Dalitz

Dalitz is most commonly associated with the Dalitz plot, a tool in particle physics named after Richard H. Dalitz. The Dalitz plot is a two-dimensional representation used to study the kinematics of three-body decays. It maps the squared invariant masses of two pairwise combinations of final-state particles, typically m^2_12 versus m^2_23, with kinematic boundaries defined by energy and momentum conservation. The plot helps visualize how the decay products share energy and momentum, and it was introduced by Dalitz in 1953.

In practice, Dalitz plots reveal intermediate resonances and interference patterns. Resonant structures appear as bands or clusters corresponding to two-body resonances in subsystems; more complex distributions reflect the dynamics of the decay. They are widely used for decays of K mesons, etas, and heavy-flavor mesons such as D and B decays, enabling both model-dependent amplitude fits and model-independent analyses. The technique remains a standard tool in experimental particle physics for disentangling multi-body decay processes and studying CP violation, resonance properties, and decay dynamics.

The term Dalitz can also refer to people with that surname, but in physics the Dalitz plot is the best-known and most influential use.