Speaker
Description
We investigate the atomic exchange effect between the bound electrons of the final atom and those emitted in the allowed $\beta$ decay of the parent nucleus. Electron wave functions are computed using the self-consistent Dirac–Hartree–Fock–Slater method, with orthogonality between continuum and bound states of the final atom enforced by modifying the last iteration of the self-consistent procedure. Our results suggest that these exchange effects can resolve discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental measurements in the low-energy region of the $\beta$ spectrum. The significance of various atomic corrections is further examined in the context of one of the most promising candidates for determining the neutrino mass scale: the unique first forbidden $\beta$ transition of $^{187}$Re. Additionally, the developed $\beta$ decay model is used to compute electron spectra for nuclei that represent unavoidable background sources in dark matter search experiments.
