Discovery of the neutron radiative decay

The report is dedicated to the preparation of the new experiment on the neutron radiative decay what is conducted for the last years. We started the experimental research of this neutron decay branch with the experiment conducted at ILL in 2002 and continued in another experiment at the second and third cycles at the FRMII reactor of the Technical University of Munich in 2005. In the first experiment we succeeded in measuring only the upper limit on the relative intensity (B....

This report is dedicated to the investigation of radiative neutron decay. The theoretical spectrum of radiative gamma quanta, calculated within the framework of the standard electroweak interaction model, is compared with our experimental value of branching ratio (B.R.) for radiative neutron decay. It is noted that the study of radiative branches of elementary particle decay occupies a central place in the fundamental problem of searching for deviations from the standard elec...

Over 10 years ago we proposed an experiment on measuring the characteristics of radiative neutron decay in papers [1, 2]. At the same time we had published the theoretical spectrum of radiative gamma quanta, calculated within the framework of the electroweak interactions, on the basis of which we proposed the methodology for the future experiment [3,4]. However, because we were denied beam time on the intensive cold neutron beam at ILL (Grenoble, France) for a number of years...

To measure the main characteristics of radiative neutron decay, namely its relative intensity BR (branching ratio), it is necessary to measure the spectra of double coincidences between beta-electron and proton as well as the spectra of triple coincidences of electron, proton and radiative gamma-quantum. Analysis of double coincidences spectra requires one to distinguish events of ordinary neutron beta decay from the background; analysis of triple coincidences relies on disti...

The standard model predicts that, in addition to a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino, a continuous spectrum of photons is emitted in the $\beta$ decay of the free neutron. We report on the RDK II experiment which measured the photon spectrum using two different detector arrays. An annular array of bismuth germanium oxide scintillators detected photons from 14 to 782~keV. The spectral shape was consistent with theory, and we determined a branching ratio of 0.00335 $\pm$...

We review the status of the Standard Model theory of neutron beta decay. Particular emphasis is put on the recent developments in the electroweak radiative corrections. Given that some existing approaches give slightly different results, we thoroughly review the origin of discrepancies, and provide our recommended value for the radiative correction to the neutron and nuclear decay rates. The use of dispersion relation, lattice Quantum Chromodynamics and effective field theory...

The interest, the status and the perspectives of various experiments in neutron and nuclear beta-decay, muon-decay and pion-decays are discussed. The talk is segmented into a discussion of the decay-rates and of the energy-spectra and correlations. The impact on various scenarios of "new physics" is briefly mentioned; left-right symmetric models are discussed in more detail and the informations gained from the considered experiments is compared to those from other sources.

At least one neutrino has a mass of about 50 meV or larger. However, the absolute mass scale for the neutrino remains unknown. Furthermore, the critical question: Is the neutrino its own antiparticle? is unanswered. Studies of double beta decay offer hope for determining the absolute mass scale. In particular, zero-neutrino double beta decay (\BBz) can address the issues of lepton number conservation, the particle-antiparticle nature of the neutrino, and its mass. A summary o...

Neutrinoless double beta decay is one of the most powerful tools to set the neutrino mass absolute scale and establish whether the neutrino is a Majorana particle. After a summary of the neutrinoless double beta decay phenomenology, the present status of the experimental search for this rare decay is reported and the prospects for next generation experiments are reviewed.

There are profound connections between neutrino physics and nuclear experiments. Exceptionally precise measurements of single and double beta-decay spectra illuminate the scale and nature of neutrino mass and may finally answer the question of whether neutrinos are their own antimatter counterparts. Neutrino-nucleus scattering underpins oscillation experiments and probes nuclear structure, neutrinos offer a rare vantage point into collapsing stars and nuclear fission reactors...