Evaluation of subleading β decay matrix elements in light nuclei

Abstract

β decay is the process most nuclei go through in order to become more stable. The goal of this work is to obtain a more precise theoretical prediction of the half live of the 23Ne to 23Na β decay. After calculating the wavefunctions corresponding to 23Ne and 23Na using the shell model code Nathan, I evaluate the nuclear matrix element of a subleading β decay operator for the first time. This correction reduces the half lives of the decay branches studied up to 3%