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High-energy theory

The same formula, applied to a heavier lepton

About 6 min if you have seen this material before, 25 min or so if it is new to you.

Background
Assumed background: the muon decays only weakly; The power of mass in which a quantity is measured once ℏ=c=1\hbar = c = 1, fixed by requiring the action to be dimensionless.. A theory valid only below some energy scale, which can tell you from the inside where its own description stops working. gives the muon decay rate Γ=GF2mμ5192π3.\Gamma = \frac{G_F^2 m_\mu^5}{192\pi^3}. The fifth power is forced: [Γ]=1[\Gamma] = 1, [GF2]=−4[G_F^2] = -4, and once mem_e is dropped the muon mass is the only scale left. Every approximation has a range, though, and the useful question about a formula is where it stops working and what the failure measures.
A tau is a heavier copy of a muon, carrying the same weak coupling, so the same rate expression should apply to it with mμ→mτm_\mu \to m_\tau and lifetimes should scale as m−5m^{-5}. Data: τμ=2.1970×10−6\tau_\mu = 2.1970 \times 10^{-6} s, mμ=105.66m_\mu = 105.66 MeV, mτ=1776.9m_\tau = 1776.9 MeV, and the measured ττ=290.3\tau_\tau = 290.3 fs.
Scale the muon lifetime to the tau with the m−5m^{-5} law and compare with the measurement. The prediction comes out too long. The m−5m^{-5} law is still right for each individual channel, so the mismatch counts channels: what fraction of tau decays go to e νˉe ντe\,\bar\nu_e\,\nu_\tau? Give a percentage.

Past 45 min on this? That usually means a missing prerequisite rather than a lack of effort — worth reading up before pushing further, starting with Tau lepton (Wikipedia).

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