New level of precision in study of neutron beta-decay. Theoretical basics and experimental backgrounds

The article provides a theoretical substantiation for a significant increase in the level of accuracy in determining the neutron lifetime using an alternative concept of neutron beta decay. Neutrons are distributed among different subsets depending on the sign of the scalar product of the neutron spin vector and the momentum of the electron emitted during decay. Therefore, the neutron lifetime can be determined separately for each of the subsets as the inverse frequency of its decay, which is to be averaged over the number of neutrons in this subset. The total neutron lifetime on the total set of neutrons is calculated by averaging the partial (basic) lifetimes, considering their weights. The weights of the basic lifetimes are calculated by two weighing methods, leading, respectively, to the so-called lifetime of nonpolarized neutrons, the weighted average lifetime of neutrons and the central lifetime, i.e. the arithmetic mean for the basic lifetimes of neutrons. The dependence between different average neutron lifetimes through the integral asymmetry parameter calculated by using known experimental data leads to simple analytical expressions. The numerical estimate of the weighted average neutron lifetime gives a value that is in good agreement with the results of the well-known experiments, which proves the validity of the proposed concept of neutron beta decay. This article includes necessary conditions for a new experiment to bring the neutron lifetime determination to a new level of accuracy.

Automated summary

The article provides theoretical support for improving the accuracy of neutron lifetime determination using an alternative concept of neutron beta decay. By studying different subsets of neutrons, the lifetime of each subset can be determined separately and averaged to calculate the total neutron lifetime. The results of this study are in good agreement with experimental results, confirming the validity of the proposed concept.