Ab Initio Calculations of β -Decay Half-Lives for N = 50 Neutron-Rich Nuclei
Abstract
β-decay rates of extreme neutron-rich nuclei remain largely unknown experimentally, while they are critical inputs for r-process nucleosynthesis. We present first ab initio calculations of total β-decay half-lives, with a focus on N=50 nuclei. Starting from nuclear forces and currents based on chiral effective field theory, we use the in-medium similarity renormalization group to consistently derive valence-space Hamiltonians and weak operators, from which we calculate the nuclear states involved and the Gamow-Teller transition strengths, without phenomenological adjustments. In addition, we explore effects of first-forbidden contributions. Our results show that the inclusion of two-body currents increases the total half-lives, which then show good agreement with the existing experimental data, thereby validating the predictive capability of our approach.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Nuclear physics research studies
Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions
Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical Review Letters
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Volume
- 136
- Issue
- 18
- Pages
- 182501–182501
- Publication date
- 20 March 2026
- Language
- EN