PART II LABORATORY

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10.1 INTRODUCTION
The phenomenon of -decay has been a constant topic of nuclear and particle physics. It has led us from the discovery of the continuous electron energy spectrum and the postulation of the electron neutrino to the success of the Fermi theory of -decay, and to the discovery of parity violation and the modern theory of electroweak interaction. In this experiment you will measure and analyse the energy spectrum of electrons ejected from a nucleus undergoing -decay. The theory below outlines some of the physical processes you may observe. You will also become familiar with one of the most common types of charged particle spectrometers: a uniform magnetic field spectrometer, and one of the most common charged particle detectors: the Geiger-Mller tube.

10.2 BACKGROUND THEORY

10.2.1 THE PROCESS OF DECAY
In -decay, a nucleus decays to another nucleus of the same mass number with the emission of an electron (the particle). If just an electron were emitted, then by conservation of energy and momentum, all the electrons would have the same energy. This energy would be determined by E0 = Einitial E final Eq. 10.1 (the difference in the rest mass energies of the initial and final nuclear states). However, the energy spectrum of emitted electrons is broadened and shows that the electrons are emitted with energies ranging from 0 to E0. It was initially thought that this broadening was due to experimental limitations, until even very high-precision measurements showed the same effect. It was therefore inferred that an additional particle is emitted, with energy E particle = E0 Eelectron Eq. 10.2 to satisfy conservation of energy for the decay process. A similar relationship exists for conservation of momentum. We call this particle an electron anti-neutrino, e . The simplest -decay is that of a single neutron to a proton. We can equivalently consider decay of a parent nucleus to a daughter nucleus with an increased atomic number. The energy spectrum of this is shown in Figure 10 .1 below

Figure 10.1 Electron energy spectrum from nuclear -decay

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Taking into account the contribution from the electron anti-neutrino, the -decay of a neutron is therefore

n p + e + e
and for nuclear -decay
A A MZ MZ +1 + e + e

Eq. 10.3

Eq. 10.4

where M represents a nucleus with initial atomic number Z and mass number A which then decays to a nucleus with atomic number Z+1, an electron and a neutrino. This decay can only occur if the rest mass of the initial state of M is higher than the combined rest mass of the final states of M and e-, ie if E0 > 0 (we assume that the rest mass of the neutrino is zero). In this experiment you will be studying the -decay of Promethium into Samarium:
147 Pm147 61 Sm62 + e + e

Eq. 10.5

The initial state of the system is the ground state of Promethium. This decays into a Samarium nucleus plus several possible states for the emitted electron and neutrino. These final states are distinguished by the way in which energy is shared between the Samarium nucleus, the electron and the neutrino. Your measurements of the electron energy spectrum will tell you about how the energy has been shared in these final states. Pre-lab Question (a) How can we tell, by studying the electron energies in -decay, that such a particle as an electron anti-neutrino is also a product of the decay?

10.2.2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INITIAL AND FINAL STATES OF DECAY

Now that you have an understanding of the physics of -decay, we can consider the equations which govern the process. These equations will be used to analyse the energy spectrum you measure1. Suppose that the electron is emitted with a momentum between p and p+dp. The number of final states with electron momentum in this range (from the total range of physically possible final states) is given by

f =

16 2 2 2 p ( E E0 ) dp h6c3

Eq. 10.6

where E is the electron kinetic energy. Let w(p)dp be the probability per unit time2 that the decay will give an electron with momentum between p and p+dp. Then it can be shown that

w( p ) dp =

4 2 M if h

Eq. 10.7

where Mif is the matrix element of the dynamical interactions causing the decay. For -decay the dynamical interaction is weak and so Mif can be considered to be constant. The above equation is known as Fermis Golden Rule. Finally we incorporate an extra factor, the Coulomb correction factor F(z,p) to account for the interaction of the electron with the electrostatic field of the nucleus. As the electron moves away from the nucleus, it loses energy. Hence the maximum amount of energy initially
1

There is a large number of equations in this section, which are included to give you an understanding of how the theory is derived, and of the meaning of the Kurie variable. The Theory section of your lab report should not read simply as a list of equations. 2 You may be wondering what the conceptual difference is between w(p) and f given that they both describe the probability of a particular final state occurring. The quantity f is the density of final states between p and p+dp in the region of phase space available for decay (ie the region defined by E 0 and conservation of energy and momentum), and represents a probability per unit total energy. On the other hand, w(p) is the relative probability per unit time that the decay to a final state with electron energy between p and p+dp occurs and so incorporates dynamical interactions causing the decay.

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available to the electron must be greater than E0. This is a dynamical correction, ie it is 2 M if which is modified and it can be shown that

F ( Z , p) =
where

2 1 e 2

Eq. 10.8

Ze 2 40

Eq. 10.9

where =h/2 and is the final velocity of the electron. F(Z,p) is called the Fermi function. Hence

w( p)dp =

64 4 M if h7c3

p 2 ( E E0 ) F ( Z , p ) dp
2

Eq. 10.10

Let us now define a new variable, the Kurie variable K(Z,p), to be

K ( Z , p) =
then

w( p ) p F ( Z , p)
2

Eq. 10.11

K ( Z , p) =

8 h 2c
7 3 2

M if ( E0 E )

Eq. 10.12

and a graph of K(Z,p) against E will be a straight line plot of negative slope intersecting the electron kinetic energy axis at E=E0. Such a graph is called a Kurie plot. The Kurie plot for the spectrum in Figure 10 .1 is shown below.

Figure 10.2 Kurie plot of the spectrum shown in Figure 10 .1.

In practise you will measure the number of counts at each electron energy and momentum, N(p), in a fixed time interval t. Since N(p) w(p) we can define an experimental Kurie variable to be

K ( Z , p) =

N ( p) p F ( Z , p)
2

Eq. 10.13

By plotting the Kurie variable against the electron energy, we can obtain a value for E0 (the 147 intercept on the E axis). The accepted value of E0 is (224.5 0.4) keV for Pm61 . Pre-lab Question (b) What is the value of the Kurie variable when the electron energy is equal to E0? Pre-lab Question (c) How can you explain this in terms of the probability of an electron with energy E0 being emitted?

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Pre-lab Question (d) The expression for w(p)dp shown above is derived on the assumption that the neutrino has zero rest mass ( m=0). Without this assumption, the expression becomes

64 4 w( p )dp = 7 3 M if h c

p ( E0 E ) F ( Z , p )
2

m c 2 1 E E dp 0

Eq. 10.14

What is the maximum kinetic energy that the electron may have now?

10.3 APPARATUS
10.3.1 THE MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER A particle of mass m, charge q, and velocity v , moving in a uniform magnetic field B , will
experience a force F , where

F =qv B

If B is always perpendicular to v , then the particle will move in a circle of radius r where mv 2 Eq. 10.16 = Bqv r
and will have a momentum
p = qBr

Eq. 10.15

Eq. 10.17 Eq. 10.18 Eq. 10.19

Also recall that ET = Erestmass + Ekinetic and

2 ET = p 2c 2 + m 2c 4

Constant magnetic field spectrometers use this principle in order to momentum analyse a source of charged radiation. The magnetic spectrometer you will be using is shown below.

Figure 10.3 Spectrometer chamber with source and detector. Note that r=(3.800.01) cm. Pre-lab Question (e) For the direction of electron motion shown in u will be using is shown below., what is the direction of the magnetic field? For the first part of the experiment, you will use a duplicate spectrometer chamber as shown below.

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Figure 10.4 Spectrometer chamber used for calibration. This chamber has identical dimensions to the spectrometer, without the source and detector. A port in the top of the chamber allows a Hall Probe to be inserted, for measuring the magnetic field.

10.3.2 THE GEIGER-MLLER TUBE

The detector used in this experiment is a Geiger-Mller tube. A schematic diagram of its operation is given in Figure 10 .5. A Geiger-Mller tube consists of an easily ionisable gas contained within a thin-walled chamber. A high voltage is applied between the central anode and the walls of the chamber, creating a very high electric field within the chamber. After entering the detector, an electron ionises the gas molecules. Each collision generates another electron which is accelerated toward the anode, together with the original electron. The high electric field provides extra energy to the electrons as they travel toward the anode. Due to the very small mean free path in the gas, the electrons undergo many ionising collisions before reaching the anode. Thus, the original electron initiates an electron cascade which results in a detectably large charge reaching the anode. This charge is collected within the detector electronics. While the electrons move rapidly toward the anode, the positive ions created in the cascade take considerably longer to travel to the cathode, due to their much greater mass. This means that if another electron enters the detector before a significant number of positive ions have been discharged at the cathode, another cascade will not occur, due to the positive ions recombining with the electrons within the chamber. Therefore, the tube will not detect another even until the previous event has been cleared from the chamber. The time it takes to clear an event from the chamber is called the dead time. Usually this time is considered to be constant for a particular detector (and experimental arrangement) and is denoted by the symbol .

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Figure 10.5 Operation of a Geiger-Mller tube Pre-lab Question (f) Explain, in your own words, the physical cause of dead time in the Geiger-Muller tube. Pre-lab Question (g) Show that if the tube has a dead time , and N counts are observed in a time t, the true number of events N is given by

N =

N 1 t N

Eq. 10.20

The dead time for the detector you will be using has been measured, at a count rate of approximately 1000 counts/second, to be (20 0.5) s. To a good approximation, the dead time may be assumed constant over the spectrum you will measure.

10.3.3 OTHER APPARATUS

NIM modules DC power supply Digital multimeter Electromagnet Pm source Hall probe and meter
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Magnet degausser Vacuum pump Vacuum gauge CRO

amplifier, SCA, counter, timer stabilised for measuring current 3 pole faces, 3kG maximum field (see Magnets and Magnetic Fields notes) point source mounted on the end of a bolt for measuring magnetic field strength (see Magnets and Magnetic Fields notes) generates an AC field across the magnet poles which slowly reduces to zero rotary type (see Energy Loss notes) thermistor type for observing amplified detector pulses

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10.4 EXPERIMENT: CALIBRATING THE MAGNET

10.4.1 PROCEDURE Initialising the Hall Probe
Place the tip of the probe in the zero field case and switch the meter on. After a few seconds the number 1973 should appear on the display. After this number appears, press the ENTER/RESET button. Three dashes (- - -) should appear on the display. Now press the PB button. Press the orange UP/DOWN keys next to RANGE until KGAUSS is selected. The Hall Probe is now ready for use. Insert it into the duplicate chamber without switching the meter off. If the meter is switched off, it must be initialised again. If it is switched off in the middle of taking a set of data, you must re-take all the data with the new initialisation. It is therefore imperative that you do not switch off the meter until all data has been taken.

Carefully mount the duplicate spectrometer chamber between the poles of the electromagnet. Initialise the Hall Probe (see box). Remove any remnant field by applying the degausser. If the magnitude of the field is greater than 10G, repeat the degaussing procedure.

If the field remains high after several degaussing cycles, consult your demonstrator before proceeding with the rest of the experiment. Question (a) Explain how the degausser removes the remnant field.

Now connect the magnet to the stabilised DC supply, again using the multimeter to measure the current. You should connect the supply such that the current is flowing into the red plug on the magnet and out of the black plug. Before switching on the supply check that the current knob is turned to a maximum the voltage knob is turned to a minimum the multimeter is on the 0-2A DC scale. Question (b) How will you calculate uncertainties in the current and magnetic field measurements? Measure the magnetic field as a function of current from 0 to 500 mA in 20 mA steps. Precautions: never reduce the current: backtracking at any stage will render the calibration useless never change scales on the hall probe or multimeter allow a few seconds for the field to stabilise before taking a measurement. Question (c) Why would backtracking render the calibration useless? You will notice a small black button on the side of the hall probe. When the magnetic field is entering the hall probe from this side, the gaussmeter will give a positive reading. Question (d) current flow? What is the direction of the magnetic field for this direction of

10.4.2 ANALYSIS
After you have completed your reading, slowly reduce the current to zero and repeat the procedure to remove the remnant field. Then use SigmaPlot to fit a straight line to your data and produce a calibration curve. Check the slope and intercept with your demonstrator. Question (e) Question (f) Question (g) What is the maximum kinetic energy you wish to measure? What magnetic field does this correspond to? What current would produce that magnetic field?

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10.5 EXPERIMENT: MEASURING THE SPECTRUM

You are now able to determine the magnetic field inside the spectrometer chamber by measuring the current in the electromagnet. By measuring the number of counts hitting the detector for various magnet currents, a -decay spectrum can be measured and analysed.

10.5.1 PROCEDURE
Ensure that you have disconnected the power supply and degaussed the magnet. Carefully remove the Hall Probe, switch it off and replace it in its case. Remove the duplicate chamber from between the magnet poles and replace it with the spectrometer chamber containing the source and detector. All the data for this part of the experiment must be taken in one go . It cannot be taken half on the first day and half on the second. It is recommended that you take the measurements on the first day and do the analysis on the second day, thus leaving time to retake the data should any problems arise. Question (h) Why must all the data be taken in one day?

Connect the DC power supply to the magnet. Question (i) In which direction are the particles flowing (you may wish to consider your answers to Pre-lab Question (e) and Question (d) do they proceed from the source to the detector? Ensure that the vacuum pump is connected to the chamber and switch on the pump and gauge. After a few minutes the pressure in the chamber should have fallen below 10 -2 Torr. Connect the electronics as shown in Figure 10 .6.

Figure 10.6 Schematic diagram of apparatus. Check that the electronic settings are correct (see below), then switch on the NIM crate and the Geiger supply.

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At very high count rates, the size of the Geiger output pulses is reduced because of the increased current being drawn from the supply. You should monitor the output of the amplifier on the CRO to see when this occurs. It is important that these reduced pulses are still counted, so the following settings are recommended: Amplifier coarse gain = 16 fine gain = 6 input = positive output = unipolar SCA ULD = 10V LLD = 0.20-0.30V normal operation Counter discriminator = 3.0V Timer 100s Start measuring the number of counts for 100s intervals in the current range 0 to 400mA. For 0 to 100mA, measure every 20mA. For 100 to 300 mA, measure every 10mA. For 300 to 400 mA, measure every 20mA. Once again, never back track, always increase the current and allow a few seconds for the field to stabilise before making a measurement. As you take the data, observe the output pulses. Question (j) Draw, on scaled axes, the shape of the output pulses. At what current do they appear to be smallest in size? Check, for a current of approximately 100mA, that the output pulses do not exceed the upper level on the SCA. Question (k) Explain the shape of the pulses from the Geiger tube, in terms of how the Geiger tube and electronics function. Question (l) Are the pulses consistent with the dead time quoted?

After you have taken your measurements, increase the current to 500mA and take a further measurement. This will be the background measurement, which must be subtracted from each of your readings. Question (m) For electrons of a given energy, what happens to the radius of curvature of the electron beam as the current is increased? Question (n) reading? Question (o) Why do we choose a current of 500mA for the background What are the sources of this background?

10.5.2 ANALYSIS
You should now have a table of measured counts at various different currents, as well as their uncertainties (ask your demonstrator for assistance if you are unsure how to calculate these). The analysis section requires a series of calculations, and great care must be taken to ensure the transforms are done correctly. The steps you have taken should be made very clear comment the transforms by putting a semi-colon at the start of a comment line. For example: ;Magnetic field B in Tesla (1 Tesla = 10^4 Gauss) B=col(4)*0.1 ;Now calculate the momentum, p, in kg m per second p=B*q*r

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If the results do not follow the expected form, it is then very easy to check the transform calculations for errors. Choice of units is, as always, very important. All calculations require SI units (metres, Tesla, eV, seconds and so on).

a) Kinetic Energy
Using SigmaPlot, correct the number of counts for background and dead time, and calculate the electron kinetic energies (look back at Question (e), Question (f) and Question (g) for ideas). Plot the corrected counts against the kinetic energy (in keV). Question (p) Explain the shape of the spectrum: a) below 50keV b) above the predicted maximum energy c) around the broadened peak in the center. In this explanation, you may wish to consider effects of the thin mica windows above the source and detector, the effect of residual air in the chamber, and the efficiency of the Geiger tube as a function of energy.

b) Kurie Variable
Again using SigmaPlot, calculate the Kurie variable (including uncertainty analysis). Fit a straight line to the region of interest and obtain a value for E0. Question (q) How does your measured value compare with the expected value? Suggest reasons for any discrepancy. Further considerations: Question (r) What region of the spectrum would be most useful in studying neutrino mass? Question (s) What problems would have to be overcome to perform such a measurement?

10.6 USEFUL DATA

accepted value of E0 for Pm61 PlancksConstant, h Speed of Light, c Permittivity of free space, 0 Electron charge, e Electron-Volt, eV Electron rest mass, ER
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(224.5 0.4) keV 6.6256x10-34 Js 2.997925x108 ms-1 8.85416x10-12 Fm-1 1.60210x10-19 C 1.60210x10-19 J 511 keV

10.7 REFERENCES
Introduction to Nuclear Physics, H. Enge, Addison-Wesley, 1981 (chapter 11) Fundamentals of Nuclear Physics, N.A. Jelley, Cambridge University Press, 1990 (chapter 3) Quantum Mechanics, E. Merzbacher, John Wiley & Sons, 1970 Table of Isotopes, C.M. Lederer, V.S. Shirley (Eds), John Wiley & Sons, 1978 S.T. Hsue et al, Nuclear Physics, 80, 1966

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