We investigate several Pb$(n,n'γ$) and Ge$(n,n'γ$) reactions. We measure $γ$-ray production from Pb$(n,n'γ$) reactions that can be a significant background for double-beta decay experiments which use lead as a massive inner shield. Particularly worrisome for Ge-based double-beta decay experiments are the 2041-keV and 3062-keV $γ$ rays produced via Pb$(n,n'γ$). The former is very close to the ^{76}Ge double-beta decay endpoint energy and the latter has a double escape peak energy near the endpoint. Excitation $γ$-ray lines from Ge$(n,n'γ$) reactions are also observed. We consider the contribution of such backgrounds and their impact on the sensitivity of next-generation searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay using enriched germanium detectors.
We analyse the sensitivity of all experimentally observable asymmetries and energy distributions for the neutron beta-decay with a polarised neutron and unpolarised decay proton and electron and the lifetime of the neutron to contributions of order 10^(-4) of interactions beyond the Standard model (SM).
Precision measurements in free neutron beta decay serve to determine the coupling constants of beta decay, and offer several stringent tests of the Standard Model. This paper describes the free neutron beta decay program planned for the Fundamental Physics Beamline at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and puts it into the context of other recent and planned measurements of neutron beta decay observables.
In the Standard Model of electroweak interactions and in the tree--approximation we calculate the rate and branching ratio of the neutron radiative beta decay with one-real photon emission by taking into account the contributions of the weak magnetism and proton recoil to order 1/m_p of the large proton mass m_p expansion. We find that the obtained contributions of the weak magnetism and proton recoil increase the rate and branching ratio of the neutron radiative beta decay by about 0.70%. This is large compared with the contribution of the weak magnetism and proton recoil of about 0.16% to th…
We give a precision analysis of the correlation coefficients of the electron-energy spectrum and angular distribution of the beta decay and radiative beta decay of the neutron with polarized neutron and electron to order 10^(-3). The calculation of correlation coefficients is carried out within the Standard model with contributions of order 10^(-3), caused by the weak magnetism and proton recoil, taken to next-to-leading order in the large proton mass expansion, and with radiative corrections of order "alpha/pi ~ 10^(-3", calculated to leading order in the large proton mass expansion. The obta…
Beta-delayed neutron emission is important for nuclear structure and astrophysics as well as for reactor applications. Significant advances in nuclear experimental techniques in the past two decades have led to a wealth of new measurements that remain to be incorporated in the databases. We report on a coordinated effort to compile and evaluate all the available beta-delayed neutron emission data. The different measurement techniques have been assessed and the data have been compared with semi-microscopic and microscopic-macroscopic models. The new microscopic database has been tested against …
In the Standard Model (SM) we calculate the decay rate of the neutron radiative beta decay to order "O(α^2/π^2 ~ 10^{-5})", where "α$"is the fine--structure constant, and radiative corrections to order "O(α/π~ 10^{-3})". The obtained results together with the recent analysis of the neutron radiative beta decay to next-to-leading order in the large proton-mass expansion, performed by Ivanov et al. Phys. Rev. D95, 033007 (2017), describe recent experimental data by the RDK II Collaboration (Bales et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 242501 (2016)) within 1.5 standard deviations. We argue a substantial …
Neutron structure function $F_2^n(x)$ from deep inelastic electron scattering off few-nucleon systems
研究了从氘核、$^{3}He$和$^{3}H$的深部非弹性结构函数的联合测量中可靠地提取$ x < 0.85$的中子深部非弹性结构函数$F_2^n(x)$的可能性。如果适当考虑原子核结构的影响，这种提取中的模型依赖性，与原子核中核子之间可能的不同相互作用有关，被证明是弱的。提出了一个联合分析的深非弹性结构函数的这些核研究的影响超出了脉冲近似。
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…
We give an overview of a model to describe deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) off the deuteron with a spectator proton, based on the virtual nucleon approximation (VNA). The model accounts for the final-state interactions (FSI) of the DIS debris with the spectator proton. Values of the rescattering cross section are obtained by fits to high-momentum spectator data. By using the so-called "pole extrapolation method", free neutron structure functions can be obtained by extrapolating low-momentum spectator proton data to the on-shell neutron pole. We apply this method to the BONuS data set and find …
The author considers a hypothesis of neutron lifetime splitting in beta-decay and shows that the beta-decay of neutrons could be described by the triad of lifetimes tau_{Left}, tau_{Mean}, tau_{Right}. The lifetime tau_{Left} is the lifetime of L-neutrons emitting electrons against the neutron spin direction (L-type neutron decay). The lifetime tau_{Right} is the lifetime of R-neutrons emitting electrons in the direction of the neutron spin (R-type neutron decay). The lifetime tau_{Mean} is the arithmetic average of tau_{Left}, tau_{Right} or the mean neutron lifetime. While using the paramete…
We calculate the contributions of weak magnetism and proton recoil of order O(E^2_e/m^2_N)~10^{-5}, i.e. to next-to-next-to-leading order in the large nucleon mass expansion, to the neutron lifetime and correlation coefficients of the neutron beta decay, where E_e and m_N are the electron energy and the nucleon mass, respectively. We analyze the electron-energy and angular distribution for the neutron beta decay with a polarized neutron, a polarized electron and an unpolarized proton. Together with Wilkinson's corrections (Nucl. Phys. A 377, 474 (1982) and radiative corrections of order O(alph…
Inelastic neutron scattering was used to study the low-lying nuclear structure of $^{132}$Xe. A comprehensive level scheme is presented, as well as new level lifetimes, multipole mixing ratios, branching ratios, and transition probabilities. Comparisons of these data as well as previously measured $E2$ strengths and $g$ factors are made with new shell-model calculations for $^{132,134,136}$Xe to explore the emergence of collectivity in the Xe isotopes with $N$ < 82 near the closed shell.
Experiments searching for neutrinoless double beta decay ($0νββ$) require precise energy calibration and extremely low backgrounds. One of the most popular isotopes for $0νββ$ experiments is $^{136}$Xe. In support of these experiments, the neutron inelastic scattering properties of this isotope have been measured at the GErmanium Array for Neutron Induced Excitations (GEANIE) at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Time-of-flight techniques are utilized with high-purity germanium detectors to search for inelastic scattering $γ$ rays for neutron energies between 0.7 and 100 MeV. Limits are se…
Symmetry restoration in the axially deformed proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation for nuclear beta decay: The effect of angular-momentum projection
Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学）；University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill（北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校）
Flux-averaged cross sections for cosmogenic-neutron activation of natural tellurium were measured using a neutron beam containing neutrons of kinetic energies up to $\sim$800 MeV, and having an energy spectrum similar to that of cosmic-ray neutrons at sea-level. Analysis of the radioisotopes produced reveals that 110mAg will be a dominant contributor to the cosmogenic-activation background in experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 130Te, such as CUORE and SNO+. An estimate of the cosmogenic-activation background in the CUORE experiment has been obtained using the results o…
The $^{11}$Be neutron halo nucleus appears to decay into $^{10}$Be with a rate that exceeds expectations. Neutron disappearance into dark matter, beta decay of a halo neutron, or beta-delayed proton decay have been offered as explanations. In this work we study the latter option; we carry out shell model calculations and sequential decay analysis examining the beta-delayed proton decay going through a resonance in $^{11}$B. The narrow energy window, lack of states with sufficient spectroscopic strength, overwhelming alpha decay branch, all make reconciling the observed rate with beta-delayed p…
In the framework of the Standard Model (SM) a theoretical description of the neutron beta decay is given at the level of 10^{-5}. The neutron lifetime and correlation coefficients of the neutron beta decay for a polarized neutron, a polarized electron and an unpolarized proton are calculated at the account for i) the radiative corrections of order O(αE_e/m_N) ~ 10^{-5} to Sirlin's outer and inner radiative corrections of order O(α/π), ii) the corrections of order O(E^2_e/m^2_N) ~ 10^{-5}, caused by weak magnetism and proton recoil, and iii) Wilkinson's corrections of order 10^{-5} (Wilkinson, …
A formalism for the study of charge symmetry breaking (CSB) effects is discussed and used to analyze the effects of charge symmetry breaking on neutron beta decay. The effect of including CSB reduces the beta decay matrix element by an amount on the order of $10^{-4}$, a value much larger than the previous estimate. A much smaller contribution due to proton recoil is treated as well, which is found to be on the order of $10^{-6}$. The current uncertainty in the value of $V_{ud}$ is also of order $10^{-4}$. An improvement of that uncertainty by an order of magnitude would require that charge sy…
Within the standard V - A theory of weak interactions, Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) and the linear sigma-model (LsM) of strong low-energy hadronic interactions we analyse gauge and infrared properties of hadronic structure of the neutron and proton in the neutron beta decay to leading order in the large nucleon mass expansion. We show that the complete set of Feynman diagrams describing radiative corrections of order O(α/π), induced by hadronic structure of the nucleon, to the rate of the neutron beta decay is gauge non-invariant and unrenormalisable. We show that a gauge non-invariant contri…
Within the standard V - A theory of weak interactions, Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) and the linear sigma-model (LsM) of strong low-energy hadronic interactions we analyse gauge properties of hadronic structure of the neutron and proton in the neutron radiative beta-decay. We show that the Feynman diagrams, describing contributions of hadronic structure to the amplitude of the neutron radiative beta-decay in the tree-approximation for strong low-energy interactions in the LsM, are gauge invariant. In turn, the complete set of Feynman diagrams, describing the contributions of hadron-photon inte…
