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Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Van Lint, V. A. J.
URN	etd-02032004-140201
Persistent URL	http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-02032004-140201
Title	Observations of neutral V-particle decays with the 48" Magnet Cloud Chambers
Degree	PhD
Option	Physics
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title C. D. Anderson Committee Chair
Keywords	none
Date of Defense	1954-01-01
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract NOTE: Text or symbols not renderable in plain ASCII are indicated by [...]. Abstract is included in .pdf document. This thesis is the first to result from operation of the 48" magnet cloud chambers at the California Institute of Technology. The apparatus is not described here in any detail. The techniques used to measure track curvatures and the positions of points inside the chambers are discussed in detail as is the analysis of the possible errors in these quantities. A formula is derived for computing the momentum of a particle from its measured curvature on the film. It includes corrections for the nonaxial components of the magnetic field and the effect of the conical projection involved in the photography. A method for correcting approximately for the variation of the magnetic field along the track is also presented. A summary of the dynamics of the two-body decay of a neutral V-particle is presented. A discussion of the uses of plots of [...] and [...] for a two-body decay is included. The dynamics of some simple three-body decays are discussed. The distribution of the momenta of one of the decay products is derived, including only the effects of the density of states in phase space. An attempt is made to analyze the observable properties of a three-body decay when the two charged products are treated as products of a two-body decay. The results from the analysis of the best cases of [...] and [...] decays observed in the 48" magnet cloud chambers are summarized. They include a value for the energy release in the [...] decay of [...] Mev, and a preliminary discussion of the coplanarity and transverse momentum balance for those cases in which an origin for the [...] can be located. In addition, an excellent case of the decay of a neutral V-particle into two light secondaries with an energy release much lower than that for the usual [...] decay scheme forms the basis for the discussion of all such "anomalous [...]" decays observed in the three Caltech magnet cloud chambers.
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