The solution at revision #18560 of , by jzmicer. This is not the current version.

Statement

14.5.21. In what range of energies do the kinetic energies of the electron and neutrino lie when a -meson decays:

Solution

Neutrinos are considered massless particles, so their kinetic energy equals their total energy.
It is easy to show that the decay is possible with zero kinetic energies of the electron or neutrino (for example, when the other two particles fly apart in opposite directions with equal momenta). Let us find the maximum possible energy.

In the muon rest frame, the total momentum is zero. The electron energy is maximized when the electron acquires the maximum momentum, i.e., when both neutrinos fly in the same direction opposite to the electron. The momenta are collinear, so let , .
Conservation laws:

Invariant for the electron:

Substituting (2) into (1):


Now similarly, let a neutrino fly in one direction, and the electron and antineutrino in the opposite direction.

Conservation laws and invariant:



Rewrite (9) in notation , , , :

Expanding the brackets, for example using the difference of squares, we obtain

Examine monotonicity:

Thus the function strictly decreases as increases. Therefore, the maximum value of is achieved at the smallest possible . The smallest possible is zero (energy cannot be negative). Substituting :

It appears the author has a typo in the answer.

Answer