Superallowed Fermi beta decay
Abstract
Superallowed nuclear beta decay provides a direct measure of the weak vector coupling constant, . We survey current world data on the nine accurately determined transitions of this type, which range from the decay of C to that of Co, and demonstrate that the results confirm conservation of the weak vector current (CVC) but differ at the 98% confidence level from the unitarity condition for the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix. We examine the reliability of the small calculated corrections that have been applied to the data, and assess the likelihood of even higher quality nuclear data becoming available to confirm or deny the discrepancy. Some of the required experiments depend upon the availability of intense radioactive beams. Others are possible today.
Cite
@article{arxiv.nucl-th/9807049,
title = {Superallowed Fermi beta decay},
author = {J. C. Hardy and I. S. Towner},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:nucl-th/9807049},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
6 pages, LaTeX with aipproc.sty and epsf.sty; Talk at Int. Conf. on Exotic Nuclei and Atomic Masses (ENAM98), Michigan, June 1998