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Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory

Electromagnetic transitions

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Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Particle Physics Model For The 17 Mev Anomaly In Beryllium Nuclear Decays, Jonathan L. Feng, Bartosz Fornal, Iftah Galon, Susan Gardner, Jordan Smolinsky, Tim M. P. Tait, Philip Tanedo Feb 2017

Particle Physics Model For The 17 Mev Anomaly In Beryllium Nuclear Decays, Jonathan L. Feng, Bartosz Fornal, Iftah Galon, Susan Gardner, Jordan Smolinsky, Tim M. P. Tait, Philip Tanedo

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The 6.8σ anomaly in excited 8Be nuclear decays via internal pair creation is fit well by a new particle interpretation. In a previous analysis, we showed that a 17 MeV protophobic gauge boson provides a particle physics explanation of the anomaly consistent with all existing constraints. Here we begin with a review of the physics of internal pair creation in 8Be decays and the characteristics of the observed anomaly. To develop its particle interpretation, we provide an effective operator analysis for excited 8Be decays to particles with a variety of spins and parities and show that …


Protophobic Fifth-Force Interpretation Of The Observed Anomaly In 8Be Nuclear Transitions, Jonathan L. Feng, Bartosz Fornal, Iftah Galon, Susan Gardner, Jordan Smolinsky, Tim M. P. Tait, Philip Tanedo Aug 2016

Protophobic Fifth-Force Interpretation Of The Observed Anomaly In 8Be Nuclear Transitions, Jonathan L. Feng, Bartosz Fornal, Iftah Galon, Susan Gardner, Jordan Smolinsky, Tim M. P. Tait, Philip Tanedo

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Recently a 6.8σ anomaly has been reported in the opening angle and invariant mass distributions of e+e pairs produced in 8Be nuclear transitions. The data are explained by a 17 MeV vector gauge boson X that is produced in the decay of an excited state to the ground state, 8Be8Be X, and then decays through Xe+e. The X boson mediates a fifth force with a characteristic range of 12 fm and has millicharged couplings to up and down quarks and electrons, and a …