1
$\begingroup$

I've been reading Flip Taneda's 'quantum diaries' articles, and he references the famous fact that the W boson (weak force) only interacts with left-handed electrons and right-handed positron.

BUT... Does the antimatter-W interact with the right-handed electron and left-handed positron?

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Answer unclear? $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 19, 2020 at 0:19

1 Answer 1

3
$\begingroup$

A $W^-$ can decay to an L electron and a R antineutrino.

Its antiparticle, the $W^+$ decays to a R positron and a L neutrino.

In our purely chiral weak-interaction charged-current world, these are the only options.


N.B. of course, being massive, as soon as they are produced in the interaction vertex, the fermions will start changing (oscillating) their chirality as they propagate, since the mass term in the lagrangian links (converts) L with R. This is an "academic" phenomenon, hardly practically significant, except perhaps in Zitterbewegung.

$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ how about this physics.stackexchange.com/questions/566209/elegant-theoretical-ways-to-prove-the-u1-electric-charge-of-electron-proto ? $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 20:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.