Weak Decays of Oxygen-14, Carbon-14 and Boron-8

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

We will carry out a program of experiments in the area of Weak Interactions in Nuclear Physics. Two of the experiments seek to test the "conserved vector current" (CVC) hypothesis of weak interactions by measuring the shape of the beta-spectrum in decays of oxygen-14 and carbon-14. These experiments are sensitive to shape changes associated with the presence of the weak magnetism term in beta decay. A measurement of the ground state branching ratio for the oxygen-14 decay will also be obtained. The second project is to measure the shape of the boron-8 beta-spectrum. This work is of particular importance because of the central role of neutrinos from boron-8 decay in experiments that measure solar neutrinos. All of the experiments make use of a superconducting beta spectrometer, the design, construction and testing of which took place under a prior NSF grant. The proposed experiments advance science, but have the additional goal of training highly talented physics students. The students learn to work and think independently and gain a wide variety of practical problem solving skills. The impact on society is felt when these students enter the workforce, often in areas of applied science. Past Ph.D. students from the group are currently working in medical physics research (especially development of new MRI capabilities), in the area of Nuclear Safegards at one of the national labs, and in teaching at the university and technical college levels.