Neutron Lifetime Measurements

Journal Article · Fri Nov 17 04:00:00 EST 2006 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2402605· OSTI ID:20894968

Nico, J S ^[1]

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1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Physics Laboratory, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (United States)

Precision measurements of neutron beta decay address basic questions in nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. As the simplest semileptonic decay system, the free neutron plays an important role in understanding the physics of the weak interaction, and improving the precision of the neutron lifetime is fundamental to testing the validity of the theory. The neutron lifetime also directly affects the relative abundance of primordial helium in big bang nucleosynthesis. There are two distinct strategies for measuring the lifetime. Experiments using cold neutrons measure the absolute specific activity of a beam of neutrons by counting decay protons; experiments using confined, ultracold neutrons determine the lifetime by counting neutrons that remain after some elapsed time. The status of the recent lifetime measurements using both of these techniques is discussed.

• OSTI ID: 20894968
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 870; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ABUNDANCE
ASTROPHYSICS
BETA DECAY
COSMOLOGY
HELIUM
LIFETIME
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
PROTONS
SEMILEPTONIC DECAY
ULTRACOLD NEUTRONS
WEAK INTERACTIONS