Possible consequences of the zeno effect on nuclear double-beta decay and a bound on mν

J. Levitan, L. P. Horwitz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

It is shown that a Zeno-type effect due to disturbances caused by collisions associated with correlated pairs inside the nucleus may significantly modify double-beta decay rates. Several nuclei for which double-beta decay data is available are studied, and it is shown that the trend of the effect is consistent with this interpretation. The resulting ratio of the lifetimes of 128Te to 130Te could indicate (in the absence of particle-particle interaction corrections to which the theoretical amplitudes are extremely sensitive) an increased likelihood for the occurrence of the 0ν mode. An upper limit on the neutrino mass of about 4 eV appears to be compatible with the experimental bounds on 76Ge, 82Se double-beta decay lifetimes, and the ratio of the lifetimes of the Te isotopes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)761-766
Number of pages6
JournalEurophysics Letters
Volume9
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Aug 1989
Externally publishedYes

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