Scientists at NIST have made precise measurements of the energy spectrum of photons produced during neutron beta decay, a fundamental process in particle physics. The research team, representing nine institutions, used an intense beam of slow-moving neutrons at NIST’s Center for Neutron Research to measure both the energy spectrum of the photons and the branching ratio of the decay process.
The results confirmed predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes how particles and forces interact. The measurements were more than twice as accurate as previous values and provided specific information that theoretical physicists are using to further develop quantum electrodynamics (QED), the theory describing how matter interacts with light.
The research also validated the experimental approach as a way to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model, potentially revealing right-handed neutrinos or time-reversal symmetry violations that could explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
Keywords: Neutron, Beta decay, Photon, QED (Quantum Electrodynamics)
