Coulomb Corrections to the Beta Decay ofO14

Abstract

The Coulomb corrections to the nuclear matrix element for the beta decay of ${\mathrm{O}}^{14}$, ${\mathrm{O}}^{14}({\ensuremath{\beta}}^{+}){\mathrm{N}}^{14*}$, are re-examined using nuclear wave functions obtained from a variational calculation of the nuclear binding energies. The corrections so obtained are an order of magnitude larger than those obtained in perturbation theory, but are, nevertheless, too small to account for the 2% difference between the values of the vector beta-decay coupling constant determined from the decays of the muon and ${\mathrm{O}}^{14}$. The differences between the present calculation and the perturbation calculation are discussed in detail.