2 years, 2 months ago
Why can a bound proton break down into muon and a neutrino? Why do regular protons break down?
Separate topics with commas, or by pressing return. Use the delete or backspace key to edit or remove existing topics.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$1 Answer
Protons, bound or not, are not known to decay or break down. In fact the proton lifetime has been measured to be longer than 16,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. The age of the universe, for comparison, is about 14,000,000,000 years.
source(s):
PDG booklet (1998 version)
PDG booklet (1998 version)
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You'd have to quote verbatim what he said. I suspect you may have misunderstood. Proton decay experiments I read about have proven the lifetime of a proton is as I pointed out above, much longer than the life of the universe.
Lederman claims that a bound proton can decay into a muon and neutrino because of the conservation of energy. Ledger does state that nonbound protons will never decay. Will you explain how the conservation of energy allows a bound proton to decay? Did I misunderstand decay in terms of neutrons?