Beta Decay as a Probe of New Physics

This workshop will address the following questions: Which experimental approaches provide the most promising probes for new physics via neutron and nuclear beta decays? What theoretical input is required to ensure experiments achieve optimal sensitivity? We hope to provide a road-map for progress on the theory of nuclear decays and the beyond standard model scenarios they test to ensure the maximum impact for ongoing and planned experiments.

A central focus will be the evaluation of the beta energy dependence of decay observables, including the total decay spectrum (with the goal of understanding the spectrum to better than 10-4 for 6He, the A=8 system, 14O, 19Ne), and and angular correlations, where new techniques promise, in principle, sensitivity below the 0.1% level, but will also assess the role of ongoing integral angular correlation work in neutrons and nuclei. The evaluation will involve an assessment of the most promising experimental approaches and the theoretical input required to achieve the highest sensitivity to new physics for these measurements. Through dialog involving theorists and experimentalists, we expect to identify critical theory needs and the resources to address the identified problems. Some attention to important BSM scenarios and how to develop these in light of the results from the LHC will also be addressed. We plan to produce a white paper describing the most promising experiments, the theoretical issues which must be addressed, and the resources required to address them.

Co-organizers:
Vincenzo Cirigliano (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Alejandro Garcia (University of Washington)
Rajan Gupta (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Michael Ramsey-Musolf (UMass Amherst)
Albert Young (North Carolina State University)