Half-Life of Molecular Tritium and the Axial-Vector Interaction in Tritium β Decay

B. Budick, Jiansheng Chen, and Hong Lin
Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 2630 – Published 4 November 1991
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Abstract

The half-life of tritium has been measured by monitoring the decay of the x-ray bremsstrahlung emitted by gaseous mixtures of H23 and Xe. The result, 12.31±0.03 yr, when combined with the end-point energy measured on the same sources, yields the product (GA/GV)〈σ〉=2.098±0.003, where 〈σ〉 is the Gamow-Teller matrix element. Combined with a recent precise calculation of the matrix element, this value suggests that the renormalization of the axial-vector interaction can be entirely accounted for by nuclear effects in the triton. The deduced value of GA/GV constrains the neutron lifetime to lie in the range of 897±3 s.

  • Received 8 May 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.2630

©1991 American Physical Society

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Vol. 67, Iss. 19 — 4 November 1991

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