First Direct Determination of the Superallowed $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Decay ${Q}_{EC}$ Value for $^{14}\mathrm{O}$

First Direct Determination of the Superallowed $β$ -Decay $Q_{E C}$ Value for ${}^{14}O$

A. A. Valverde, G. Bollen, M. Brodeur, R. A. Bryce, K. Cooper, M. Eibach, K. Gulyuz, C. Izzo, D. J. Morrissey, M. Redshaw, R. Ringle, R. Sandler, S. Schwarz, C. S. Sumithrarachchi, and A. C. C. Villari

Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 232502 – Published 12 June 2015

Abstract

We report the first direct measurement of the ${}^{14}O$ superallowed Fermi $β$ -decay $Q_{E C}$ value, the last of the so-called “traditional nine” superallowed Fermi $β$ decays to be measured with Penning trap mass spectrometry. ${}^{14}O$ , along with the other low- $Z$ superallowed $β$ emitter, ${}^{10}C$ , is crucial for setting limits on the existence of possible scalar currents. The new ground state $Q_{E C}$ value, 5144.364(25) keV, when combined with the energy of the $0^{+}$ daughter state, $E_{x} (0^{+}) = 2312.798 (11) keV$ [, Nucl. Phys. A523, 1 (1991)], provides a new determination of the superallowed $β$ -decay $Q_{E C}$ value, $Q_{E C} (sa) = 2831.566 (28) keV$ , with an order of magnitude improvement in precision, and a similar improvement to the calculated statistical rate function $f$ . This is used to calculate an improved $F t$ value of 3073.8(2.8) s.

Received 27 March 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.232502

Authors & Affiliations

A. A. Valverde^1,2,*, G. Bollen^2,3, M. Brodeur⁴, R. A. Bryce⁵, K. Cooper^1,6, M. Eibach¹, K. Gulyuz¹, C. Izzo^1,2, D. J. Morrissey^1,6, M. Redshaw^1,5, R. Ringle¹, R. Sandler^1,2, S. Schwarz¹, C. S. Sumithrarachchi¹, and A. C. C. Villari³

¹National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
²Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
³Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
⁴Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
⁵Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859, USA
⁶Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA