TransWikia.com

Understanding the $tau$ Branching Fractions from PDG

Physics Asked on May 21, 2021

On PDG, page 6 ff., we can find the branching ratios for the different $tau$ decay channels.

My problem is that taken together, these do not sum to unity, but are greater than $1$, which I find really confusing.

As an example:

enter image description here

enter image description here

What can be the reason for this?

One Answer

Of course they do not add up to unity when they are inclusive states, there will be overlaps where the same channels will fulfill the "larger or equal " criteria.

The probability will sum up to one of all decays are identified with specific number and type of particle . These are the ratios after before $Γ_{11}$ and after $Γ_{18}$, those without "less than or equal" signs in your link. Their summation will always be less than 1.

Copying from comment by Martino :

They actually explain what they do here, but it's a little bit technical.

Answered by anna v on May 21, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP