First detection and energy measurement of recoil ions following beta decay in a Penning trap with the WITCH experiment

TL;DR

The paper reports the first detection and energy measurement of recoil ions from beta decay in a Penning trap, demonstrating a key step for the WITCH experiment's search for exotic interactions.

Contribution

It introduces the first detection of recoil ions following beta decay in a Penning trap, enabling precise recoil energy measurements for fundamental physics tests.

Findings

Recoil ions from beta decay of 124In were successfully detected.

Properties of the ion cloud in the Penning trap were characterized.

This detection confirms the feasibility of the WITCH experimental approach.

Abstract

The WITCH experiment (Weak Interaction Trap for CHarged particles) will search for exotic interactions by investigating the beta-neutrino angular correlation via the measurement of the recoil energy spectrum after beta decay. As a first step the recoil ions from the beta-minus decay of 124In stored in a Penning trap have been detected. The evidence for the detection of recoil ions is shown and the properties of the ion cloud that forms the radioactive source for the experiment in the Penning trap are presented.