Related papers: Measuring the Neutron Lifetime Using Magnetically …
It has been recently proposed that a sterile neutrino \nu_h of mass m_h=40--80 MeV, mixing |U_{\mu h}|^2=10^{-3}--10^{-2}, lifetime \tau_h \lsim 10^{-9} s, and a dominant decay mode (\nu_h \to \nu_\mu \gamma) could be the origin of the…
The experimental rate of neutrinoless double beta decay can be saturated by the exchange of virtual sterile neutrinos, that mix with the ordinary neutrinos and are heavier than 200 MeV. Interestingly, this hypothesis is subject only to…
If, as recently reported by the Super-Kamiokande collaboration, the neutrinos are massive, the heaviest one would not be stable and, though chargeless, could in particular decay into a lighter neutrino and a photon by quantum loop effects.…
Thulium atoms are trapped in a magneto-optical trap using a strong transition at 410 nm with a small branching ratio. We trap up to $7\times10^{4}$ atoms at a temperature of 0.8(2) mK after deceleration in a 40 cm long Zeeman slower.…
A new generation of neutrinoless double beta decay experiments with improved sensitivity is currently under design and construction. They will probe inverted hierarchy region of the neutrino mass pattern. There is also a revived interest to…
It is possible that the strongest interactions between dark matter and the Standard Model occur via the neutrino sector. Unlike gamma rays and charged particles, neutrinos provide a unique avenue to probe for astrophysical sources of dark…
We study the possibility to use a low energy beta-beam facility to search for sterile neutrinos by measuring the disappearance of electron anti-neutrinos. This channel is particularly sensitive since it allows to use inverse beta decay as…
A systematic study of the total $\beta$-decay half-lives and $\beta$-delayed neutron emission probabilities is performed. The $\beta$-strength function is treated within the self-consistent density-functional + continuum-QRPA framework…
We analyze the possibility of detection of cosmological relic neutrinos via neutrino capture on beta decaying nuclei. This reaction has no threshold in neutrino energy, which is crucial for searching for relic neutrinos possessing very low…
Nuclear weak-interaction rates are known to exert a prominent effect in the late-stages of stellar collapse. Despite their importance, most studies to date on core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) have focused primarily on the effects of…
Precision measurements of neutron decay offer complementary access to particle physics at small distance scales or high energies. In particular they allow tests of the V-A structure of the weak interaction. Among many experimental…
The goal of this research project is to give quantitative information useful for the design of a g-ray detector to investigate neutron capture (n, g) reactions on radioactive nuclei at the Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center (MLNSC)…
Neutrinoless double beta decay is a sensitive probe of the patterns of neutrino masses and mixings if the neutrinos are Majorana particles as well as other new physics scenarios beyond the standard model. In this talk, the present…
There is a long-standing discrepancy between the neutron lifetime measured in beam and bottle experiments. We propose to explain this anomaly by a dark decay channel for the neutron, involving one or more dark sector particles in the final…
Recent analysis of the viability of solid state-based relic neutrino detectors has revealed the fundamental necessity for the use of heavy, $A>100$, $\beta$-decayers as neutrino targets. Of all heavy isotopes, $^{171}$Tm and $^{151}$Sm…
We calculate the ground, first intrinsic excited states and density distribution for neutron-rich thorium and uranium isotopes, within the framework of relativistic mean field(RMF) approach using axially deformed basis. The total nucleon…
The simultaneous beta decay of two neutrons in a nucleus without the emission of neutrinos (called neutrinoless double beta decay) is a lepton number violating process which is not allowed in the Standard Model of particle physics. More…
In this paper, $\beta^-$ and $\beta$-delayed neutron decays of $^{46,47}$Cl are reported from an experiment carried out at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory using the Beta Counting System. The half-lives of both $^{46}$Cl…
A new technique was developed to measure the lifetimes of neutron unbound nuclei in the picosecond range. The decay of 26O -> 24O+n+n was examined as it had been predicted to have an appreciable lifetime due to the unique structure of the…
We analyze the depolarization of ultracold neutrons confined in a magnetic field configuration similar to those used in existing or proposed magneto-gravitational storage experiments aiming at a precise measurement of the neutron lifetime.…