Chirality

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Kasuha
Posts: 570
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:22 pm

Chirality

Post by Kasuha » Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:22 pm

Recently I am trying to learn more about particle physics and there is still something I don't understand and would like to know.

Weak interaction acts exclusively on left-handed particles, that's something I can understand. Left-handed particles differ from right-handed ones in their chirality which generally has something to do with their spin and movement vector.
However for all particles with mass, chirality is different from helicity because with different frame of reference (observer moving faster than the particle) the helicity of the particle reverses but chirality does not.

So far it's somewhat clear to me.

So ... well, my question is how does particle chirality (handedness) work? Is it restricted to some particles? Can there be both left-handed and right-handed neutrons or are there just left-handed? If neutron decay is driven by weak interaction, does it mean a right-handed neutron would never decay? Or does chirality follow some strange quantum rules similar to e.g. neutrino oscillations?

The reason why I'm asking is because I didn't find an explanation elsewhere.

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