Intermediary Effects in Nuclear Beta Decay

Abstract

Two intermediate meson theories, the vector meson theory and the scalar meson theory, of weak interactions are analyzed for nonlocal effects in nuclear beta-decay processes. The principal effects are (1) the introduction of a nonlinearity in the Kurie plot in both meson theories and (2) the alteration of the electron-neutrino angular correlation in the vector meson theory only. These effects are shown to be quite small, of the order of $\frac{1}{10}%$ in the most favorable cases, for the lower mass limits imposed on the mesons by the requirement of compatibility with present experimental data. The magnitude of these effects is considered to be on the threshold, at least, of measurability. Both meson theories produce effective nuclear beta-decay coupling constants that differ in the order of a percent from the effective constants in muon decay.