Parity-violating α-decay of the 3.56 MeV Jπ, T = 0+, 1 state of 6Li

Abstract

We study the parity-violating alpha+d decay of the lowest 0+ state of Li-6 in a microscopic three-cluster model. The initial bound and the final scattering states are described consistently within the same model. The parity-violating decay width is calculated in perturbation theory using the parity-nonconserving nucleon-nucleon interaction of Desplanques, Donoghue, and Holstein (DDH). We find that the decay width is sensitive to dynamical degrees of freedom which are beyond the alpha+p+n model, for example, alpha excitation and breakup. In our full model, which contains breathing excitations of the alpha particle and H-3 + He-3 rearrangement, the parity-nonconserving decay width is Gamma=3.97x10^{-9} eV, using the DDH coupling constants.