Physicists measured something new in the radioactive decay of neutrons
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 - 10:21
in Physics & Chemistry
New research has enhanced scientists' understanding of how free neutrons decay into other particles. The work provides the first measurement of the energy spectrum of the photons that are released in the otherwise extensively measured process known as neutron beta decay. The details of this decay process are important because they help to explain the observed amounts of hydrogen and other light atoms created just after the Big Bang.