We are doing a profile paper on CERN’s particle accelerator. For that we first need to know something about the elementary particles and the fundamental forces. This also includes the weak nuclear force and one of the bosons that goes with it is the Z boson. We know how the W boson works in beta decay, but the Z boson is not explained anywhere. So the question is whether one of the scientists can help us.
Thanks in advance!
Answer
Z bosons have all taste quantum numbers and charges equal to zero. Because of the conservation laws associated with these quantum numbers, a Z particle that interacts with another elementary particle cannot modify these quantum numbers of that particle. However, it can change the momentum and energy of that particle.
In addition, a Z boson can decay into a fermion + the corresponding antiparticle. In this decay, the conservation laws remain satisfied. After all, in the Z boson all taste quantum numbers are zero, and in the two end products of the decay they are opposite (particle + antiparticle). Decay of a Z bosons in a top quark and its antiparticle is not possible because the total mass/energy of these decay products is higher than that of the Z boson.
In particular, a Z boson can decay into a neutrino-antineutrino pair. Only the three known types of neutrinos are produced (the electron-neutrino, the mu-neutrino and the tau-neutrino). This is an important clue to the idea that there are also no more than three types of neutrinos. See for example about this:
http://icecube.wisc.edu/info/neutrinos/1989.php
Answered by
prof.dr. Paul Hellings
Department of Mathematics, Fac. IIW, KU Leuven
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
.