Correlation measurements in nuclear β-decay using traps and polarized low energy beams

Abstract

Precision measurements in nuclear β-decay provide sensitive means to test discrete symmetries in the weak interaction and to determine some of the fundamental constants in semi-leptonic decays, like the coupling of the lightest quarks to charged weak bosons. The main motivation of such measurements is to find deviations from Standard Model predictions as possible indications of new physics. In this contribution I will focus on two topics related to precision measurements in nuclear β-decay: i) the determination of the Vud element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix from nuclear mirror transitions and ii) the search for exotic scalar or tensor contributions from βν angular correlations. The purpose is to underline the role being played by experimental techniques based on the confinement of radioactive species with atom and ion traps as well as the plans to use low energy polarized beams.