Pion Life

[foodchain]

Is it possible to make environments in which lifespan of particles change? I mean if you could make one that could expand a pion lifetime would that open up new ways of research?

 

I mean just from one imaginary point of view if you will what would a mass of pion act like if you could interact with it in a variety of ways.

[Mr Skeptic]

I've heard of an atom that will decay if it is completely ionized but not otherwise. I don't remember which though. I'd assume that if you can summon some truly awesome fields, you could change a particle's decay rate. Kind of like a neutron star. I don't think it would be practical though.

[timo]

Is it possible to make environments in which lifespan of particles change?

Yes. E.g., Neutrons bound in a nucleus don't decay at all (the extent to what you can still sensibly call that Neutrons being a different question) . If moving them around quickly also counts as "enviroment" (you could possibly move them around in a circle), then that's another option (see muons produced in the upper atmosphere).

 

I mean if you could make one that could expand a pion lifetime would that open up new ways of research?

Dunno. Do you have a specific idea in mind?

 

I mean just from one imaginary point of view if you will what would a mass of pion act like if you could interact with it in a variety of ways.

Not sure what you mean. Pion masses are ~140 MeV/c².

[foodchain]

Well what I am getting at is I think a basic question. If the most fundamental forces are typically described by the standard model, of course lacking gravity currently, then these forces are at a QM level. So if from a QM level we can get things such as a neutron or a star why is this? My current understanding going in a historical tone such as from the big bang on is that energy is certainly interacting. I mean I do not want to come out and say everything is a quantum step but how did all the electrons come about or get where they are? I mean what if you could “tunnel” via QM to particles that can only exist or perform certain functions of billionths of a second at very exotic conditions, or more or less why the lifetime of the pion?

 

So basically if you could create and environment in which pions could obtain stability and you could generate masses of them what would that look like or what could you do? Is the current universe a model of probable stability based on quantum effects? How do you intricately know the movement of energy/particles/forces for something such as even a geological feature here on earth.

 

So overall the idea would be the more ways to study say a particle like a pion I would only think could lead to more understanding. I guess its somewhat a question on the phylogeny of particles and the ability to maybe get somewhere else even if artificial to some extent. I mean does it not seem odd that three quarks can lead to certain effects but don’t have a perfectly guaranteed decay process as into products? Going from the reality that probability exists on a QM level as a fundamental reality of nature how can we say what particles or forces we have is all that can exist.