How does pair production differ from pair annihilation in the context of particle physics?
Pair production and pair annihilation are processes that involve the creation and destruction of particle-antiparticle pairs in particle physics.
Pair production occurs when a high-energy photon interacts with a nucleus and produces a particle-antiparticle pair, such as an electron and a positron. This process requires energy to create the particles.
On the other hand, pair annihilation is the process where a particle and its corresponding antiparticle collide and annihilate each other, resulting in the production of high-energy photons. This process releases energy in the form of photons.
In summary, pair production creates particle-antiparticle pairs from energy, while pair annihilation involves the destruction of particle-antiparticle pairs to release energy in the form of photons.