Opportunities and open questions in modern $\beta$ decay

Abstract

For well over half a century, precision studies of neutron and nuclear $\beta$ decays have been at the forefront of searches for exotic electroweak physics. Recent advances in nuclear ab initio theory and the widespread use of effective field theories means that its modern understanding is going through a transitional phase. This has been propelled by current tensions in the global data set leading to renewed scrutiny of its theoretical ingredients. In parallel, a host of novel techniques and methods are being investigated that are able to sidestep many traditional systematic uncertainties and require a diverse palette of skills and collaboration with material science and condensed matter physics. We highlight the current opportunities and open questions with the aim of facilitating the transition to a more modern understanding of $\beta$ decay.

Invited review for Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. 37 pages, 5 figures; (v2) fixed references and minor textual changes

References in corpus (12)

• Superallowed 0+ to 0+ nuclear beta decays: A new survey with precision tests of the conserved vector current hypothesis and the standard model
• Measurement of the Weak Axial-Vector Coupling Constant in the Decay of Free Neutrons Using a Pulsed Cold Neutron Beam
• Single electron detection and spectroscopy via relativistic cyclotron radiation
• Ft values of the T = 1/2 mirror beta transitions
• Neutrino inclusive inelastic scattering off nuclei
• First-principles calculation of electroweak box diagrams from lattice QCD
• Precise Measurements of the Decay of Free Neutrons
• Kinematic sensitivity to the Fierz term of $\beta$-decay differential spectra
• Constraints on the Dark Matter Interpretation $n\to \chi +e^{+}{e}^{-}$ of the Neutron Decay Anomaly with the PERKEO II experiment
• Using Nab to determine correlations in unpolarized neutron decay
• Measurement of the Shape Factor for the Beta Decay of ${}^{14}$O
• Branching ratio of the super-allowed beta decay of 10C

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Effect of isoscalar and isovector scalar fields on baryon semileptonic decays in nuclear matter
• Recent applications of the subtracted second RPA method