Paper 4, Section II, A
(a) Writing a mass dimension as , a time dimension as , a length dimension as and a charge dimension as , write, using relations that you know, the dimensions of:
(i) force
(ii) electric field
(b) In the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, a proton of rest mass and charge is accelerated by a constant electric field . At time , the particle is at rest at the origin.
Writing the proton's position as and including relativistic effects, calculate . Use your answers to part (a) to check that the dimensions in your expression are correct.
Sketch a graph of versus , commenting on the limit.
Calculate as an explicit function of and find the non-relativistic limit at small times . What kind of motion is this?
(c) At a later time , an observer in the laboratory frame sees a cosmic microwave photon of energy hit the accelerated proton, leaving only a particle of mass in the final state. In its rest frame, the takes a time to decay. How long does it take to decay in the laboratory frame as a function of and , the speed of light in a vacuum?