Exotic decay channels are not the cause of the neutron lifetime anomaly

Since long neutron lifetimes measured with a beam of cold neutrons are significantly different from lifetimes measured with ultracold neutrons bottled in a trap. It is often speculated that this “neutron anomaly” is due to an exotic dark neutron decay channel of unknown origin. We show that this exp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics letters. B Vol. 791; pp. 6 - 10
Main Authors Dubbers, D., Saul, H., Märkisch, B., Soldner, T., Abele, H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 10.04.2019
Elsevier
Subjects
Beta asymmetry
Beta decay
Dark neutron decay
Lifetime
Neutron
Lifetime
Beta decay
Neutron
Beta asymmetry
Dark neutron decay
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Summary:Since long neutron lifetimes measured with a beam of cold neutrons are significantly different from lifetimes measured with ultracold neutrons bottled in a trap. It is often speculated that this “neutron anomaly” is due to an exotic dark neutron decay channel of unknown origin. We show that this explanation of the neutron anomaly can be excluded with a high level of confidence when use is made of our new result for the neutron decay β asymmetry. Furthermore, data from neutron decay now compare well with Ft-data derived from nuclear β decays.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2019.02.013