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Measurement of the neutrino asymmetry in the β decay of laser-cooled, polarized 37K

  • D. Melconian*
  • , J. A. Behr
  • , D. Ashery
  • , O. Aviv
  • , P. G. Bricault
  • , M. Dombsky
  • , S. Fostner
  • , A. Gorelov
  • , S. Gu
  • , V. Hanemaayer
  • , K. P. Jackson
  • , M. R. Pearson
  • , I. Vollrath
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Simon Fraser University
  • University of Washington
  • TRIUMF
  • Tel Aviv University

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

A measurement of the neutrino asymmetry is presented which represents the first search for new physics using polarized radioactive atoms initially cooled and confined in a magneto-optical trap. Optical pumping and photoionization techniques are used to generate and measure, in situ, a highly spin-polarized (96.5 (0.8) %) sample of the short-lived β+-emitter 37K. The angular distribution of neutrinos from this polarized decay, inferred from the daughter recoil asymmetry, is used to search for a hypothetical V + A current in the weak interaction. We find the ν asymmetry parameter to be Bν = - 0.755 ± 0.020 (stat) ± 0.013 (syst), in agreement with the standard model's purely V - A interaction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)370-375
Number of pages6
JournalPhysics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume649
Issue number5-6
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Jun 2007

Funding

Funders
CIPI
TRIUMF
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
National Rehabilitation Center
Israel Science Foundation

    Keywords

    • Atom trapping
    • Neutrino asymmetry
    • Nuclear β decay
    • Optical pumping
    • Parity violation
    • Right-handed currents

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