The influence of pairing correlations on the isospin symmetry breaking corrections of superallowed Fermi beta decays

Within the framework of quasi-particle random phase approximation, the isospin breaking correction of superallowed 0⁺ → 0⁺ beta decay and unitarity of Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix have been investigated. The broken isotopic symmetry of nuclear part of Hamiltonian has been restored by Pyatov’s method. The isospin symmetry breaking correction with pairing correlations has been compared with the previous results without pairing. The effect of pairing interactions has been examined for nine superallowed Fermi beta decays; their parent nuclei are ²⁶Al, ³⁴Cl, ³⁸K, ⁴²Sc, ⁴⁶V, ⁵⁰Mn, ⁵⁴Co, ⁶²Ga, ⁷⁴Rb.     

Charge-dependence in superallowed beta decay: A comment

Experimental $\text{?t}$-values are used to examine various theoretical treatments of analogue symmetry breaking in superallowed Fermi β-decay. None of the fits to experiment in more than barely acceptable and, contrary to a previous analysis, we find no clear preference for one type of treatment over another.     

Experimental validation of the largest calculated isospin-symmetry-breaking effect in a superallowed Fermi decay

A precision measurement of the γ yields following the β decay of (32)Cl has determined its isobaric-analogue branch to be (22.47(-0.18)(+0.21))%. Since it is an almost pure-Fermi decay, we can also determine the amount of isospin-symmetry breaking in this superallowed transition. We find a very large value, δ(C) = 5.3(9)%, in agreement with a shell-model calculation. This result sets a benchmark for isospin-symmetry-breaking calculations and lends support for similarly calculated, yet smaller, corrections that are currently applied to 0+ → 0 + transitions for tests of the standard model.     

Microscopic calculations of isospin-breaking corrections to superallowed beta decay

The superallowed β-decay rates that provide stringent constraints on physics beyond the standard model of particle physics are affected by nuclear structure effects through isospin-breaking corrections. The self-consistent isospin- and angular-momentum-projected nuclear density functional theory is used for the first time to compute those corrections for a number of Fermi transitions in nuclei from A=10 to A=74. The resulting leading element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, |V(ud)|=0.97447(23), agrees well with the recent result of Towner and Hardy [Phys. Rev. C 77, 025501 (2008)].     

On the isospin breaking corrections to nuclear beta decay

We estimate the effect of the up and down quark mass difference to the neutron beta decay vector form factor at zero momentum transfer, by using an expansion in chiral SU(3) X SU(3) symmetry breaking to leading order. We find a deviation from a deviation from unity of the order of 3.5X10⁻⁵.     

New limits on fundamental weak-interaction parameters from superallowed beta decay

A new survey of all world data on superallowed beta decays provides demanding tests of, and tight constraints on, the weak interaction. In confirmation of the conserved vector current hypothesis, the vector coupling constant G(V) is demonstrated to be constant to better than three parts in 10(4), and any induced scalar current is limited to f(S)相似文献   

The nuclear-structure dependence of radiative corrections in superallowed Fermi beta-decay

We give a shell-model calculation of the nuclear-structure-dependent axial-vector contribution of the Born graphs to the radiative correction in superallowed Fermi β-decay. The impact of the correction is to give a modest improvement in the test of the conserved-vector-current (CVC) hypothesis, and a slightly smaller value of the quark-mixing matrix element, V_ud. The test of the unitary of the first row of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix gives: V_ud² + ν_us² + V_ub² = 0.9962 ± 0.0016, violating the three-generation standard model. Hints from neutron-only data suggest that nuclear-structure corrections in superallowed Fermi β-decay are still not fully under control.     

Fermi matrix element with isospin breaking

Prompted by the level of accuracy now being achieved in tests of the unitarity of the CKM matrix, we consider the possible modification of the Fermi matrix element for the β  -decay of a neutron, including possible in-medium and isospin violating corrections. While the nuclear modifications lead to very small corrections once the Behrends–Sirlin–Ademollo–Gatto theorem is respected, the effect of the u−d$u-d$ mass difference on the conclusion concerning V_ud$V_{ud}$ is no longer insignificant. Indeed, we suggest that the correction to the value of |V_ud|²+|V_us|²+|V_ub|²${|V_{ud}|}^2+{|V_{us}|}^2+{|V_{ub}|}^2$ is at the level of ¹⁰⁻⁴${10}^{-4}$.     

The Fermi to Gamow-Teller mixing ratio of theβ + decay of52Mn and time-reversal invariance

To date, ten experimental measurements of the asymmetry parameter have been made for the positron decay of⁵²Mn. The Fermi to Gamow-Teller mixing ratioy can be deduced from such measurements and this quantity is important because the time-reversal violating amplitude is proportional toy/(1+y²). Our theoretical calculation using the Collective Model yieldsy=? 3.5×10^?4 for the deformation parameterβ=0.1 andy=? 4.6×10^?4 forβ=0.2. Such small values ofy are consistent with time-reversal invarisance.     

High precision measurement of the superallowed 0+ --> 0+ beta decay of 22Mg

The half-life, 3.8755(12) s, and superallowed branching ratio, 0.5315(12), for 22Mg beta decay have been measured with high precision. The latter depended on gamma-ray intensities being measured with an HPGe detector calibrated for relative efficiencies to an unprecedented 0.15%. Previous precise measurements of 0+ --> 0+ transitions have been restricted to the nine that populate stable daughter nuclei. No more such cases exist, and any improvement in a critical Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa unitarity test must depend on precise measurements of more exotic nuclei. With this branching-ratio measurement, we show those to be possible for T(z)=-1 parents. We obtain a corrected Ft value of 3071(9) s, in good agreement with expectations.     

Neutrinoless double beta decay studied with configuration mixing methods

We study neutrinoless double beta decay of several isotopes with state-of-the-art beyond self-consistent mean field methods to compute the nuclear matrix elements (NME). The generating coordinate method with particle number and angular momentum projection (GCM +PNAMP) is used for finding mother and granddaughter states and evaluating transition operators between different nuclei. We analyze explicitly the role of the deformation, pairing and configuration mixing in the evaluation of the NME.     

Internal gamma decay and the superallowed branching ratio for the beta(+) emitter (38)K(m)

The branching ratio for the superallowed beta(+) decay of (38)K(m) was measured at TRIUMF's ISAC radioactive ion beam facility. The M3 internal transition between the isomer and the ground state of (38)K(m) was observed with a branching ratio of 330(43) ppm. A search for the nonanalogue beta-decay branch to the first excited 0(+) state in (38)Ar was also performed and yielded an upper limit of < or =12 ppm at 90% C.L. These measurements lead to a revised superallowed branching ratio for (38)K(m) of 99.967(4)%, and increase the (38)K(m) ft value by its entire quoted uncertainty to ft=3052.1(10) s. Implications for tests of the nuclear-structure dependent corrections in superallowed beta decays and the extraction of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element V(ud) are discussed.     

Comment on isospin mixing in nuclei

The central collisions of 70 GeV/c protons with Ag, Br and Pb nuclei have been studied, with the help of BR-2 photoemulsion and emulsion of the same constitution loaded with Pb nuclei. It is shown that the average multiplicity of produced particles (s-particles) increases slowly with increasing the atomic weight of the target nucleus. The ratio of the average multiplicity for these particles to the average charged particle multiplicity for protonproton interactions equals 3.2 forp-Ag, Br and 3.5 forp-Pb. The average multiplicities of particles from nuclear disintegration with energies for protons from 26 up to 400 MeV (g-particles) are 14.2±0.8 forp-Ag, Br and 23.0±1.0 forp-Pb corresponding to the emission of about half of all nucleons from the nucleus at the first rapid stage of interaction. The difference of thes-particle pseudorapidity distributions forp-Ag, Br, Pb andp-p interactions at pseudorapidities larger than 4.2 can be explained by successive interactions of the incident proton with nucleus nucleons.     

Nuclear isospin mixing and elastic parity-violating electron scattering

The influence of nuclear isospin mixing on parity-violating elastic electron scattering is studied for the even–even, N=Z nuclei ¹²C, ²⁴Mg, ²⁸Si, and ³²S. Their ground-state wave functions have been obtained using a self-consistent axially-symmetric mean-field approximation with density-dependent effective two-body Skyrme interactions. Some differences from previous shell-model calculations appear for the isovector Coulomb form factors which play a role in determining the parity-violating asymmetry. To gain an understanding of how these differences arise, the results have been expanded in a spherical harmonic oscillator basis. Results are obtained not only within the plane-wave Born approximation, but also using the distorted-wave Born approximation for comparison with potential future experimental studies of parity-violating electron scattering. To this end, for each nucleus the focus is placed on kinematic ranges where the signal (isospin-mixing effects on the parity-violating asymmetry) and the experimental figure-of-merit are maximized. Strangeness contributions to the asymmetry are also briefly discussed, since they and the isospin mixing contributions may play comparable roles for the nuclei being studied at the low momentum transfers of interest in the present work.     

Time-evolution of isospin mixing in the unified exciton model

The unified exciton model, based on a master-equation approach, is extended to describe also the coupling between exciton states of different isospin. This allows the determination of the time evolution of the isospin mixing coefficient μ²(t). The equilibration of the excited nucleus, both in exciton number and isospin space, is discussed. It is shown that the nucleus essentially decays before full equilibrium is established.     

The superallowed decay of 35Ar: A persistent anomaly

The branching ratio for the decay of ³⁵Ar to the first excited state in ³⁵Cl has been measured to be (1.34±0.08)% with the ISOLDE on-line isotope separator. Combining this result with previous data leads to the value (98.28±0.06)% for the branching ratio of the ground state (superallowed) transitions. This does not resolve the apparent anomalousness of the derived Cabibbo angle for this transition, which now stands at θ_v < 0.10 with a 95% confidence level.