No Arabic abstract
We calculate the decay rates lambda_(beta^-_c) and lambda_(beta^-_b) of the continuum- and bound-state beta^- decays for bare 205Hg80+ and 207Tl81+ ions. For the ratio of the decay rates R_(b/c) = lambda_(beta^-_b)/lambda_(beta^-_c) we obtain the values R_(b/c) = 0.161 and R_(b/c) = 0.190 for bare 205Hg80+ and 207Tl81+ ions, respectively. The theoretical value of the ratio R_(b/c) = 0.190 for the decays of 207Tl81+ agrees within 1% of accuracy with the experimental data R^exp_(b/c) = 0.188(18), obtained at GSI. The theoretical ratio R_(b/c) = 0.161 for 205Hg80+ is about 20% smaller than the experimental value R^exp_(b/c) = 0.20(2), measured recently at GSI.
$beta$-decay, a process that changes a neutron into a proton (and vice versa), is the dominant decay mode of atomic nuclei. This decay offers a unique window to physics beyond the standard model, and is at the heart of microphysical processes in stellar explosions and the synthesis of the elements in the Universe. For 50 years, a central puzzle has been that observed $beta$-decay rates are systematically smaller than theoretical predictions. This was attributed to an apparent quenching of the fundamental coupling constant $g_A simeq $ 1.27 in the nucleus by a factor of about 0.75 compared to the $beta$-decay of a free neutron. The origin of this quenching is controversial and has so far eluded a first-principles theoretical understanding. Here we address this puzzle and show that this quenching arises to a large extent from the coupling of the weak force to two nucleons as well as from strong correlations in the nucleus. We present state-of-the-art computations of $beta$-decays from light to heavy nuclei. Our results are consistent with experimental data, including the pioneering measurement for $^{100}$Sn. These theoretical advances are enabled by systematic effective field theories of the strong and weak interactions combined with powerful quantum many-body techniques. This work paves the way for systematic theoretical predictions for fundamental physics problems. These include the synthesis of heavy elements in neutron star mergers and the search for neutrino-less double-$beta$-decay, where an analogous quenching puzzle is a major source of uncertainty in extracting the neutrino mass scale.
We propose formulas of the nuclear beta-decay rate that are useful in a practical calculation. The decay rate is determined by the product of the lepton and hadron current densities. A widely used formula relies upon the fact that the low-energy lepton wave functions in a nucleus can be well approximated by a constant and linear to the radius for the $s$-wave and $p$-wave wave functions, respectively. We find, however, the deviation from such a simple approximation is evident for heavy nuclei with large $Z$ by numerically solving the Dirac equation. In our proposed formulas, the neutrino wave function is treated exactly as a plane wave, while the electron wave function is obtained by iteratively solving the integral equation, thus we can control the uncertainty of the approximate wave function. The leading-order approximation gives a formula equivalent to the conventional one and overestimates the decay rate. We demonstrate that the next-to-leading-order formula reproduces well the exact result for a schematic transition density as well as a microscopic one obtained by a nuclear energy-density functional method.
We calculate the continuum- and bound-state l^- decay rates of pionic and kaonic hydrogen in the ground state, where l^- is either the electron or the muon.
The effects of the phonon-phonon coupling on the beta-decay rates of neutron-rich nuclei are studied in a microscopic model based on Skyrme-type interactions. The approach uses a finite-rank separable approximation of the Skyrme-type particle-hole (p-h) residual interaction. Very large two-quasiparticle spaces can thus be treated. A redistribution of the Gamow-Teller (G-T) strength is found due to the tensor correlations and the 2p-2h fragmentation of G-T states. As a result, the beta-decay half-lives are decreased significantly. Using the Skyrme interaction SGII together with a volume-type pairing interaction we illustrate this reduction effect by comparing with available experimental data for the Ni isotopes and neutron-rich N=50 isotones. We give predictions for 76Fe and 80Ni in comparison with the case of the doubly-magic nucleus 78Ni which is an important waiting point in the r-process.
In the framework of the two-group configuration model we obtain formulas for the reduced transition rates for beta- and gamma-transitions in even-even, odd-odd, even-odd, and odd-even nuclei. We explored dependencies of the transition rates on the occupancies of the involved subshells, as well as on the spin values of the initial and final states. The obtained formulas are useful for the qualitative spectroscopic analysis of experimental data, particulary in the regions of magicity, including the regions of the remote nuclei.