[Triumf-seminars] TRIUMF Colloquium today at 14:00

[TRIUMF Seminars]

Date/Time: Thu 2011-09-08 at 14:00

Location:  Auditorium          

Speaker:   Michael Hass (Weizmann Institute)

Title:     Beta-Decay Studies of Short-Lived 6He in an Electrostatic Ion Trap

Abstract: Trapped radioactive atoms and/or ions present exciting opportunities for precision tests of fundamental interactions and their symmetries at low energies. Detecting the minute possible deviations to the angular correlation between a neutrino and an electron in the beta-decay process, serves as an elegant, low-energy probe of so-called “new physics beyond-the-standard-model”, manifested in tensor or scalar terms in the weak interaction formalism. Such tests of the SM can be viewed as complementary to studies at the high-energy frontier.

The WIRED (Weizmann Institute Radioactive Ion Device) project is a new research development with the aim performing beta-neutrino angular correlation measurements using an electrostatic ion beam trap. The novel concept incorporates an ion trap, commonly used in atomic and molecular physics, offering unique and distinct possible advantages over other systems.

The particular and immediate case under study at the first phases of this program is the 6He nucleus, with a half life of ~800 ms. 6He will be produced by means of the 9Be(n,alpha)6He reaction on a porous BeO-fiber target, using neutrons from a d+t neutron generator. The setup for this experiment at the WI has become operational in Summer 2011 for trapping of stable 4He. Work with radioactive 6He will commence towards the end of 2011.

We present the status of the experiment, together with detailed simulations and results of first trapping experiments on stable 4He.

Stimulants available 15 minutes before the talk.

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