Observation of the radiative decay mode of the free neutron

Jeffrey S. Nico (), Maynard S. Dewey, Thomas R. Gentile, H. Pieter Mumm, Alan K. Thompson, Brian M. Fisher, Isaac Kremsky, Fred E. Wietfeldt, Timothy E. Chupp, Robert L. Cooper, Elizabeth J. Beise, Kristin G. Kiriluk, James Byrne and Kevin J. Coakley
Additional contact information
Jeffrey S. Nico: Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Maynard S. Dewey: Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Thomas R. Gentile: Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
H. Pieter Mumm: Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Alan K. Thompson: Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Brian M. Fisher: Tulane University
Isaac Kremsky: Tulane University
Fred E. Wietfeldt: Tulane University
Timothy E. Chupp: University of Michigan
Robert L. Cooper: University of Michigan
Elizabeth J. Beise: University of Maryland
Kristin G. Kiriluk: University of Maryland
James Byrne: University of Sussex
Kevin J. Coakley: Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Nature, 2006, vol. 444, issue 7122, 1059-1062

Abstract: Radiation: the beta test Radioactive beta-decay of the neutron produces a proton, electron and antineutrino. Quantum electrodynamics predicts that a continuous spectrum of soft photons should accompany these decay products. This radiation has been measured previously in nuclear beta and electron capture decay, but not in free neutron decay. Now radioactive beta decay, complete with photons, has been observed for free neutrons in an experiment at the NG-6 (Neutron Guide 6) facility of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The resulting measurements are in line with theory, and this advance may provide opportunities for more detailed investigations of the weak interaction processes involved in neutron beta decay.

Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05390 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:444:y:2006:i:7122:d:10.1038_nature05390

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature05390

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().