Rare βp decays in light nuclei

Beta-delayed proton emission may occur at very low rates in the decays of the light nuclei Be-11 and B-8. This paper explores the potential physical significance of such decays, estimates their rates and reports on first attempts to detect them: an experiment at ISOLDE/CERN gives a branching ratio for Be-11 of ( 2.5 +/- 2.5) x 10(-6) and an experiment at JYFL a 95% confidence upper limit of 2.6 x 10(-5) for B-8.