English

Mass and width of an unstable particle

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2024-02-09 v5 High Energy Physics - Experiment

Abstract

We show that the mass and width of an unstable particle are precisely defined by the pole in the complex energy plane, μ=m(i/2)Γ\mu = m - (i/2)\Gamma, by identifying the width, Γ\Gamma, with the particle's decay rate and the mass, mm, with the oscillatory frequency. We find that the physical ZZ boson mass lies 26 MeV below its quoted value, while the physical WW boson mass lies 20 MeV below. We also clarify the various Breit-Wigner formulae that are used to describe a resonance.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2203.11056,
  title  = {Mass and width of an unstable particle},
  author = {Scott Willenbrock},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.11056},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

11 pages, 7 figures. Minor improvements, references added. Discussion and appendices added