Lorentz violation in neutron and allowed nuclear beta decay

TL;DR

This paper investigates potential Lorentz and rotational symmetry violations in neutron and nuclear beta decay by modifying the W-boson propagator and analyzing the resulting effects on decay rates and experimental signals.

Contribution

It introduces a general formalism for Lorentz violation in beta decay via a modified W-boson propagator and discusses experimental implications.

Findings

Derived a general decay rate formula with Lorentz-violating effects.

Identified distinct signals for different beta-decay transition types.

Reviewed relevant experiments and their potential to detect Lorentz violation.

Abstract

We explore the possibility that the weak interaction violates Lorentz, and in particular rotational, invariance in neutron and allowed nuclear beta decay. A broad class of Lorentz-violating effects is considered, in which the standard propagator of the W-boson acquires an additional Lorentz-violating tensor. The general decay rate for allowed beta decay that incorporates such a modified propagator is derived. The resulting Lorentz-violating signals are discussed for the different types of beta-decay transitions, Fermi, Gamow-Teller, and mixed. We study the implications of our formalism for dedicated beta-decay experiments. We give a short overview of the few relevant experiments that have been performed or are ongoing.