Lesson: Feynman Diagrams Physics

In this lesson, we will learn how to interpret Feynman diagrams and how to determine which interactions are possible using Feynman diagrams.

Lesson Plan

Students will be able to

recognize Feynman diagrams that show annihilation, pair production, electrostatic repulsion, beta-minus decay, beta-plus decay, leptonic decay of higher-mass leptons, and weak decay of common mesons and baryons,
work out what the corresponding nuclear equation that represents a Feynman diagram is,
identify virtual particles in Feynman diagrams,
recall that the arrows on particle lines must point forward in time,
recall that the arrows on antiparticle lines must point backward in time,
identify missing particles in Feynman diagrams of common interactions,
determine if the interaction shown by a Feynman diagram is possible based on the conservation of lepton number, baryon number, and electric charge.