A novel measurement of the β-decay half-life of ~(14)O, and its relevance to the standard model

摘要

The half-life of the super-allowed β-decay of ~(14)O has been measured to be 70.623 + 0.053 s. The ~(14)O was produced via the reaction 12C(13He,n)140, and the decay was uniquely isolated using a triple-coincidence detection system. A novel digitisation technique, where every pulse was digitally recorded, guaranteed the integrity of the analysis. The half-life value was used to test the Conserved-Vector-Current (CVC) hypothesis, and thus indirectly the Standard Model.