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Fermi Theory of β decay Kurie plot 2023 Revised

The document discusses Fermi's theory of beta decay, including the electron momentum distribution, Kurie plots, and implications for the neutrino mass. Fermi's theory models beta decay using a point-like interaction and predicts an electron spectrum that can be tested via Kurie plots. Small deviations from linearity near the endpoint could indicate a non-zero neutrino mass.

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466 views21 pages

Fermi Theory of β decay Kurie plot 2023 Revised

The document discusses Fermi's theory of beta decay, including the electron momentum distribution, Kurie plots, and implications for the neutrino mass. Fermi's theory models beta decay using a point-like interaction and predicts an electron spectrum that can be tested via Kurie plots. Small deviations from linearity near the endpoint could indicate a non-zero neutrino mass.

Uploaded by

Rae Aman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fermi Theory of β decay: Electron

momentum distribution, Kurie


Plot and the neutrino mass
• The first successful theory of nuclear β decay
was proposed in 1930 by Fermi, long before
the W and Z bosons were known and the
quark model formulated.
• The general equation for electron β decay is
zXA z+1YA + e- + ν¯e …….(1)
i.e. n p + e- + ν¯e ……………………(2)
In weak interaction, the Fermi Golden rule to
calculate the transition rate is
2π
w= |Mfi|2 n(E) …... (3)
ℏ
Where w is the transition rate (probability per
unit time), Mfi is the transition amplitude (also
called matrix element) whose elements are all
the possible transitions from the initial state i to
different final states f of the system and n(E) is
the density states.
• We assume, the potential (Yukawa) is extremely short
range (because of the large mass of W boson), in which
case we can approximate the interaction by a point like
form and the matrix element then becomes simply a
constant, written as
GF
Mfi = ……. (4)
V
4π ℏ𝑐 3αw
Where GF = is the Fermi coupling constant has
(Mwc2)2
dimensions [energy][length]3, αw is charged current weak
interaction coupling and V is arbitrary volume used to
normalize the wave functions.
From eqn (3) we see that the transition rate (i.e.
β – decay lifetime) depends on n(E). To evaluate
n(E), we consider the neutron and proton to be
heavy, so that they have negligible kinetic
energies and all the energy released in the decay
process goes into creating the electron and
neutrino and in giving them kinetic energy.
n p + e- + ν¯e
Thus,
Total energy released = C2 (mn - mp) = E = Ee + Eν …..(5)
Where E = total energy released in the decay
Ee = total (relativistic) energy of the electron.
Eν = total energy of the neutrino.
The transition rate w can be measured as a function
of the electron momentum, so we need to obtain
an expression for the spectrum of β decay
electrons.
For this we fix Ee and find the differential transition
rate for decays where the electron has energy in the
range Ee to Ee + dEe.
𝟐𝝅
Then from eqn (3), w= |Mfi|2 n(E) …... (3)
ℏ
2π
dw = |M|2 nν(E ν) ne(Ee) dEe
ℏ
2π
= |M|2 nν(E - Ee)ne(Ee)dEe ……… (6)
ℏ
where nν and ne are the density of states factor for the
neutrino and electron respectively.
The total no. of quantum states is
4 3
3
πk 𝑉 4π 𝑝 3 𝑉 4π 3
N= ൘ 2π = 3( )( ) = 3( )p
𝐿
3 2π 3 ℏ 2πℏ 3
The density of states is
𝑑𝑁 𝑑𝑁 𝑑𝑝
n(E) = =
𝑑𝐸 𝑑𝑝 𝑑𝐸
𝑉 2 𝑑𝑝 𝑽 𝟒𝝅
n(E) = 4π𝑝 Since,N= 𝟑( ) p3
(2πℏ)3 𝑑𝐸 𝟐𝝅ℏ 𝟑

𝐸2
But, p2 =
𝑐2
- m2c2 E2 = (mc2)2 + (pc)2
𝑑𝑝 𝐸
Therefore, = 2
𝑑𝐸 𝑝𝑐
𝑉 2 𝑑𝑝
n(E) = 4π𝑝
(2πℏ)3 𝑑𝐸
𝑑𝑝 𝐸
= 2
𝑑𝐸 𝑝𝑐
𝑽 𝟐 𝑬 4𝝅𝑽 𝒑𝑬
n(E) = 4𝝅𝒑 =
(𝟐𝝅ℏ )𝟑 𝒑𝒄𝟐 (𝟐𝝅ℏ )𝟑 𝒄𝟐
4π𝑉 𝑝𝑒𝐸𝑒
i.e. ne(Ee) dEe = dEe ……… (7)
(2πℏ )3 𝑐2
4π𝑉 𝑝ν𝐸ν
and n ν(E ν) = …….. (8)
(2πℏ )3 𝑐2
𝟐𝝅
using (7) and (8) in (6) dw = 2 |M| nν 𝑬ν ne(Ee)dEe … (6)
ℏ

2π 𝐺𝐹 2 (4π𝑉)2 𝑝ν𝐸ν
dw = ( ) P E dE
ℏ 𝑉 2πℏ 6 𝑐4 e e e
𝑑𝑤 𝐺𝐹2
=( )𝑝𝑒𝐸𝑒 𝑝ν𝐸ν ……… (9)
𝑑𝐸𝑒 2π3ℏ7𝑐4
It is useful to change the variable to pe by writing
𝑑𝑤 𝑑𝐸𝑒 𝑑𝑤 𝑃𝑒𝐶2 𝐺𝐹2
= = 3 7 4 𝑝𝑒𝐸𝑒 𝑝ν𝐸ν
𝑑𝑝𝑒 𝑑𝑝𝑒 𝑑𝐸𝑒 𝐸𝑒 2π ℏ 𝑐
𝐺𝐹2
= 3 7 2 𝑝𝑒2 𝑝ν𝐸ν ……. (10)
2π ℏ 𝑐
If we take the antineutrino to be precisely
𝑬ν
massless, then 𝒑ν = as E2 = (mc2)2 + (pc)2 and
𝒄
Eqn (10) becomes
𝑑𝑤 𝐺𝐹2 2 𝐸ν 𝐺𝐹2𝑝𝑒2 𝐸 −𝐸𝑒 2
= 𝑝𝑒 𝐸ν = ………… (11)
𝑑𝑝𝑒 2π3ℏ7𝑐2 𝑐 2π3ℏ7𝑐3
Expression (11) gives rise to a bell shaped electron
momentum distribution, which rises from zero at
zero momentum reaches a peak and falls to zero
again at an electron energy equal to E, as illustrated
in the curve labeled z = 0 in Figure, below.
In deriving the electron momentum distribution we
ignored
a)the possible changes of nuclear spin of the
decaying nucleus and
b)the electric force acting between the β –
particle and the nucleus.

In the first case (case a), when (e- + νe ) carry


away a combined angular momentum of 0 or 1
the above treatment is essentially correct; these
are the so called ‘allowed transitions’. However,
the nucleus may change its spin by more than 1
unit, then this approximation is inadequate.
The decay rate in these cases is generally
suppressed and known as the ‘forbidden
transitions’.
In the second case (case b), the low end of the
momentum spectrum is shifted to the left due to
columbic interaction between β and the nucleus as
shown.
The so-called Fermi screening factor F(Z, Ee) should
be included in the basic β – spectrum to address
these effects.
Kuric Plots and the neutrino mass:
The usual way of experimentally testing the form of
the electron momentum distribution given by the
Fermi theory is by means of a Kurie Plot. From eqn
(11) with the Fermi screening factor included, we
have
𝑑𝑤 𝐹 𝑍,𝐸𝑒 𝐺𝐹2 𝑃𝑒2 𝐸 −𝐸𝑒 2
=
𝑑𝑃𝑒 2π3ℏ7c3
1
3
𝑑𝑤 1 2π ℏ c 7 3
or, E – Ee = [( ) 2 2]
2
𝑑𝑃𝑒 𝑃𝑒 𝐹 𝑍,𝐸𝑒 𝐺𝐹
H(Ee) = E – Ee ………… (12)
where,
1
𝑑𝑤 1
H(Ee) = [( ) 2 ]2 …….. (13)
𝑑𝑃𝑒 𝑃𝑒 𝑘 𝑍,𝑃𝑒
𝐹 𝑍,𝐸𝑒 𝐺𝐹2
𝑘 𝑍, 𝑃𝑒 = …… (14)
2π3ℏ7c3
The L.H.S of Eq. (12) against the electron energy
Ee gives a straight line with slope (-1) and
intercept E.
• If mν ≠ 0 then the L.H.S of curie plot is
proportional to 1 1

{(E - Ee) [(E - Ee)2- m ν2c4] 2} 2


This will produce a very small deviation from
linearity extremely close to the end point of the
spectrum and the straight line will curve near
the end point and cut the axis vertically at
EoI = Eo - m νc2.
The best condition for measuring the neutrino
mass is provided by the decay of tritium
3H 3He + e- + ν
e …….. (15)
where Eo = 18.6 KeV. The predicted Kurie plot
very close to the end point is shown in figure
below.
The shift of end point energy from Eo to EoI
determine the neutrino mass. The best
experiment are consistent with a zero neutrino
mass, but when experimental and theoretical
uncertainties are taken into account, an upper
limit of about 2-3 eV/c2 results.

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