Re: Binary stars

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>]

        P & p-bar are charged particles.  They interact with the EM field,
emitting photons as they transition from high-n states down to low-n
states.  In the low-n states there is substantial overlap of the
wave-function of one with the nuclear volume of the other (the radius
of a proton is on the order of a pion compton wave-length).  They then
annhilate, mostly into pions (I think the average number is about 4).
        It is wrong in principle to use a planetary picture for a low-n
orbit.  The wave-function of the "orbit" is spread out over a substantial
volume, including the origin for the s-orbits.
        Note that the capture process also happens to electrons in orbit
around certain nuclei; the process is called k-capture.

Moral:  Quantum mechanics is not just an annoying correction to classical
mechanics.  QM rules the universe; classical mechanics is an approximation
that works in certain extreme circumstances.

                                        Regards,
                                                Jack

Adam was by constitution and proclivity a scientist; I was the same, and
we loved to call ourselves by that great name...Our first memorable
scientific discovery was the law that water and like fluids run downhill,
not up.
                          Mark Twain, <Extract from Eve's Autobiography>

On Sat, 18 Dec 1999, Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

> Jack wrote:
>
> > I think that current usage is a mu+ mu- atom.  In that usage,
> > quark + anti-quark states (like the J/psi and the Upsilon) are
> > referred to generically as quarkonium.
>
> I do not want to be pushed into domains in which I am nearly
> ignorant. My illustration, except for the h-bar, can be made
> meaningful in an introductory course.
>
> > .. It then cascades, largely by E1 transitions down to low-n
> > states from which it annihilates with the proton.  Last time I
> > looked, decades ago, the capture time was mysteriously
> > longer than expected from calculations.
>
> I would expect the binary system made of a proton and of an
> antiproton to last forever in a perfect vacuum. Why do the
> two particles annihilate when the distance between them is
> much larger (58 F) than the range ( ~2 F) of strong nuclear
> forces? Are we going to bring elephants again?
>
> Ludwik Kowalski
> ********************************************
> To understand is to find a satisfactory causal relation.
> To explain is to express that understanding.
> To teach is to promote understanding.
> ********************************************