Neutron Beta Decay
A neutron (udd) decays to a proton (uud),
an electron,
and an antineutrino. This is called
neutron beta decay.
(The term beta ray was used for electrons in nuclear decays
because they didn't know they were electrons!)
- Frame 1: The neutron (charge = 0) made up of up, down, down quarks.
- Frame 2: One of the the down quarks is transformed into an up quark.
Since the down quark has a charge of -1/3 and and the up quark has a charge
of 2/3, it follows that this process is mediated by a virtual W- particle, which carries away a (-1)
charge (thus charge is conserved!)
- Frame 3: The new u quark rebounds away
from the emitted W-. The neutron now has become a proton.
- Frame 4: An electron and antineutrino emerge from the virtual W-
boson.
- Frame 5: The proton, electron, and the antineutrino move away from
one another.
The intermediate stages of this process occur in
less than almost a billionth of
a billionth of a billionth of a second, and are not observable.
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