No Arabic abstract
Nuclear beta decays between (J^pi,T) = (0^+,1) analog states yield the best value for the Vud element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. Current world data establish the corrected Ft values of 14 separate superallowed transitions to a precision of order 0.1% or better. The validity of the small theoretical correction terms is confirmed by excellent consistency among the 14 Ft values and by recent measurements that compare pairs of mirror superallowed transitions. With consistency established, the results now yield |Vud| = 0.97420(21). This value is consistent with the considerably less precise results obtained from beta decays of the neutron, the pion and T=1/2 mirror nuclei, which are hampered by experimental challenges.
Within the Standard Model, the weak interaction of quarks and leptons is characterized by certain symmetry properties, such as maximal breaking of parity and favored helicity. These are related to the $V-A$ structure of the weak interaction. These characteristics were discovered by studying correlations in the directions of the outgoing leptons in nuclear beta decays. These days, correlation measurements in nuclear beta decays are intensively studied to probe for signatures for deviations from these symmetries, which are an indication of Beyond Standard Model physics. We show that the structure of the energy spectrum of emitted electrons in unique first-forbidden $beta$-decays is sensitive to the symmetries of the weak interaction, and thus can be used as a novel probe of physics beyond the standard model. Furthermore, the energy spectrum gives constraints both in the case of right and left coupling of the new symmetry currents. We show that a measurement with modest energy resolution of about 20 keV is expected to lead to new constraints on beyond the standard model interactions with tensor symmetry.
A complete and critical survey is presented of all half-life, decay-energy and branching-ratio measurements related to 20 superallowed decays; no measurements are ignored, though some are rejected for cause and others updated. A new calculation of the statistical rate function is described and experimental ft values determined. The associated theoretical corrections needed to convert these results into Ft values are discussed, and careful attention is paid to the origin and magnitude of their uncertainties. As an exacting confirmation of the conserved vector current hypothesis, the Ft values are seen to be constant to 3 parts in 10^4. These data are also used to set new limits on any possible scalar interactions or right-hand currents. The average Ft value obtained from the survey, when combined with the muon lifetime, yields the CKM matrix element Vud = 0.9738(4); and the unitarity test on the top row of the matrix becomes |Vud|^2 + |Vus|^2 + |Vub|^2 = 0.9966(14) using the PDGs currently recommended values for Vus and Vub. We discuss the priorities for future theoretical and experimental work with the goal of making the CKM unitarity test more definitive.
We report a direct measurement of the Q-value of the neutrinoless double-beta-decay candidate 48Ca at the TITAN Penning-trap mass spectrometer, with the result that Q = 4267.98(32) keV. We measured the masses of both the mother and daughter nuclides, and in the latter case found a 1 keV deviation from the literature value. In addition to the Q-value, we also present results of a new calculation of the neutrinoless double-beta-decay nuclear matrix element of 48Ca. Using diagrammatic many-body perturbation theory to second order to account for physics outside the valence space, we constructed an effective shell-model double-beta-decay operator, which increased the nuclear matrix element by about 75% compared with that produced by the bare operator. The new Q-value and matrix element strengthen the case for a 48Ca double-beta-decay experiment.
A recent Penning-trap measurement of the masses of 46V and 46Ti leads to a Qec value that disagrees significantly with the previously accepted value, and destroys overall consistency among the nine most precisely characterized T=1 superallowed beta emitters. This raises the possibility of a systematic discrepancy between Penning-trap measurements and the reaction-based measurements upon which the Qec values depended in the past. We carefully re-analyze (n,gamma) and (p,gamma) reaction measurements in the 24 leq A leq 28 mass region, and compare the results to very precise Penning-trap measurements of the stable nuclei 24Mg, 26Mg and 28Si. We thus determine upper limits to possible systematic effects in the reaction results, and go on to establish limits for the mass of radioactive 26Al, to which future on-line Penning-trap measurements can be compared. We stress the urgency of identifying or ruling-out possible systematic effects.
Although well studied, the neutron still offers a unique laboratory for precise tests of Standard Model (SM) predictions. Neutron decay is free of nuclear structure corrections present in nuclear beta decays, and, with a $10^8$ times larger branching ratio than the theoretically cleaner pion beta decay, it is more readily accessible to experimental study than the latter. Measurements at sufficient precision of the neutron lifetime, and of correlations in free neutron beta decay, offer several stringent tests of the SM, including the weak quark couplings (quark-lepton universality), and certain extensions beyond the standard $V-A$ weak interaction theory. This paper focuses on the long-running free neutron beta decay experimental program aimed at obtaining an independent determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) mixing matrix element $V_{ud}$. We discuss the present state of precision achieved in this program and briefly review the currently active projects, as well as the expected near-term improvements in the field.