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Quarks and leptons: introductory course in modern particle physics

Francis Halzen, Alan D. Martin

Chapter 8

The Structure of Hadrons - all with Video Answers

Educators


Chapter Questions

Problem 1

It is useful practice of the techniques developed in the previous chapters to derive (8.3) and (8.4). We outline the various steps below. The electromagnetic field due to $Z e \rho(\mathbf{x})$ is $A^\mu=(\phi, 0)$ where, using (6.59),
$$
\nabla^2 \phi=-Z e \rho(\mathbf{x})
$$
Use (6.4) and (6.6) to show that the scattering amplitude is (see also Section 7.1)
$$
T_{f i}=-i 2 \pi \delta\left(E_f-E_i\right)\left(-e \bar{u}_f \gamma_0 u_i\right) \int e^{i \mathbf{q} \cdot \mathbf{x}} \phi(\mathbf{x}) d^3 x
$$

Justify
$$
\int e^{i \mathbf{q} \cdot \mathrm{x}} \nabla^2 \phi d^3 x=-|\mathbf{q}|^2 \int e^{i \mathbf{q} \cdot x} \phi d^3 x
$$
and hence show that the integral in (8.5) is $Z e F(\mathbf{q}) /|\mathbf{q}|^2$, see (7.9). Following the arguments of Section 4.3 , verify that the differential cross section from a fixed target is
$$
d \sigma=\frac{\left|T_{f i}\right|^2}{T} \frac{d^3 k_f}{(2 \pi)^3 2 E_f}\left(\frac{1}{v 2 E_i}\right),
$$
with
$$
d^3 k_f \delta\left(E_f-E_i\right)=k E d \Omega .
$$

Summing final, and averaging initial, electron spins give
$$
\frac{1}{2} \sum_{s_f, s_i}\left|\bar{u}_f \gamma_0 u_i\right|^2=4 E^2\left(1-v^2 \sin ^2 \frac{\theta}{2}\right),
$$
where $\theta$ is the angle introduced in Section 7.1. Check this answer with (6.25). Putting all this together yields the advertised result
$$
\frac{d \sigma}{d \Omega}=\left(\frac{d \sigma}{d \Omega}\right)_{\text {Mott }}|F(\mathbf{q})|^2,
$$
with the form factor given by (8.3).

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07:24

Problem 2

Show that if the electron beam is replaced by a beam of "point" spinless particles, the only change is that factor ( 8.7 ) is replaced by $4 E^2$. This raises a question: why does the electron spin make no difference in the nonrelativistic limit, $v \rightarrow 0$ ? The remarks following (6.13) are the clue.

Abid Hussain
Abid Hussain
Numerade Educator
03:52

Problem 3

By considering the electron helicity, explain why you would anticipate the $\cos ^2(\theta / 2)$ behavior of factor (8.7) in the extreme relativistic limit, see Section 6.6.

By virtue of the normalization condition, (8.2),
$$
F(0) \equiv 1 \text {. }
$$
If $|\mathbf{q}|$ is not too large, we can expand the exponential in (8.3), giving
$$
\begin{aligned}
F(\mathbf{q}) & =\int\left(1+i \mathbf{q} \cdot \mathbf{x}-\frac{(\mathbf{q} \cdot \mathbf{x})^2}{2}+\cdots\right) \rho(\mathbf{x}) d^3 x \\
& =1-\frac{1}{6}|\mathbf{q}|^2\left\langle r^2\right\rangle+\cdots,
\end{aligned}
$$
where we have assumed that $\rho$ is spherically symmetric, that is, a function of $r \equiv|\mathbf{x}|$ alone. The small-angle scattering therefore just measures the mean square radius $\left\langle r^2\right\rangle$ of the charge cloud. This is because in the small $|\mathbf{q}|$ limit the photon in Fig. 8.1 is soft and with its large wavelength can resolve only the size of the charge distribution $\rho(r)$ and is not sensitive to its detailed structure.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
09:41

Problem 4

If the charge distribution $\rho(r)$ has an exponential form, $e^{-m r}$, show, using (8.3), that the form factor
$$
F(|\mathbf{q}|) \propto\left(1-\frac{q^2}{m^2}\right)^{-2}
$$
with $q^2=-|\mathbf{q}|^2$.

Rajesh Kumar
Rajesh Kumar
Numerade Educator
02:35

Problem 5

Show that current conservation, $\partial_\mu J^\mu=0$, rules out $\left(p-p^{\prime}\right)^\mu$ as a possible four-vector. Why do we not show a term involving $\left(p+p^{\prime}\right)^\mu$ in $(8.13)$ ?

Frank Lin
Frank Lin
Numerade Educator
01:33

Problem 6

Show that $p \cdot q$ is not an independent scalar variable by expressing it in terms of the variable $q^2$.

Adriano Chikande
Adriano Chikande
Numerade Educator
02:41

Problem 7

Show that the proton transition current, $J^\mu(x)$ of $(8.12)$, can be rewritten in the form
$$
J^\mu(0)=e \bar{u}\left(p^{\prime}\right)\left[\gamma^\mu\left(F_1+\kappa F_2\right)-\frac{\left(p^\mu+p^{\prime \mu}\right)}{2 M} \kappa F_2\right] u(p) .
$$

Evaluate $J^\mu(0) \equiv(\rho, \mathbf{J})$ in the Breit frame $\left(\mathbf{p}^{\prime}=-\mathbf{p}\right)$. There is no energy transferred to the proton in this frame, and it behaves as if it had bounced off a brick wall, see Fig. 8.3. If the $z$ axis is chosen along $\mathbf{p}$ and helicity spinors are used, show that
$$
\begin{aligned}
\rho & =2 \operatorname{Me} G_E\left(q^2\right) & & \text { for } \lambda=-\lambda^{\prime}, \\
J_1 \pm i J_2 & =\mp 2|\mathbf{q}| e G_M\left(q^2\right) & & \text { for } \lambda=\lambda^{\prime}=\mp \frac{1}{2},
\end{aligned}
$$
and that all other matrix elements are zero; $\lambda$ and $\lambda^{\prime}$ denote the initial and final proton helicities, respectively. Determine the corresponding values of the helicity of the virtual photon.

Breanna Ollech
Breanna Ollech
Numerade Educator
01:42

Problem 8

Show that for $|\mathbf{q}|^2 \ll M^2$, the form factors $G_E$ and $G_M$ are the Fourier transforms of the proton's charge and magnetic moment distributions, respectively.

Ajay Singhal
Ajay Singhal
Numerade Educator
07:28

Problem 9

Show that indeed $L_{\mu \nu}^e=L_{\nu \mu}^e$ and that
$$
q^\mu L_{\mu \nu}^e=q^\nu L_{\mu \nu}^e=0 .
$$

Aidan Mcnabb
Aidan Mcnabb
Numerade Educator

Problem 10

Show that current conservation at the hadronic vertex requires
$$
q_\mu W^{\mu v}=q_\nu W^{\mu v}=0 .
$$

The proof may be left until after (8.39); it follows from $\partial_\mu \tilde{J}^\mu=0$. As a result of $(8.26)$, verify that
$$
\begin{aligned}
& W_5=-\frac{p \cdot q}{q^2} W_2, \\
& W_4=\left(\frac{p \cdot q}{q^2}\right)^2 W_2+\frac{M^2}{q^2} W_1 .
\end{aligned}
$$

Thus, only two of the four inelastic structure functions of (8.24) are independent; so we may write
$$
W^{\mu \nu}=W_1\left(-g^{\mu \nu}+\frac{q^\mu q^\nu}{q^2}\right)+W_2 \frac{1}{M^2}\left(p^\mu-\frac{p \cdot q}{q^2} q^\mu\right)\left(p^\nu-\frac{p \cdot q}{q^2} q^\nu\right),
$$
where the $W_i$ 's are functions of the Lorentz scalar variables that can be constructed from the four-momenta at the hadronic vertex. Unlike elastic scattering, there are two independent variables, and we choose
$$
q^2 \quad \text { and } \quad \nu \equiv \frac{p \cdot q}{M} .
$$

The invariant mass $W$ of the final hadronic system is related to $\nu$ and $q^2$ by
$$
W^2=(p+q)^2=M^2+2 M \nu+q^2 .
$$

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02:28

Problem 11

It is common to replace $\nu$ and $q^2$ by the dimensionless variables
$$
x=\frac{-q^2}{2 p \cdot q}=\frac{-q^2}{2 M \nu}, \quad y=\frac{p \cdot q}{p \cdot k},
$$
where the four-momenta are shown on Fig. 8.5. Show that the allowed kinematic region for ep $\rightarrow \mathrm{eX}$ is $0 \leq x \leq 1$ and $0 \leq y \leq 1$. Sketch this physical region in the $\nu, q^2$ plane and check your answer with Fig. 9.3.

Amit Srivastava
Amit Srivastava
Numerade Educator

Problem 12

Show that in the rest frame of the target proton,
$$
\nu=E-E^{\prime}, \quad y=\frac{E-E^{\prime}}{E},
$$
where $E$ and $E^{\prime}$ are the initial and final electron energies, respectively.
Evaluation of the cross section for ep $\rightarrow \mathrm{eX}$ is a straightforward repetition of the same calculation for $\mathrm{e}^{-} \mu^{-} \rightarrow \mathrm{e}^{-} \mu^{-}$(or ep $\rightarrow$ ep) scattering with the substitution of $W_{\mu \nu}$, given by (8.27), for $L_{\mu v}^{\text {muon }}$ (or $L_{\mu v}^p$ ). Using the expression (6.25) for $\left(L^e\right)^{\mu,}$ and noting $(8.25)$, we find
$$
\left(L^e\right)^{\mu \nu} W_{\mu \nu}=4 W_1\left(k \cdot k^{\prime}\right)+\frac{2 W_2}{M^2}\left[2(p \cdot k)\left(p \cdot k^{\prime}\right)-M^2 k \cdot k^{\prime}\right] .
$$

In the laboratory frame, this becomes
$$
\left(L^e\right)^{\mu \nu} W_{\mu \nu}=4 E E^{\prime}\left\{\cos ^2 \frac{\theta}{2} W_2\left(\nu, q^2\right)+\sin ^2 \frac{\theta}{2} 2 W_1\left(\nu, q^2\right)\right\},
$$
see (6.44). By including the flux factor, (4.32), and the phase space factor for the outgoing electron, (4.24), we can obtain the inclusive differential cross section for inelastic electron-proton scattering, ep $\rightarrow \mathrm{eX}$,
$$
d \sigma=\frac{1}{4\left((k \cdot p)^2-m^2 M^2\right)^{1 / 2}}\left\{\frac{e^4}{q^4}\left(L^e\right)^{\mu \nu} W_{\mu \nu} 4 \pi M\right\} \frac{d^3 k^{\prime}}{2 E^{\prime}(2 \pi)^3},
$$
where $\overline{|\mathscr{R}|^2}$ is given by the expression in the braces [recall (6.18)]. The extra factor of $4 \pi M$ arises because we have adopted the standard convention for the normalization of $W^{\mu v}$. Inserting (8.32) in (8.33) yields
$$
\left.\frac{d \sigma}{d E^{\prime} d \Omega}\right|_{\text {lab }}=\frac{\alpha^2}{4 E^2 \sin ^4 \frac{\theta}{2}}\left\{W_2\left(\nu, q^2\right) \cos ^2 \frac{\theta}{2}+2 W_1\left(\nu, q^2\right) \sin ^2 \frac{\theta}{2}\right\}
$$
where, as usual, we neglect the mass of the electron.

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09:26

Problem 13

The above results assume (lowest-order) single photon exchange is dominant. If two-photon exchange were significant, convince yourself that the $\mathrm{e}^{-} \mathrm{p}$ and $\mathrm{e}^{+} \mathrm{p}$ cross sections would not be equal.

Devi Dutta Biswajeet
Devi Dutta Biswajeet
Numerade Educator

Problem 14

Verify that $q \cdot \varepsilon=0$ for each $\lambda$, and show that, for a spacelike photon $\left(q^2<0\right)$,
$$
\Sigma(-1)^{\lambda+1} \varepsilon^{* *} \varepsilon^r=-g^{\mu r}+\frac{q^\mu q}{q^2},
$$
where the sum runs over the three polarization states of (8.49) and (8.50). For $q^2>0$ the factor $(-1)^{\lambda+1}$ is omitted and the sum (8.51) with $q^2$ replaced by $M^2$ is identical to that over the spin states of a massive vector particle, see Section 6.12.

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01:09

Problem 15

Verify eqs. (8.53) and (8.54). The calculation can be greatly simplified by writing the tensor decomposition for $W_{\mu p},(8.27)$, in the laboratory frame, where
$$
\begin{aligned}
& p=(M ; 0,0,0), \\
& q=\left(\nu ; 0,0, \sqrt{\nu^2-q^2}\right) .
\end{aligned}
$$

Raj Bala
Raj Bala
Numerade Educator

Problem 16

Express the ep $\rightarrow$ eX differential cross section (8.34) in terms of $\sigma_{T, L}$. That is, show that
$$
\left.\frac{d \sigma}{d E^{\prime} d \Omega}\right|_{\mathrm{lab}}=\Gamma\left(\sigma_T+\varepsilon \sigma_L\right),
$$
where
$$
\begin{aligned}
\Gamma & =\frac{\alpha K}{2 \pi^2\left|q^2\right|} \frac{E^{\prime}}{E} \frac{1}{1-\varepsilon}, \\
\varepsilon & =\left(1-2 \frac{\nu^2-q^2}{q^2} \tan ^2 \frac{\theta}{2}\right)^{-1} .
\end{aligned}
$$

EXERCISE 8.17 The formalism has been set up in such a way that, when $q^2 \rightarrow 0$,
$$
\begin{aligned}
& \sigma_T \rightarrow \sigma^{\text {tot }}(\gamma \mathrm{p}) \\
& \sigma_L \rightarrow 0,
\end{aligned}
$$
where $\gamma$ is a real photon and $\sigma^{\text {tot }}(\gamma \mathrm{p})$ is given by $(8.45)$.
Despite its appearance, convince yourself that $W_{\mu \nu}$ must not be singular at $q^2=0$. Hence, show that
$$
W_2 \rightarrow 0 \quad \text { and } \quad\left(W_1+\frac{\nu^2}{q^2} W_2\right) \rightarrow 0
$$
as $q^2 \rightarrow 0$, and so establish that $\sigma_L$ vanishes.

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