Electron-Neutrino Angular Correlation

The work with which this report is concerned was done by the Illinois group: J.S. Allen, P. Stähelin, W.B. Herrmannsfeldt and D.R. Mason.

Fig. 4, prepared by P. Stähelin, shows all presently available experimental results, together with the theoretically expected values for various pairs of interactions. Fig. 4 shows immediately how confused the situation is.No single assignment explains all the results. The possibilities are open: (1) The beta decay interaction is VA and the beautiful He⁶ experiment is wrong, (2) The interaction is ST and one discards the careful A³⁵ measurement, (3) All results are correct and the electrons, represented by He⁶ and N, possess ST; the positrons (Ne¹⁹ and A³⁵) VA. None of these three alternatives is very appealing; the third the least of all. Further experiments are urgently needed to resolve the puzzle.