How to Identify Events Containing a Particle-Antiparticle Pair (Z⁰ decays)

Perhaps the simplest types of events to identify are those in which the electron and positron annihilate to produce a Z⁰ that then decays to produce a particle-antiparticle pair. The particle and antiparticle then fly off back to back and are observed in the detector. We represent the production of, for example, a muon-antimuon pair in Z⁰ decay by means of the following diagram:

Here are some events containing the different types of particle-antiparticle pairs, with hints on how to identify them:

• example events
• example events
• example events
• example events

Once you've understood the way we identify the different types of events, then please:
click here to proceed to the next part of the programme, which is "Challenge Part 2".

Back to Home Page with table of contents.