Document Type
Course
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Physics 3710 – Intermediate Modern Physics, Spring 2018
Publication Date
1-8-2018
First Page
1
Last Page
3
Abstract
More about the matter with mass
To repeat, the basic premise of QED is that the physical world doesn’t care about the phase of the electron wavefunction; calculations and observations strongly support that idea. The basic premise of QCD is that the physical world doesn’t care about the color of the quark wavefunction; calculations and observations strongly support that idea. The basic premise of QFD is that the physical world doesn’t care about the flavor (isospin) of the quark or lepton wavefunctions. But that’s not true! For example, a “free” d quark can certainly emit a (virtual) W particle and become a u quark, but a “free” u will never emit a W and become a d . The mass of the d is greater than the u so the latter process cannot conserve energy and momentum. The fact that the two members of each lepton and quark family have very different masses makes it impossible to pretend that they can be interchanged at will while interacting weakly.
Recommended Citation
Peak, David, "Structure of matter, 7" (2018). Structure of Matter. Paper 7.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/intermediate_modernphysics_matter/7