Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
4-14-2021
Year of Publication
2021
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Physics and Astronomy
First Advisor
Dr. Bradley Plaster
Abstract
The next generation of neutron beta decay measurements will attempt to analyze various beta decay observables of up to O(10-4) precision. At this level of experimental precision, the effects of second-class currents will contribute theoretical uncertainties to the interpretation of these measurements. Therefore, it is important to investigate the effects of these second-class currents on decay parameters, such as the Fierz interference term b which is linear in beyond standard model couplings. A maximum likelihood statistical framework and Rfit techniques are employed to study these second-class currents effects. Inputs to the Rfit technique are obtained through combined global fits to Monte Carlo pseudo data which explore the energy dependence of angular asymmetry coefficients.
This dissertation also investigates the effects of Thomas rotation in the relativistic transformation of electromagnetic fields. This may be important to future work on calculating frequency shifts for relativistic spin-1/2 particles undergoing Larmor spin precession in electromagnetic fields with small non-uniformities. We calculate the electromagnetic field tensor for general three-dimensional successive boosts in the laboratory and the rest frame of an accelerated relativistic particle. It is then compared with the electromagnetic field tensors obtained by a direct boost. In the end, their consistency with Thomas rotation is analyzed.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2021.049
Funding Information
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Award Number DE-SC0014622. The research was supported in August 2017 - December 2017 and August 2018 - May 2019.
Recommended Citation
Malhotra, Lakshya, "ANALYZING THE EFFECT OF SECOND-CLASS CURRENTS ON NEUTRON BETA DECAY OBSERVABLES AND THE EFFECT OF THOMAS ROTATION ON THE RELATIVISTIC TRANSFORMATIONS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS" (2021). Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy. 82.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_etds/82
