A New Approach to Measuring the Neutron Decay Correlations with Cold Neutrons at LANSCE

Precision measurements of the neutron beta-decay correlations A, B, a, and b provide important tests of the standard model of electroweak interactions: a test of the unitarity of the first row of the CKM matrix, a search for new weak interactions, a test of the theory of nuclear beta decays, and a test of the conserved-vector-current hypothesis. The authors are designing an experiment at the LANSCE short-pulse spallation source to measure all four correlations to an order of magnitude better accuracy than the existing measurements. The accuracy of the previous measurements was limited by systematics. The design of the proposed experiment makes use of the pulsed nature of the LANSCE source to reduce systematic errors associated with the measurement of the neutron polarization as well as other systematic errors. In addition, the authors are developing silicon strip detectors for detecting both the proton and electron from the neutron decay