Search for Superscreening effect in Superconductor
P. Ujic (GANIL), F. de Oliveira Santos (GANIL), M. Lewitowicz (GANIL),, L. Achouri, M. Assi\'e (IPNO), B. Bastin (GANIL), C. Borcea, R. Borcea, A., Buta, A. Coc (CSNSM), G. De France (GANIL), O. Kamalou (GANIL), J. Kiener, (CSNSM), A. Lepailleur (GANIL), V. Meot (CEA DIF)
TL;DR
This study measured the decay properties of specific isotopes in superconducting and metallic niobium to test the superscreening hypothesis, finding no significant difference and challenging previous predictions.
Contribution
It provides the first precise experimental test of superscreening effects in superconductors by comparing decay rates in different phases.
Findings
No significant difference in half-lives between phases
Measured screening potential energy differences are within error margins
Results cast doubt on the superscreening hypothesis
Abstract
The decay of O() and Ne() implanted in niobium in its superconducting and metallic phase was measured using purified radioactive beams produced by the SPIRAL/GANIL facility. Half-lives and branching ratios measured in the two phases are consistent within one-sigma error bar. This measurement casts strong doubts on the predicted strong electron screening in superconductor, the so-called superscreening. The measured difference in screening potential energy is 110(90) eV for Ne and 400(320) eV for O. Precise determinations of the half-lives were obtained for O: 26.476(9) s and Ne: 17.254(5) s.
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