Comparison of the β-α Angular Correlations in Li8 and B8

Abstract

Although the radiations following allowed β decay of unoriented nuclei are uncorrelated in angle with the β rays, forbidden effects may produce correlations of the form 1 + B cos^2 θ, where the small coefficient B depends on on the details of the matrix elements involved. As a possible test of the conserved vector current (C.V.C.) theory, various authors [2,3] have suggested a measurement of the difference, δ, of the B coefficients in the β-α correlations of the two decays: .....