Precision calculation of isospin-symmetry-breaking corrections to T=1/2 mirror decays using multi-reference charge-dependent density functional theory

TL;DR

This paper uses advanced multi-reference charge-dependent density functional theory to systematically study isospin-symmetry-breaking effects in mirror nuclei, leading to more accurate determinations of the CKM matrix element V_ud.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of multi-reference charge-dependent DFT including strong-force-rooted interactions to improve ISB correction calculations.

Findings

Large systematic increase in ISB corrections due to strong-force-rooted isovector force.

Refined value of V_ud as 0.9736(16), closer to superallowed transition results.

Enhanced understanding of isospin impurities in mirror nuclei.

Abstract

We present systematic study of isospin impurities ($\alpha_{\rm ISB}$) to the wave functions of $T=1/2$, $11\leq A \leq 47$ mirror nuclei and the isospin-symmetry-breaking (ISB) corrections ($\delta_{\rm ISB}^{\rm V}$) to their ground state vector $\beta$-decays using, for the first time, multi-reference charge-dependent density functional theory (MR-DFT) that includes strong-force-rooted class-III interaction adjusted to correct for the Nolen-Schiffer anomaly in nuclear masses. We demonstrate that, unexpectedly, the strong-force-rooted isovector force gives rise to a large systematic increase of $\alpha_{\rm ISB}$ and $\delta_{\rm ISB}^{\rm V}$ as compared to the results obtained within MR-DFT that uses Coulomb interaction as the only source of ISB. This, in turn, increases a central value of the $V_{\rm ud}$ element of the CKM matrix extracted from the $T=1/2$ mirrors bringing it closer to the value obtained form the purely vector superallowed $0^+ \to 0^+$ transitions. In order to compute the value of $V_{\rm ud}$, we performed precision calculation of the Fermi matrix elements in $A=19, 21, 35$, and 37 mirror nuclei using DFT-rooted configuration-interaction model that includes all relevant axially-deformed particle-hole configurations built upon Nilsson orbitals originating from the spherical $sd$ shell. Our calculations yield $|V_{\rm ud}|=0.9736(16)$.