Notes on the Decay of the Neutron, I

Abstract

The beta-decay of the neutron is theoretically discussed and compared with the experimental results of Robson. As was first pointed out by Berectetsky and Pomeranchuk, the form of the beta-spectrum derived on the pseudoscalar interaction is different from the so-called allowed spectrum. The final decision about the type of interaction is not, however, offered from the beta-spectrum alone. Attempts are therefore made to obtain some theoretical predictions which might be useful for the decision of the interaction type when compared with some future experiments. They are the angular correlation of electrons and protons and the momentum spectrum of protons. The calculation shows that in principle it is possible, though not easy, to carry through such experiments. The beta-spectrum obtained by Robson is not reliable in the low energy region, but an explanation is given how to account for the shape of the spectrum in this region, if the observed spectrum is correct there.