

■ The Standard Model proposes that there is a field called the

Higgs field that permeates space.
■ By interacting with this field, particles acquire mass.
■ Particles that interact strongly with the Higgs field have heavy
mass; particles that interact weakly have small mass.
■ The Higgs field has at least one particle associated with it, and
that is the Higgs particle (or Higgs boson).
■ The search for the Higgs boson is of the highest priority in
elementary particle physics.

21
Leptons

■ The leptons are perhaps the simplest of the

elementary particles.
■ They appear to be pointlike, that is, with no apparent
internal structure, and seem to be truly elementary.
■ Thus far there has been no plausible suggestion
they are formed from some more fundamental
particles.
■ There are only six leptons plus their six antiparticles.

22
The Electron and the Muon

■ Each of the charged particles has an associated

neutrino, named after its charged partner (for
example, muon neutrino).
■ The muon decays into an electron, and the tau can
decay into an electron, a muon, or even hadrons
(which is most probable).
■ The muon decay (by the weak interaction) is:

23
Hadrons

■ These are particles that act through the strong force.

■ Two classes of hadrons: mesons and baryons.
■ Mesons are particles with integral spin having
masses greater than that of the muon
■ All baryons have masses at least as large as the
proton and have half-integral spins.

24
Mesons

■ Mesons are bosons because of their integral spin.

■ The meson family is rather large and consists of many
variations, distinguished according to their composition of
quarks.
■ The pion (π-meson) is a meson that can either have charge
or be neutral.
■ In addition to the pion there is also a K meson, which exists
in both charged (K±) and neutral forms (K0). The K− meson
is the antiparticle of the K+, and their common decay mode
is into muons or pions.

■ All mesons are unstable and not abundant in nature.

25
Baryons

■ The neutron and proton are the best-known

baryons.
■ The proton is the only stable baryon, but some
theories predict that it is also unstable with a
lifetime greater than 1030 years.
■ All baryons except the proton eventually decay
into protons.

26
The Hadrons

27
Conservation laws

■ The most fundamental ideas in physics are

conservation laws.
■ These are statements that some quantity in
a “system” does not change.
■ A “system” is a collection of objects without
external inputs.

28

28
Linear momentum
■ Linear momentum is defined as the product
of an object’s mass and its velocity.

■ We usually just say momentum.

29
Linear momentum, cont’d
■ Newton’s 2nd law is closely related to
momentum.

30
Linear momentum, cont’d
■ This is known as the alternate form of Newton’s
2nd law:
■ The net external force acting on an object
equals the rate of change of linear momentum:

31
 Example
Example 3.1
Estimate the average force
on a tennis ball as it is
served. The ball’s mass
is 0.06 kg and it leaves
the racquet with a speed
of 40 m/s. High-speed
photography indicates
that the contact time is
about 5 milliseconds.

32
Example
Example 3.1

ANSWER:
The problem gives us:

The force is:

33
Linear momentum, cont’d
■ This tells why we must exert a force to get an
object to move, or to stop its motion.
■ To start moving an object, we have to impart
some momentum to it.
■ To stop a moving object, we have to bring its
momentum to zero.

34
Linear momentum, cont’d
■ It also tells us that we can change the
momentum using various forces and time
intervals:

■ Use a large force for a short time, or

■ Use a small force for a long time.
■ Change in momentum is called Impulse

35
Impulse on tennis
ball in example 3.1:
Mass = 0.06 kg
Velocity 0🡪 40 m/s
Force = 480 N
Time = 0.005 s

Impulse = FΔt
= 480N * 0.005s
= 2.4 kg-m/s
Impulse = Δp = mΔv
= 0.06 kg * 40 m/s
= 2.4 kg-m/s 36
Conservation of linear
momentum
■ The Law of Conservation of Linear
Momentum states:
The total linear momentum of an isolated
system is constant.
■ Isolated implies no external force:

37
Conservation of linear
momentum, cont’d
■ We can write this as:

■ To study a collision:
■ Add the momenta of the objects before the
collision.
■ Add the momenta after the collision.
■ the two sums must be equal.

38
 Conservation of linear
momentum, cont’d
■ Balls with equal mass and momentum collide
■ Total Momentum is 0 before and after collision
mv1 = - mv2

mv1 - mv2 = 0

39
mv1 - mv2 = 0
Energy
■ Energy is defined as the measure of a
system’s ability to do work.
■ We use the symbol E to represent energy.
■ Energy has the same units as work:
■ Joule for SI, ft·lb for English.

40
 Energy, cont’d
■ There are various types of energy.
■ Kinetic energy is the energy associated with
an object’s motion.
■ We use the symbol KE.

■ Potential energy is energy associated with

the system’s position or orientation.
■ We use the symbol PE.

41
Kinetic_and_Potential_Energy
Kinetic energy
■ The formula for kinetic energy is:

■ m is the object’s mass.

■ v is the object’s speed.

42
Conservation of energy
■ The Law of Conservation of Energy:
Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
■ The total energy of an isolated system is
constant.
■ Energy can only be transformed from one
form to another.

43
 Conservation of energy, cont’d

44

Energy_Exchanges
Conservation of energy, cont’d
■ If the energy of an isolated system is
constant, the energy before an event must
the same as the energy after an event.

45
Conservation of energy, cont’d
■ To deal with energy conservation, we need
the total energy:

46
Conservation of energy, cont’d
■ Conserving energy when an object is thrown
up with a velocity v:

■ Solve for the maximum height of the object, d:

47
Example

I toss a 0.06-kg ball straight up. When it

leaves my hand, it has a speed of 20
m/s. Find how high the ball rises.

48
Example

ANSWER:
The problem gives us:

The initial energy of the ball is:

The final energy of the ball is:

49
Example

ANSWER:
Conserve energy:

50
Example

ANSWER:
Solving for the height gives:

51
Rotation and angular
momentum
Consider an object moving in a circle.

■ It has linear
momentum at
every point along
its trajectory:
p = mv

■ But it also has angular momentum,

characteristic of its rotational motion.

52
Rotation and angular
momentum, cont’d
■ Conservation of Angular Momentum states
that the total angular momentum of an
isolated system is constant.
■ For our ball on a string:

53
Rotation and angular
momentum, cont’d
■ Conservation of momentum tells us:

■ The right hand side must equal the left hand

side.
■ So as rf gets smaller, vf must get larger.

54
 Rotation and angular
momentum, cont’d
■ In other words, if we shorten the string, the
ball’s speed increases.
■ This is a
consequence
of conservation
of angular
momentum.

55
Example

You spin a ball attached to the end of a 1.0-

meter string with a speed of 10 m/s. Find the
ball’s speed as you shorten the string to 10
centimeters (0.1 m).

56
Example

ANSWER:
The problem gives us:

From angular momentum conservation:

57
Example

ANSWER:
Inserting the numbers:

58
Important
Equations impulse = Δ(mv) = FΔt

59
 Conservation of charge
Methods of Charging Objects:
Friction, Contact, and Induction

• Normally atoms are in the lowest energy state. This means that
the material is electrically neutral. You have the same number of
electrons as protons in the material.

• How do we change this?

• How do we add more electrons than protons?

60
 Conservation of charge

• Rubbing does not create charge, it is transferred from object to

another

• Teflon negative - silk positive

• Acrylic positive - silk negative

• Nuclear reactions γ0 = e+ + e-
• Radioactive decay 238U
92 = 234Th90 + 4He2

• High energy particle reactions e- + p+ = e- + π+ + n0

61
 Baryon Conservation
• In low-energy nuclear reactions, the number of nucleons is
always conserved.
• Empirically this is part of a more general conservation law for
what is assigned a new quantum number called baryon number
that has the value B = +1 for baryons and −1 for antibaryons, and
0 for all other particles.
• The conservation of baryon number requires the same total
baryon number before and after the reaction.
• Although there are no known violations of baryon conservation,
there are theoretical indications that it was violated sometime in
the beginning of the universe when temperatures were quite
high. This is thought to account for the preponderance of matter
over antimatter in the universe today.

62
 Lepton Conservation
• The leptons are all fundamental particles, and there is a
conservation of leptons for each of the three kinds
(families) of leptons.
• The number of leptons from each family is the same both
before and after a reaction.
• We let Le = +1 for the electron and the electron neutrino;
Le = −1 for their antiparticles; and Le = 0 for all other
particles.
• We assign the quantum numbers Lμ for the muon and its
neutrino and Lτ for the tau and its neutrino similarly.

• Thus three additional conservation laws.

63
The New Quantum Number: Strangeness

• Strangeness, S, is conserved in the strong and

electromagnetic interactions, but not in the
weak interaction.
• The kaons have S = +1, lambda and sigmas
have S = −1, the xi has S = −2, and the omega
has S = −3.
• When the strange particles are produced by
the p + p strong interaction, they must be
produced in pairs to conserve strangeness.

64
 Parity transformation
y

z x🡪 -
x
y🡪 - x’
y
x z🡪 -
z z’
Man P Man
y’

Man holds razor in right hand

Image holds razor in left hand
65
P transformation

• Under P, the handedness of space is

reversed, (x,y,z) → (-x,-y,-z)

66
 Hypercharge

• One more quantity, called hypercharge, has also become

widely used as a quantum number.

• The hypercharge quantum number Y is defined by Y = S + B.

• Hypercharge, the sum of the strangeness and baryon quantum
numbers, is conserved in strong interactions.

• The hypercharge and strangeness conservation laws hold for

the strong and electromagnetic interactions, but are violated
for the weak interaction.

67
67
END