Assessment of the beta-delayed proton decay rate of 11Be

The 11Be neutron halo nucleus appears to decay into 10Be with a rate that exceeds expectations. Neutron disappearance into dark matter, beta decay of a halo neutron, or beta-delayed proton decay have been offered as explanations. In this work we study the latter option; we carry out shell model calc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Europhysics letters 2020-04, Vol.130 (1), p.12001
Main Author: Volya, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alpha decay
Beta decay
Dark matter
Decay rate
physics
PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
Protons
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Summary:The 11Be neutron halo nucleus appears to decay into 10Be with a rate that exceeds expectations. Neutron disappearance into dark matter, beta decay of a halo neutron, or beta-delayed proton decay have been offered as explanations. In this work we study the latter option; we carry out shell model calculations and sequential decay analysis examining the beta-delayed proton decay going through a resonance in 11B. The narrow energy window, lack of states with sufficient spectroscopic strength, overwhelming alpha decay branch, all make reconciling the observed rate with beta-delayed proton decay difficult.
ISSN:0295-5075
1286-4854
DOI:10.1209/0295-5075/130/12001