Related papers: The KDK (potassium decay) experiment
The ratio $R_K = \Gamma(K^{\pm}\to e^{\pm}\nu(\gamma)) / \Gamma(K^{\pm}\to\mu^{\pm}\nu(\gamma))$ provides a powerful probe of the structure of weak interactions. It is calculated with very high precision within the Standard Model, but…
We revisit the photoabsorption from the ground state of K through the first ionization limit, and provide recommended values for the optical oscillator strengths. The anomaly in the oscillator strength ratio within each doublet is also…
One of the most powerful techniques for direct detection of dark matter via elastic scattering of galactic WIMPs is the use of liquid argon time projection chambers. Atmospheric argon (AAr) has a naturally occurring radioactive isotope,…
The research of geoneutrino is a new interdisciplinary subject of particle experiments and geo-science. Potassium-40 ($^\text{40}$K) decays contribute roughly 1/3 of the radiogenic heat of the Earth, but it is still missing from the…
Tuning band gaps in two-dimensional (2D) materials is of great interest in the fundamental and practical aspects of contemporary material sciences. Recently, black phosphorus (BP) consisting of stacked layers of phosphorene was…
We performed a search for the decay $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3\gamma$ with the E391a detector at KEK. In the data accumulated in 2005, no event was observed in the signal region. Based on the assumption of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3\gamma$ proceeding…
Chemical isotope effects of calcium were studied by liquid-liquid extraction using a crown ether of dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 for the purpose of finding a cost-effective and efficient way of enrichment of Ca-48 towards the study of the…
A sample of $1.3 \times 10^5$ $K^+ \to \pi^0 e^+ \nu \gamma$ candidates with less than 1% background was collected by the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS in 2017-2018. Branching fraction measurements are obtained at percent relative…
The KATRIN experiment is designed to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 200 meV at 90% C.L. by high resolution tritium beta-spectroscopy. A low background level of 10 mHz at the beta-decay endpoint is required in…
We investigate the time modulation of weak nuclear decays as a method to probe axion dark matter. To this end, we develop a theoretical framework to compute the $\theta$-dependence of weak nuclear decays, including electron capture and…
In this paper, we demonstrate the use of physical models to evaluate the production of $^{39}$Ar and $^{40}$Ar underground. Considering both cosmogenic $^{39}$Ar production and radiogenic $^{40}$Ar production in situ and from external…
The NA48/2 experiment at CERN collected two data samples with minimum bias trigger conditions in 2003 and 2004. A measurement of the rate and dynamic properties of the rare decay $K^\pm\to\pi^\pm\gamma\gamma$ from these data sets based on…
We report on reaching sub-Doppler temperatures of $^{40}$K in a single-chamber setup using a dispenser-based potassium source with natural (0.012$\%$ of $^{40}$K) isotopic composition. With gray molasses cooling on the $D_1$-line following…
We present precision measurements with MHz uncertainty of the energy gap between asymptotic and well bound levels in the electronic ground state X $^1\Sigma_{\mathrm{g}}^+$ of the $^{39}$K$_2$ molecule. The molecules are prepared in a…
A compact resonance ionization mass spectrometer is developed using two laser diodes and a quadrupole mass spectrometer to perform trace element analysis of potassium. With the help of a narrow linewidth of the laser diode, the isotope…
The rare decays of the $K$ meson have had a long tradition as a laboratory for testing the symmetry properties of the weak interactions, and the manner in which these symmetries are broken by higher order effects. Present--day interest is…
We have performed a search for the K$^{0}_{L} \rightarrow \pi^{0}\nu\bar{\nu}$ decay with the KOTO detector at J-PARC. The KOTO detector was designed to observe the decay and measure its branching ratio (BR). Focusing on this golden decay…
$^{180m}$Ta is a rare nuclear isomer whose decay has never been observed. Its remarkably long lifetime surpasses the half-lives of all other known $\beta$ and electron capture decays due to the large K-spin differences and small energy…
We compute the decay spectrum for dark matter (DM) with masses above the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking, all the way to the Planck scale. For an arbitrary hard process involving a decay to the unbroken standard model, we determine…
The DEAP-3600 experiment is searching for WIMP dark matter with a 3.3 tonne single phase liquid argon (LAr) target, located 2.1 km underground at SNOLAB. The experimental signature of dark matter interactions is keV-scale $^{40}$Ar nuclear…