Improving Beta-Decay Studies for Fundamental Science and Applications
Nuclear Physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Recent advances in radioactive-ion beams and ion-trap systems are opening up opportunities to study nuclear beta decay with increased precision. I will discuss a multi-faceted beta-decay spectroscopy program that is being carried out to test the electroweak interaction, improve our understanding of heavy-element nucleosynthesis, and provide high-quality nuclear data for stockpile-stewardship and reactor-modeling applications. In particular, I will focus on measurements being performed using the Beta-decay Paul Trap (BPT) to reconstruct the momentum and energy of particles that would otherwise be difficult (or even impossible) to detect from the momentum imparted to the recoiling nucleus. By using this technique to determine the direction and energy of each emitted neutrino in the decays of 8Li and 8B, we are carrying out a search for physics beyond the Standard Model. We are also performing beta-delayed neutron spectroscopy by circumventing the difficulties associated with direct neutron detection and instead reconstructing the neutron emission probabilities and energy spectra from the time of flight of the recoiling nuclei. Recent results from decay studies at Argonne National Laboratory will be presented and future prospects for these approaches will be discussed.
This work was supported by the DOE, NNSA, under Award Numbers DE-AC52-07NA27344 (LLNL)