Radiative {beta} decay of the free neutron

Journal Article · Mon Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVC.81.035503· OSTI ID:21386718

Cooper, R L; Chupp, T E; Dewey, M S; Gentile, T R; Mumm, H P; Nico, J S; Thompson, A K; Fisher, B M; Kremsky, I; Wietfeldt, F E; Beise, E J; Kiriluk, K G; Byrne, J; Coakley, K J; Fu, C ^[1]

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1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)

The theory of quantum electrodynamics predicts that the {beta} decay of the neutron into a proton, electron, and antineutrino is accompanied by a continuous spectrum of emitted photons described as inner bremsstrahlung. While this phenomenon has been observed in nuclear {beta} decay and electron-capture decay for many years, it has only been recently observed in free-neutron decay. We present a detailed discussion of an experiment in which the radiative decay mode of the free neutron was observed. In this experiment, the branching ratio for this rare decay was determined by recording photons that were correlated with both the electron and proton emitted in neutron decay. We determined the branching ratio for photons with energy between 15 and 340 keV to be (3.09+-0.32)x10{sup -3} (68% level of confidence), where the uncertainty is dominated by systematic effects. This value for the branching ratio is consistent with theoretical predictions. The characteristic energy spectrum of the radiated photons, which differs from the uncorrelated background spectrum, is also consistent with the theoretical spectrum.

• OSTI ID: 21386718
• Journal Information: Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.81.035503; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0556-2813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANTINEUTRINOS
BETA DECAY
BRANCHING RATIO
ELECTRON CAPTURE DECAY
ELECTRONS
ENERGY SPECTRA
FORECASTING
INTERNAL BREMSSTRAHLUNG
KEV RANGE
NEUTRONS
PHOTONS
PROTONS
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
RADIATIVE DECAY
ANTILEPTONS
ANTIMATTER
ANTIPARTICLES
BARYONS
BOSONS
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
DECAY
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
ELECTRODYNAMICS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
HADRONS
LEPTONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATTER
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEAR DECAY
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE DECAY
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
RADIATIONS
SPECTRA