Experiments on Weak Interactions in Nuclear Physics

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the proposed research it to produce a source of oxygen 14, a radioactive isotope of oxygen having a half-life of 70 seconds. If this development project is successful, the source will be used in a future experiment designed to test one of the fundamental aspects of the unified theory of the weak and electromagnetic interactions. To perform this experiment the source must have an activity of at least 100,000 decays per second, and for technical reasons must be deposited on a very thin foil in an area of no more than a few square millimeters. The weak interaction experiment which we hope to carry out later will test what is referred to as the Conserved Vector Current Hypothesis, and will involve measuring the energy spectrum of the positrons emitted in the decay of oxygen 14.