Dresden 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 78: Fundamentale Symmetrien
HK 78.7: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 7. März 2013, 18:45–19:00, HSZ-401
A test of Lorentz-invariance in the β decay of 20Na — •Auke Sytema, Elwin Dijck, Stefan Müller, Gerco Onderwater, Coen Pijpker, and Hans Wilschut — Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Netherlands
In Quantum-Gravity theories Lorentz symmetry may be broken. Although Lorentz invariance has been tested precisely in QED no symmetry breaking has been observed. However, such precise tests have not been done for the weak interaction. Anisotropy of the weak interaction can be tested in various ways. The present experiment aims to observe the lifetime of 20Na as function of the direction of its polarization. The characteristic β asymmetry is used to measure the polarization while the 2+ → 0+ γ transition in the 20Ne daughter nucleus is used to measure the decay rate. 20Na is produced by shooting a beam of 20Ne on a hydrogen target. The 20Na is magnetically separated from the beam and stopped in a gas cell where it is polarized by laser light. The short halflife of 20Na (0.448 s) allows it to decay before it diffuses outside the optically active region. By reversing the spin direction an asymmetry can be built which is sensitive to Lorentz-invariance violation but that is insensitive to most systematic errors associated with lifetime measurements. Details of the experimental procedure will be discussed and first results presented.