The Standard Model of Particle Physics is scientists' best understanding of the forces that describe how subatomic particles interact. The Standard Model encompasses four forces: the strong nuclear ...

In nuclear beta decay an up quark ‘u’ in a proton converts into an up down quark ‘d,’ turning the proton into a neutron and emitting a positron and a neutrino. This work affects interpretation of beta ...

An international collaboration including scientists at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) solved a 50-year-old puzzle that explains why beta decays of atomic ...

For the first time, scientists observe a new and rare decay mode where oxygen-13 breaks into three helium nuclei and a proton following beta decay. Scientists have previously observed interesting ...

One of the fundamental radioactive decay modes of nuclei is β decay. Now, nuclear theorists have used first-principles simulations to explain nuclear β decay properties across a range of light- to ...

Neutrino-free process: observing neutrinoless double beta decay could shed light on important mysteries of particle physics. A new technique to enable the detection of a hypothetical process called ...

After emitting an alpha or beta particle, the nucleus will often still be ‘excited’ and will need to lose energy. It does this by emitting a high energy electromagnetic wave called a gamma ray. Gamma ...

For the best part of 30 years, physicists have been looking for a very rare nuclear process known as neutrinoless double beta decay. With discovery still elusive, an international team of researchers ...

Scientists have gained insights into the weak nuclear force from new, more sensitive studies of the beta decays of the 'mirror' nuclei lithium-8 and boron-8. The weak nuclear force drives the process ...