Possible Experiments for Determination of Beta Interactions
Some possible experiments are proposed for deciding the relative strength of scalar and vector interactions and that of tensor and axial vector interactions in beta decay. For all the proposed experiments, it is necessary to measure the recoil of the nucleus directly or the nuclear resonance fluorescence caused by a gamma ray which follows the beta decay or K capture. Formulas are given for decays involving the beta-gamma cascades and K-capture-gamma-gamma cascades. We describe possible experiments for decays involving beta-gamma-gamma cascades, but do not give explicit formulas. They will be presented in a subsequent paper. These experiments will also determine whether the beta interaction is the same for both signs of the electric charge.
RECENT experiments verifying parity nonconservation in beta decay, namely on the beta-ray angular distribution from polarized nuclei, the longitudinal polarization of beta particles, and the beta-circularly polarized gamma angular correlation, have suggested the relations among the coupling constants in beta interactions to be C, = —C for STP and C;=C for VA. Assuming these relative signs between guish between these possibilities. The measurement of the C s and C;"s, the results of these experiments are in agreement with theory, whatever the values of the ratios may be. In order to obtain information on these ratios, the most direct method is to measure the beta-recoil nucleus angular correlations. Data of this sort have been presented by many authors.2
,2 The experimental data on the beta-(recoil nucleus) angular correlation of the neutron [J. M. Robson, Phys. Rev. 100, 933 (1955]; He6 [B. M. Rustad and S. L. Ruby, Phys. Rev. 97, 991 (1955)]; Szalay et al., Padua Conference, 1957 (to be published)]; Ne19 [Maxson, Allen, and Jentschke, Phys. Rev. 97, 109 (1955); M. L. Good and E.J.Lauer, Phys. Rev. 105, 213 (1957); W.P. Alford and D. R. Hamilton, Phys. Rev. 105, 673 (1957)]; Ne23 [R. W. Ridley, Nuclear Phys. 6, 34 (1958)]; and A35 [Hermansfeld, Maxson, Stahlin, and Allen, Phys. Rev. 107,641 (1957)] may all be compatible with the same values of coupling constant ratios if certain corrections to the experimental results on He are taken into account. (B. M. Rustad and S. L. Ruby, postdeadline paper presented at the New York Meeting of the American Physical Society, 1958).