Radiative Corrections to Muon and Neutron Decay

Citation

Berman, Samuel Morris (1959) Radiative Corrections to Muon and Neutron Decay. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/ZNWV-E841. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-01272006-161000

Abstract

The corrections to muon decay due to electromagnetic interactions have been recalculated. Our results differ from those of Behrends, Finkelstein and Sirlin, because those authors used an inconsistent method for handling the infra-red divergences which arise separately in the real and virtual processes. The disagreement is especially significant near the end of the electron (positron) spectrum where our results indicate that the radiative correction to the Michel p parameter is approximately 1% larger than previously supposed, a result in the direction of increasing agreement between experiment and theory. With the radiative corrections to muon decay given here the predicted value of the muon lifetime using the universal theory is (2.27 +/- 0.04) x 10(-6). As a preliminary to studying the decay of particles with structure the [beta]-decay of the neutron is examined. This leads to an increase in the coulomb F factor independent of the nuclear charge and of amount approximately 2.6%. As a result the universal coupling constant obtained from the decay of O14 is decreased to G = (1.37 +/- 0.02) x 10(-49) erg cm.(3) and increases the value of the muon lifetime to (2.33 +/- 0.05) x 10(-6) sec.

Thesis Files