Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

Chapter  17:  Introduction  to  Elementary  Particles  

The strong force is responsible for the stability of nuclei. Since it can be studied by measuring
the forces between nucleons, it is also frequently called the nucleon force. The strong force has
the following features:
• The strong force is the strongest force we know off. The strong force is 100 times
stronger than the Coulomb force; it is 1040 times stronger than the gravitational force.
• The strong force is attractive. The strong force keeps nucleon together and overcomes
the repulsive forces between the protons in a nucleus.
• The strong force has a short range. It is not important beyond distances of 2 fm. It does
not influence the interaction between nucleons at large distances.
• The strong force is independent of electric charges. The strong force between protons –
protons, protons – neutrons, and neutrons – neutrons is the same. Light nuclei have equal
numbers of protons and neutrons: N = Z.
• The strong force saturates. The measured binding energy per nucleon is independent of
the number of nucleons, indicating that nucleons only interact with a limited number of
other nucleons. This is consistent with the short-range nature of the strong force.
The lightest nucleus in which the strong force plays a role is the deuteron. The deuteron has the
following properties:
• The deuteron has one proton and one neutron. Since the neutron has no charge, the
Coulomb force does not play a role.
• The deuteron is weakly bound. The ground state is
located at -2.2 MeV, and no bound excited states are
known. This information can be used to estimate the
shape of the potential well associated with the strong
force. If we assume that the potential associated with
the strong force is a square-well potential with a
radius consistent with the size of the deuteron, we can
adjust the depth of the well until we have only one
eigenstate with an energy of -2.2 MeV. The required depth of the potential is -40 MeV.
Note: this depth is small compared to the rest energy of the proton which is 930 MeV.
• The deuteron has even parity. This implies that the orbital angular momentum of the
wavefunction of the deuteron must be even.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

• The deuteron has a nuclear spin equal to 1. This

implies that the total angular momentum of the
deuteron must be 1 (j = 1). The spin of each
nucleon is ½ and the total spin of the two
nucleons can thus be 0 or 1. If s = 0, the orbital
angular momentum must be 1 but this is not allowed due to the parity of the deuteron.
We thus conclude that the total spin must be 1 (spin triplet). This implies that the orbital
angular momentum must be 0 or 2. The two possible states of the deuteron are thus the
3
S1 state and the 3D1 state. The ground state of the deuteron is dominated by the 3S1.
However, it can not be a pure states since any eigenfunction with an orbital angular
momentum equal to 0 has spherical symmetry: the observed asymmetry of the charge
distribution can be introduced by adding a small 3D1 component to the ground-state
wavefunction.
The deuteron is not observed to have a 1S0 state. This indicates that the nucleon potential
must have a spin dependence. The potential must be weaker if the spins of the nucleon
pair are anti parallel (s = 0) instead of parallel (s = 1). This explains why we do not see
bound states of two protons and bound states of two neutrons. Since the Pauli exclusion
principle applies when we consider a proton pair and a neutron pair, the nucleons must be
in a state in which the spins are anti-parallel (s = 0) but this state is not bound.
• The deuteron has a small
electric quadrupole moment q
= 2.7 × 10-31 m2. This requires a
non-spherical charge
distribution. In the diagram on
the right, the relation between
the sign of the electric quadrupole moment and the shape of the charge distribution is
illustrated. The electric quadrupole moment is defined as

( ( ))
q = ∫ ρ ( x, y, z ) 3z 2 − x 2 + y 2 + z 2 dτ

The measured quadrupole moment of the deuteron is can be explained if we assume that
the ground state of the deuteron is a mixture of 96% of the 3S1 state and 4% of the 3D1
state. The fact that the ground state of the deuteron is not a pure 3S1 state requires that the
nucleon potential does not have spherical symmetry.
• The deuteron has magnetic dipole moment of +0.857 µn. The magnetic dipole moment is
thus not equal to the sum of the dipole moments of the proton and the neutron.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

• The deuteron has a charge distribution with a radius of 2.1 fm.

The details of the nucleon force have been explored with

nucleon scattering experiments. In scattering
experiments, the change in the linear momentum of the
projectile is measured and used to determine the effect of the force involved in the scattering
process. The following relation is expected between the change in the linear momentum of the
projectile and the properties of the force:

⎛ Δr ⎞
F⎜ ⎟
Δp FΔt ⎝ v ⎠ FΔr FΔr V0
= = = = =
p p mv mv 2 2K 2K

where Δr is the range over which the force F acts. The last step in this equation uses the
relation between potential and force: F = -dU/dx.
In a typical scattering experiment the kinetic energy of
the projectile may be 90 MeV. If the interaction
potential has a depth of 40 MeV (which is consistent
with the binding energy of the deuteron), the
fractional change in the linear momentum of the
projectile is expected to be about 25%.
The yield of neutrons scattered from protons as
function of scattering angle is shown in the Figure on
the right. A small deflection angle requires a small
impulse and, assuming a constant force, a small
distance over which the force is acting. A small
deflection angle is thus correlated to a small
momentum transfer. The surprising observation made in the scattering experiments was the
increase in yield at large angles and the symmetry of the scattering distribution around 90°.
Large scattering angles require a large impulse and are correlated with large momenta transfer; it
was not expected that this process occurs with the same probability as scattering at forward
angles.
This surprising result was explained in terms of an exchange force, which changes a proton into
a neutron and vice versa. This process is schematically indicated in the Figure on the next page.
The presence of this process requires an operator, called the exchange operator that is usually
written as P. The scattering potential describing this process can be written as

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

1
Vscatter 
2
(V ( r ) + V ( r ) P )

The scattering cross section is proportional to

ψ ∗f Vscatterψ i . The product of the scattering
potential and the initial wavefunction can be
written as

1
Vscatterψ i =
2
(V ( r ) + V ( r ) P )ψ i =
1 1
= V ( r )ψ i + V ( r ) Pψ i
2 2

The exchange operator changes the proton into a neutron and vice versa. As a consequence, the
effect of the exchange operator for a two-nucleon system with one proton and one neutron

Pψ i = ( −1) ψ i

⇒ Vscatter =
1
2
(
1
2
(
V ( r ) + V ( r ) P ) = V ( r ) 1 + ( −1)

)
This potential is also called the Serber potential. We note that when the orbital angular
momentum is odd, the scattering potential is 0; when the orbital angular momentum is even, the
scattering potential is V. The nucleon potential thus depends on the orbital angular momentum
of the interacting nucleons.
We can use a classical picture to connect a certain kinetic energy K to a certain orbital angular
momentum. Consider a state with an orbital angular momentum  . If we look at this system in
the center-of-mass reference frame of the two nucleons, we must require that each nucleon has a
linear momentum p obtained in the following manner:

⎛ r⎞ ⎛ r⎞  (  + 1)
L =  (  + 1) ≈ p ⎜ ⎟ + p ⎜ ⎟ = pr ⇒ p=
⎝ 2⎠ ⎝ 2⎠ r

where r is the largest distance at which the strong force acts. The kinetic energy of the two
nucleons is thus be equal to

pn2  (  + 1)  2
K p + Kn = 2 =
2mn mn r 2

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

If the orbital angular momentum parameter is equal to 1, the total kinetic energy is 20 MeV. If
 = 2 , the total kinetic energy is 60 MeV, etc. If the kinetic energy is less than 20 MeV, the
distance r must increase in order to achieve  = 1 but an increase in r creates a separation
between the nucleons that is larger than the range of the strong force and as a result, the  = 1
scattering process is not influenced by the strong force. Consider the following examples:

• K = 40 MeV. The scattering process will only be influenced by  = 0 and  = 1

scattering. But, for  = 1 V(r) = 0 and the scattering process only involves  = 0
contributions. The wavefunctions associated with  = 0 have spherical symmetry and
the scattering process is thus isotropic.

• K = 330 MeV. At this energy, the maximum

orbital angular momentum parameter that can
contribute is  = 3 . Since for odd values of 
the scattering potential is 0, we only need to
consider even values of  . The scattering
process is thus determined by the scattering
associated with  = 0 and  = 2 . Since the
scattering for  = 2 is not isotropic, we do not
expect an isotropic scattering distribution.
However, the observed angular distribution, as
shown in the Figure on the right, is isotropic at
angles larger than 10°. This can only be explained
by destructive interference between  = 0 and  = 2 .
Destructive interference requires a repulsive core in
the nucleon potential. The modified nucleon
potential can be represented by the diagram shown in
the Figure on the right. The repulsive core impacts
the  = 0 wavefunction and has little impact on the
 = 2 wavefunction. The repulsive core is also
responsible for the saturation of the nuclear force.
Without the repulsive core, all nucleons would be in a sphere of about 2 fm and the
binding energy would be proportional to A. With the repulsive core, the nucleons in the
nucleus are separated by on average 1.2 fm and each nucleon only interacts with its
closest neighbors.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

Other information obtained for the nucleon force between a nucleon pair shows that it depends
on the total spin of the two nucleons, on their orbital angular momentum, and on the total angular
momentum of the nucleons. The dependence on the total angular momentum implies that the
nucleon force contains a spin-orbit term. The net spin-orbit interaction for the inner nucleons in
a nucleus is 0; the spin-orbit interaction is non-zero for edge nucleons.

Based on the information discussed so far, we come to the following conclusions about the
nucleon potential:
• The nucleon potential is charge independent.
• The Pauli exclusion principle prohibits certain interactions. For example, the
wavefunction describing the S1 state of a two nucleon system has  = 0 , j = 1, and s = 1
3

and is symmetric. The np system does not need to satisfy the Pauli exclusion principle
and the wavefunction describing this system can thus be symmetric. However, the
wavefunction for the 2n and 2p systems must be asymmetric and these systems can thus
not be described by a 3S1 wavefunction. Other states that cannot occur for a 2n or a 2p
system are for example:
• 1P1:  = 1 , j = 1, s = 0 and has a symmetric wavefunction.
• 3D1,2,3:  = 2 , j = (1,2,3), s = 1 and has a symmetric wavefunction.
• The nucleon potential will be close to 0 when  is odd. For even  the nucleon potential
will be non-zero.
• For a nucleon-nucleon pair in a singlet state, there is no bound state. For the triplet state
there is one bound state. This state can only be occupied by a neutron and a proton (and
not 2 protons or 2 neutrons).

Since the nucleon force is independent of the charge, we do not

expect to see any difference between nn, np, and pp interactions
except as a result of constraints imposed by the Pauli exclusion
principle. In order to reflect the charge independence, we introduce
the concept of isospin T. Isospin has properties that are similar to
the properties of spin. In nuclei, isospin can be used to group related energy levels in systems
with the same number of nucleons (isobars). Examples of the grouping of states are shown in
the energy level diagram for the two-nucleon system. The ground state of the deuteron has an
isospin T = 0; the s = 0 states in the two-nucleon system have T = 1. There are (2T + 1) states
with the same isospin, and there are thus 3 T = 1 states.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

In the 14 nucleon system we can observe states with T = 0, T

= 1, and T = 2, as can be seen in the Figure on the right.
Neutrons and protons are considered to be identical particles
with an isospin of ½: protons and neutrons differ by their Tz
values:

⎧ 1
⎪ Tz = for protons
Z−N ⎪ 2
Tz = : ⎨
2 ⎪ T =−1 for neutrons
⎪⎩ z 2

Since a proton and a neutron differ on the basis of their Tz value, they are distinguishable. The
total wavefunction of a two-nucleon system is thus the product of a spatial wavefunction, a spin
wavefunction, and an isospin wavefunction:

ψ = ψ ψ sψ T

Since nucleons are spin ½ particles, the total wavefunction must be asymmetric. The four energy
levels of the two-nucleon system shown in the Figure on the previous page all have  = 0 . The
spatial wavefunction is thus symmetric. Since the two nucleons are fermion, the total
wavefunction has to be asymmetric, and the product of the spin and the isospin wavefunction
must thus be asymmetric. Since the singlet spin state is asymmetric, the isospin wavefunction
must be symmetric and singlet spin wavefunctions must be associated with asymmetric isospin
wavefunctions (s = 0, T = 1). For the same reason, triplet spin wavefunctions must be associated
with single isospin wavefunctions (s = 1, T = 0)
Although, as a result of the nuclear force, the energy of states with the same isospin should be
the same, their energies may differ due to the Coulomb potential, which is charge dependent.
For example, for the two-nucleon system the T = 1 states for 0n2 and 1H2 have the same energy
since one or both nucleons are neutral and the Coulomb potential of the system is thus equal to 0.
The T = 1 state in 2He2 is located at a slightly higher energy than the T = 1 states for 0n2 and 1H2
due to the Coulomb repulsion between the two protons. This confirms that the nucleon force
does not depend on Tz. In the 14-nucleon system we also see that the energy of the T = 2 states
increase with increasing Z since increasing Z is associated with an increase in the Coulomb
repulsion between the protons.
Experimental evidence shows that isospin is conserved. For example, consider the following
reaction:

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

1
H 2 + 8 O16 → 7 N14 + 2 He 4

The ground states of H and O have T = 0. Since He has a high-lying first excited state, if this
reaction occurs at low initial energies, He will be in the ground state, which has T = 0. The
ground state of N has T = 0; the first excited state of N has T = 1. Experiments show that the N
produced in this reaction is in the ground state; the first excited state of N is not populated in this
reaction.
Conservation of electric charge implies also that Tz is conserved.

Models developed to describe the nucleon or strong force interpreted the force as being the result
of the exchange of a force carrier. The meson theory was developed by Yukawa to describe the
strong force in terms of pion exchange. The model featured the following key elements:
• A nucleon creates a virtual pion.
• The pion is assumed to have a mass, and as a result, the creation of the pion is
accompanied by the change in the energy of the system. This change in energy is equal
to

ΔE = mπ c 2

• The Heisenberg uncertainty principle will allow this change of energy, as long as the time
period during which the virtual pion exists is short enough such that

  
ΔEΔt = ⇒ Δt = =
2 2ΔE 2mπ c 2

• The pion is assumed to travel with the speed of light and returns to the nucleon within a
time period Δt.
• When two nucleons are close, it is possible that the virtual pion is not absorbed by the
nucleon that emitted it, but by the other nucleon. When this happens, we say that the
nucleons feel the strong force. This requires that the nucleons are close enough so that
their virtual pion clouds overlap. This is schematically shown in the diagram on the next
page.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

• The maximum distance that the pion travels away from the nucleon is equal to

1 
Range = ( cΔt ) =
2 4mπ c

• The range of the nucleon force is about 2 fm, and the corresponding mass of the pion
must be

mπ c =
2 c
=
( )(
0.6582 × 10 −15 2.998 × 10 8 )
= 25 MeV
4Range (
4 2 × 10 −15 )
Note: different approximations may or may not include the factor of 4 in this equation,
and estimates of the mass of the pion thus range from 25 MeV to 100 MeV.
• When the mass of the force carrier decreases, the range of the force increases. The
electromagnetic force is due to the exchange of photons. Since a photon has no mass, the
range of the electromagnetic force is infinite.

The particle predicted by Yukawa was found in 1947. The pion comes in three forms: two pions
are charged (+e and -e) and one pion is neutral. The rest energies of these pions are:

mπ + c 2 = mπ − c 2 = 140 MeV
mπ 0 c 2 = 135 MeV

Since the pions can be charged, they can be involved in the change of a proton into a neutron and
vice versa. For example:

n → p +π− p +π− → n
p → n +π+ n +π+ → p

When neutral pions are exchanged, no exchange of identity occurs:

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

n → n +π0 p → p +π0

The meson theory helps us explain the magnetic dipole

moment of the neutron. Although the net charge of the
neutron is 0, the charge density of the neutron is non-zero, as
shown in the Figure on the right, and thus produces a non-
zero magnetic dipole moment.

The following other properties of pions are relevant for our understanding for nucleon
interactions:
• Pions are bosons and the spin of the pion is 0. This conclusion is based on studies of
pion creation in the following type of reactions:

p + p → π+ +
 d
2 fermions 2 fermions

Since for an isolated system the number of fermions is constant, we must conclude that a
pion is not a fermion. It thus must be a boson. This was indeed confirmed in
experiments aimed at measuring the spin of the pion.
• Pions have odd parity. This conclusion is obtained from the study of pion capture on
deuterons. Consider the following capture reaction:

π− + d → +n
n
If s = 0,  = 1.

spin 0

spin 1
If s = 1,  = 0, 1, 2.
Captured in an  = 0
state. The total angular
momentum is thus j = 1.

The wavefunction of the two neutrons must be asymmetric. If the two neutrons are in the
spin triplet state, the orbital angular momentum cannot be 0 or 2 since the total
wavefunction would be symmetric. The orbital angular momentum of the two neutrons
must thus be 1. The parity of the final state is determined by orbital angular momentum
and is equal to (-1)1 = -1; the parity of the neutron does not matter since the product of
their parities is always +1. The parity of the initial state must also be -1. The following
information is available on the parity of the initial state:
• The ground state of the deuteron is a mixture of  = 0 and  = 2 wavefunctions.
The parity of the ground state is thus (-1)even = +1.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

• The orbital angular momentum of the pion is  = 0 . The parity associated with
the orbital motion of the pion is thus (-1)0 = +1.
• The parity of the pion is unknown.
• The parity of the initial state is thus equal to the parity of the pion.
Since the parity of the initial state must be odd, we conclude that the parity of the pion
must be odd.
This method can be used to determine the parity of bosons, but is cannot be used to
determine the parity of fermions. As a result, we have to use a convention to define the
parity of nucleons. Our convention will be to assign a positive parity to nucleons.
• The three pions can be considered to be three manifestations of the same T = 1 particle:

Tz = −1 : π −
Tz = 0 : π0
Tz = 1 : π+

• The electric charge is related to Tz:

1
Nucleons: Q = Tz +
2
Pions: Q = Tz

The general rule obtained from these observations is that

B
Q = Tz +
2

where B is the baryon number. The baryon number of a nucleon is 1; the baryon number
of a pion is 0. Note that baryon number is conserved.
• When we compare the properties of particles and anti particles we see that:
o The baryon number changes signs. The baryon number of a proton is +1; the
baryon number of an anti-proton is -1.
o Tz for an anti-particle is the opposite of Tz of the corresponding particle.
Applying this to the pions we conclude that:
o The anti-particle of the π + is the π -.
o The anti-particle of the π - is the π +.
o The π 0 is its own anti-particle.

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

• Charged pions have a long lifetime. This implies that the decay involves a force that is
weaker than the nuclear and the electromagnetic force.
Note: the following lifetimes are associated with the following three forces:
o 10-23 s: this time is characteristic for the strong force. The range of the strong
force is 2 fm. Assuming that the force carrier moves with the speed of light we
can the time required to cover this distance is 2 × 10 −15 / 3 × 10 8 = 0.7 × 10 −23 s .
o 10-16 s: typical timescale associated with the electromagnetic force.
o > 10-8 s: typical timescale associated with the weak force. The lifetime of the pion
is 2.6 × 10 −8 s .

The use of particle accelerators has allowed us to create many unstable particles. The particles
we have studies can be grouped into three particle families:
o Baryons: the best-known examples of baryons are the proton and the neutron. Baryons
have a quark structure (three quarks).
o Mesons: the best-known example of a meson is the pion. Mesons also have a quark
structure (two quarks).
o Leptons: the best-known example of a lepton is the electron (rest energy is 0.511 MeV).
The next heaviest lepton is the muon (rest energy is 106 MeV). The heaviest lepton is the
tau (rest energy is 1784 MeV). Each of these particles has a neutrino associated with it
and its anti particles. Lepton number is a conserved quantity:

∑ L = constant
e

∑ Lµ = constant
∑ Lτ = constant

For the electron-like particles, the lepton numbers are defined as follows:

e− : Le = +1, Lµ = 0, Lτ = 0
e+ : Le = −1, Lµ = 0, Lτ = 0
ν e : Le = +1, Lµ = 0, Lτ = 0
ν e : Le = −1, Lµ = 0, Lτ = 0

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

The study of interactions between particles shows that other

quantum numbers must be introduced in order to account for
the observations. One of these quantum number is
strangeness. Consider the following reaction that is observed
in cosmic-ray events and shown in the Figure on the right:

π− + p →
 V0 →
 π− + p
Strong interaction. Weak interaction.
Large probability. Long lifetime.

The observations are weird. Time reversal symmetry would

suggest that both reaction rates should be the same. The
problem was solved by assuming that two particles are produced in the first step while one of
them decays to produce the decay products seen in the second step.

π− + p →
 Λ0 + K 0
Strong Interaction

Λ0 →
 π− + p
Weak Interaction

The intermediate particles carry a property called strangeness. We make the following
assignment:

Λ 0 has strangess S = -1
K 0 has strangess S = +1

The total strangeness of the intermediate system is 0. The pion and proton do not carry
strangeness and the total strangeness of the initial channel is thus also 0. Strangeness is
conserved in the strong interaction.
If we look at the decay reaction that produces the pion and proton we see that strangeness is not
conserved. We conclude that strangeness is no conserved in weak interactions.

Consider the following properties of some strange particles:

• The Λ 0 has a mass of 1116 MeV, very similar to the mass of the nucleon. There are no
other particles in this mass range, and it thus must be a T = 0 particle and Tz = 0. It is a
fermion and has spin ½. Its parity is even.
• The K comes in three forms: two kaons have charge (+e and –e) and one kaon is neutral.
The mass of the charged kaons is 494 MeV and the mass of the neutral kaon is 498 MeV.
The isospin properties of the kaon can be studied by considering the following reaction:

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Physics 237 Notes Chapter 17

π− + p → Λ
+ K
0

0

T=1 T=1/2 T=0 T=1/2 or 3/2

If T = 3/2, there would be four values of Tz and four possible charge states. Based on the known
properties of the kaons, we can rule out this possibility. We thus conclude that the kaon must be
a T = ½ particle. To determine the value of Tz of the kaon, we look at conservation of Tz:

π− + p → Λ
+ K
0

0

T =-1
z T =0
Tz =1/2 T =-1/2
z z

The neutral kaon has Tz = -½. The kaon with Tz = +½ is the kaon with a positive charge (K+).
The negative kaon has to be the anti-particle of the positive kaon.
Based on the observations, we have to modify the relation between charge and isospin in the
following way:

B+S
Q = Tz +
2

where S is the strangeness of the particle.

The properties of many other particles are shown in the table at the bottom of this page.

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