Abstract
SOME recent measurements of beta-decay spectra show anomalous line shapes which have been interpreted1–5 as providing evidence for a neutrino with a mass of about 17 keV; other similar studies, however, find no anomalies6–13. Regardless of the reason for these discrepancies, such studies require a detailed understanding (at the level of accuracy of one part per thousand) of the spectral shape and the detector response expected in the absence of any exotic phenomena. Influences on the beta decay process from outside the nucleus are of great importance in this regard, and the role of atomic screening corrections14–16 and atomic and molecular effects on the spectrum near the end point17 have been considered previously. These produce only smooth, monotonic distortions of the spectrum. Here I note the existence of an effect, previously overlooked, that results in an oscillatory structure in the beta spectrum. The effect is of sufficient magnitude to be relevant to searches for heavy neutrinos that involve tritium beta decay, and it may also provide a basis for studies of molecular or crystal structure, in a manner analogous to extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Simpson, J. J. Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1891–1893 (1985).
Hime, A. & Simpson, J. J. Phys. Rev. D39, 1837–1850 (1989).
Simpson, J. J. & Hime, A. Phys. Rev. D39, 1825–1836 (1989).
Hime, A. & Jelley, N. A. Phys. Lett. B257, 441–449 (1991).
Sur, B. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2444–2447 (1991).
Datar, V. M. et al. Nature 318, 547–548 (1985).
Ohi, T. et al. Phys. Lett. B160, 322–324 (1985).
Markey, J. & Boehm, F. Phys. Rev. C32, 2215–2216 (1985).
Altzitzogolou, T. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 799–802 (1985).
Apalikov, A. et al. Pis' ma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 42, 233–236 (1985): Engl. Transl. JETP Lett. 42, 289–293 (1985).
Hetherington, D. W. et al. Phys. Rev. C36, 1504–1513 (1987).
Becker, H. W., Imel, D. A., Henrickson, H., Novikov, V. & Boehm, F. Caltech preprint CALT-63-605 (1991).
Bahran, M. & Kalbfleisch, G. R. Univ. of Oklahoma preprint OKHEP-91-005 (1991).
Lindhard, J. & Hansen, P. G. Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 965–967 (1986).
Weisnagel, S. & Law, J. Can. J. Phys. 67, 904–911 (1989).
Drukarev, E. G. & Strikman, M. I. Yad. Fiz. 5O, 294–296 (1989); (Engl. transl.) Sov. J. nucl. Phys. 50, 184–185 (1989).
Kolos, W. et al. Phys. Rev. A37, 2297–2303 (1988).
EXAFS Spectroscopy (eds Teo, B. K. & Joy, D. C.) (Plenum, New York, 1979).
Lee, P. A., Citrin, P. H., Eisenberger, P. & Kincaid, B. M. Rev. mod. Phys. 53, 769–806 (1981).
Konopinski, E. J. & Rose, M. E. Chapter XXIII in Alpha-, Beta-, and Gamma-ray Spectroscopy, Vol. 2 (ed. Siegbahn, K.) (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1965).
Ashley, C. A. & Doniach, S. Phys. Rev. B11, 1279–1288 (1975).
Lee, P. A. & Pendry, J. B. Phys. Rev. B11, 2795–2811 (1975).
Teo, B. K. in EXAFS Spectroscopy, Ch. 3 (eds Teo, B. K. & Joy, D. C.) 13–58 (Plenum, New York, 1979).
Patterson, B. D. Rev. mod. Phys. 60, 69–159 (1988).
Stern, E. A., Bunker, B. & Heald, S. M. in EXAFS Spectroscopy, Ch. 4 (eds Teo, B. K. & Joy, D. C.) (Plenum, New York 1979).
Stern, E. A., Sayers, D. E. & Lytle, F. W. Phys. Rev. B11, 4836–4846 (1975).
Koonin, S. E. & Meredith, D. C. Computational Physics (Fortran Version), Project IV, 454–475 (Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1990).
Lee, P. A. in EXAFS Spectroscopy, Ch. 2 (eds Teo, B. K. & Joy, D. C.) 5–11 (Plenum, New York, 1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Koonin, S. Environmental fine structure in low-energy β-particle spectra. Nature 354, 468–470 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/354468a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/354468a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Neutrino Mass Measurements Using Cryogenic Detectors
Journal of Low Temperature Physics (2022)
-
The calorimetric spectrum of the electron-capture decay of 163Ho. The spectral endpoint region
Journal of High Energy Physics (2016)
-
Detection of environmental fine structure in the low-energy β-decay spectrum of 187Re
Nature (1999)
-
A new twist in β-decay
Nature (1999)
-
The rise and fall of the 17-keV neutrino
Nature (1993)