Testing Discrete Symmetries in K Decays
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
,fe-a very successful theory for physics phe nomena, valid for many human applica Testing discrete symmetries tions. What about the symmetry proper ties ofthe other theories? There is an im portanttheorem,known as the CPT theo in Kdecays rem, which states that, under very general assumptions, any theory of microscopic P. DEBU - (EA Saclay - France interactions must respect the CPT sym February 7,2000 metry. This means that in the present day the oretical framework ofparticle physics, it is Discrete symmetries, P and C Weak interactions and violation of P and believed that the laws of physics are in hen physicists try to lay down the Csymmetries variant under CPT. Wlaws that govern the processes they There are four known fundamental As a consequence, CP symmetry im are studying, they use as a first guidance interactions between elementary plies T symmetry, andvice-versa, because the most general properties ofthe system. particles. Gravitation is felt by all any CP violation should be compensated There are fundamental and universal particles. Charged particles undergo by some T violation to follow the CPT the examples. The laws ofNature are believed electromagnetic interactions. The orem. to be independent of the position of the protons and the neutron are bound in The 1957 observation that CP symme observer, or of his orientation. One says nuclei by the strong interaction. Weak trystill holds could be seen as a necessary that they are invariant by translation and interactions transform quarks into one consequence that microscopic phenome rotation. another and cause the f3 decays of na obey the T symmetry. Consider now a simple experiment,like unstable nuclei. playing billiards. Imagine you are looking It was assumed for a long time that the CP violation at the image ofthe game in a large mirror fundamental interactions respect both P CP violation was discovered in 1964 in instead of looking directly at the billiard and C symmetries, but experimental ob an experiment dedicated to the study of table. Would you be able to tell from the servations led two theoreticians, T.D. Lee KO and KO mesons. It was performed by moves ofthe balls that you are looking at a and C.N. Yang, to suggest in 1956 that P J.H. Christenson, J.W. Cronin, Y.L. Fitch virtual image? The answer is no. Laws of and C symmetries might be violated by and R. Turlay. classical mechanics are obeyed bythe mir the weak interactions. One year later, an The KO is a particle made of an anti s ror experiment. They are invariant under experiment led by C.S. Wu, a detailed quark (8) and a d quark. Because weak in the transformation called Parity (P), study ofthe f3 decay ofC0 60 in a magnetic teractions can change a strange quark in which consists in changing the sign ofspa field, brought indeed the proofthat P sym to a non strange quark, both KO and KO tial coordinates. metry was violated by weak interactions. mesons can decay into the same final state We say that classical mechanics respect Additional theoretical work showed that of 2 pions, and moreover, by a succession the P symmetry. at the same time, the C symmetry was vi oftwo weak processes, the KOcan become Imagine that instead of looking at the olated. However, it was also realized that a KO and vice-versa! billiards game in a mirror, you replace the observed processes do respect the CP During the propagation of the K every piece ofmatterbyantimatter. Could transformation, the one obtained by ap mesons, a continuous KO H KO oscillation you tell the difference from the moves? plying both the C and the P transforma occurs. Were CP conserved, the propagat The answer is again no. Laws of classical tions. In other words, the virtual experi ing states would be the symmetric and an mechanics apply to antimatter. The oper ment obtained by looking at the original tisymmetric states superpositions ation which consists in replacing a particle process in a mirror AND by replacing all K 1 = (KO + [(0)1"'/2 and K 2 = (KO - KO)1"'I2. by its antiparticle is called Charge Conju particles by their antipartners would obey The 2 pion state issued ofa K decay being gation (C). the known properties of weak interac a CP even state, this decay would be al Classical mechanics respect the C sym tions. lowed for the K 1 which is also a CP even metry. This was a very important observation. state, andforbidden for the K 2,which is CP Every particle has its corresponding an odd. tiparticle, which has the same mass butthe Time reversal and CPT symmetry Indeed, physicists observed both a opposite charge. This is the origin of the There is a fundamental reason why CP short lived K meson, called Ks, decaying name Charge Conjugation. The antiparti symmetry plays a crucial role. It is indeed into 2 pions, and a 500 times longer lived cle ofthe electron e- is the positron e+. The linked to the Time Reversal transforma K L which could only undergo three body antiparticle ofthe proton p is the antipro tion (T). decays. The whole picture seemed consis ton p. The proton is made of3 quarks, 2 u This transformation consists in "look tent with the previous description. quarks and 1 d quark. The an!iproton is ing" at an experiment backwards in time, The 1964 experimental demonstration made of3 antiquarks,2 iiand 1d The neu like playing a movie backwards. Although, ofCP violation was the detection ofKL de tron is made of3 quarks, 2 d quarks and! at the macroscopic level, one can immedi cays into 2 charged pions. Although this u quark. The antineutron is made of 2 d ately distinguish which is the real experi happened only rarely, about twice every and 1 ii. One can imagine building an an ment and which is the reversed movie, this thousand decays, it was a clear sign of CP tiworld from these elementary pieces. If is not a priori the case at the microscopic violation in microscopic processes. the laws ofNature would be C symmetric, level. Indeed, the laws ofclassical mechan This came as a big surprise, but it was this antiworld could not be distinguished ics remain valid after Time Reversal. also soon realized, in 1967, byA. Sakharov, from the world we know. But they are not. Classical mechanics is an example of a that CP violation is one of the necessary europhysics news MAY/JUNE 2000 s Article available at http://www.europhysicsnews.org or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn:2000301 FEATURES conditions to explain why our universe is Ithas been established that the K L state Although it is inprinciple possible to com almost exclusively made of matter, al is not the pure antisymmetric stateK 2, but pute the value of E'IE in the standard though it starts from a symmetricstate af rather an admixture ofK 1 and K 2: model, it is in practice avery difficult task. ter the Big-Bang model. Most theorists give estimates in the range 4 This made CP violation even more fas KL=K2 + E K 1 ofa few 10- for the ratio E'/E. cinating. In 1988, a first evidence for the exis At that time, it was necessary to intro This small impurity (E '" 2 10-3) allows the tence ofdirect CP violation was published duce new types of interactions to imple K L to decay into 2 pions. This is referred to bythe NA31 collaboration at CERN [1] : ment CP violation in the theoretical as CP violation in the mixing. While the framework. One very popular model was introduction of this E parameter allows a E'IE = (3.3 ± 1.1) 10-3 proposedby1.Wolfenstein in 1964. He in proper phenomenological description of troduced a so called superweak interac the observations, itbrings no understand Later, their american competitors, E731 at tion, the strength and properties ofwhich ing ofthe origin ofCP violation. FNAL, published [2]: were such that CP violationwas a small ef However, in the standard model of fect which could only be seen with the K weak interactions with 3 families, CP vio E'IE = (7.4 ± 5.9) 10-4 mesons, and came solely through the lation can also occur directly in the decay KO H KO oscillation. ofthe K 2 itself. This is called CP violation The NA31 completed their experiment In 1973, M. Kobayashi and T. Maskawa in the decay, or direct CP violation. Con and obtained in 1993 [3] : showed that CP violation could also occur trarily, the superweak model of1.Wolfen in weak interactions under the condition stein does not allow such a decay. E'IE = (2.3 ± .65) 10-3 that at least 3 families of2 quarks exist. To Many experiments have been launched day, the existence of6 quarks is established already in the late 60's to search for direct This experimental situation, two results (the heaviest one, the t quark, has been dis CP violation. It can be detected through a hardly compatible, did not allow to con covered in 1995),but at that time, only the tiny difference between decays in 2 clude. This led the two groups to launch existence of3 quarks was postulated. This charged pions and 2 neutral pions. This more precise experiments, E832 at FNAL is a noticeable theoretical insight. difference is parametrizedby a very small and NA48 at CERN. The presence ofthree families ofquarks quantity E', which can be measured byus allows the introduction of one single pa ing the very simple relation: rameter in the theorywhich causes CP vi olation.