Abstract
The determination of the helicity of electrons and positrons from beta decay by means of electron-electron (Møller) and positron-electron (Bhabha) scattering is discussed. The theoretical background, the apparatus, and the experimental procedure are treated in detail. The apparatus included, in addition to the conventional parts, a beta monochromator with a momentum resolution of 16% for the investigation of the energy dependence of the helicity. Experiments were performed with , , RaE, and . In all cases, the helicities were found to be proportional to . The measured helicities, in units of and averaged over the observed range of energies, are summarized as follows. (The errors given are statistical only; systematic errors are estimated to be less than ±3%).
- Received 16 November 1960
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.122.536
©1961 American Physical Society