Rare βp decays in light nuclei

Abstract

Beta-delayed proton emission may occur at very low rates in the decays of the light nuclei 11Be and 8B. This paper explores the potential physical significance of such decays, estimates their rates and reports on first attempts to detect them: an experiment at ISOLDE/CERN gives a branching ratio for 11Be of (2.5 ± 2.5) × 10−6 and an experiment at JYFL a 95% confidence upper limit of 2.6 × 10−5 for 8B.