Helicity and nuclear $\beta$ decay correlations

TL;DR

This paper offers straightforward derivations of nuclear beta-decay correlations emphasizing helicity, serving as an educational resource and an introduction to experimental searches for new physics in low-energy nuclear processes.

Contribution

It provides simplified derivations highlighting helicity's role and connects theoretical concepts with experimental efforts in nuclear beta decay.

Findings

Educational exercises on helicity and chirality

Introduction to experimental searches for new physics

Simplified derivations of beta-decay correlations

Abstract

We present simple derivations of nuclear $\beta$-decay correlations with an emphasis on the special role of helicity. This provides a good opportunity to teach students about helicity and chirality in particle physics through exercises using simple aspects of quantum mechanics. In addition, this paper serves as an introduction to nuclear $\beta$-decay correlations from both a theoretical and experimental vantage. This article can be used to introduce students to ongoing experiments searching for hints of new physics in the low-energy precision frontier.