No Arabic abstract
A new measurement of the neutrino asymmetry parameter B in neutron decay, the angular correlation between neutron spin and anti-neutrino momentum, is presented. The result, B=0.9802(50), agrees with the Standard Model expectation and earlier measurements, and permits improved tests on ``new physics in neutron decay.
The proton asymmetry parameter C in neutron decay describes the correlation between neutron spin and proton momentum. In this Letter, the first measurement of this quantity is presented. The result C=-0.2377(26) agrees with the Standard Model expectation. The coefficient C provides an additional parameter for new and improved Standard Model tests. From a differential analysis of the same data (assuming the Standard Model), we obtain lambda=-1.275(16) as ratio of axial-vector and vector coupling constant.
We report on a new measurement of the neutron beta-asymmetry parameter $A$ with the instrument perkeo. Main advancements are the high neutron polarization of $P = 99.7(1)%$ from a novel arrangement of super mirror polarizers and reduced background from improvements in beam line and shielding. Leading corrections were thus reduced by a factor of 4, pushing them below the level of statistical error and resulting in a significant reduction of systematic uncertainty compared to our previous experiments. From the result $A_0 = -0.11996(58)$, we derive the ratio of the axial-vector to the vector coupling constant $lambda = g_mathrm{A}/g_mathrm{V} = -1.2767(16)$
We have measured the alpha parameter of the Omega- to Lambda K- decay using data collected with the HyperCP spectrometer during the 1997 fixed-target run at Fermilab. Analyzing a sample of 0.96 million Omega- to Lambda K^-, Lambda to p pi- decays, we obtain alpha_Omega*alpha_Lambda = [1.33+/-0.33(stat)+/-0.52(syst)] x 10^{-2}. With the accepted value of alpha_Lambda, alpha_Omega is found to be [2.07+/-0.51(stat)+/-0.81(syst)] x 10^{-2}.
In the standard model of particle physics, the weak interaction is described by vector and axial-vector couplings only. Non-zero scalar or tensor interactions would imply an additional contribution to the differential decay rate of the neutron, the Fierz interference term. We derive a limit on this hypothetical term from a measurement using spin polarized neutrons. This method is statistically less sensitive than the determination from the spectral shape but features much cleaner systematics. We obtain a limit of b = 0.017(21) at 68.27 C.L., improving the previous best limit from neutron decay by a factor of four.
We present a detailed report of a measurement of the neutron $beta$-asymmetry parameter $A_0$, the parity-violating angular correlation between the neutron spin and the decay electron momentum, performed with polarized ultracold neutrons (UCN). UCN were extracted from a pulsed spallation solid deuterium source and polarized via transport through a 7-T magnetic field. The polarized UCN were then transported through an adiabatic-fast-passage spin-flipper field region, prior to storage in a cylindrical decay volume situated within a 1-T $2 times 2pi$ solenoidal spectrometer. The asymmetry was extracted from measurements of the decay electrons in multiwire proportional chamber and plastic scintillator detector packages located on both ends of the spectrometer. From an analysis of data acquired during runs in 2008 and 2009, we report $A_0 = -0.11966 pm 0.00089_{-0.00140} ^{+0.00123}$, from which we extract a value for the ratio of the weak axial-vector and vector coupling constants of the nucleon, $lambda = g_A/g_V = -1.27590 pm 0.00239_{-0.00377}^{+0.00331}$. Complete details of the analysis are presented.