How long do free neutrons live until they decay? This has been a hotly debated topic, because different measurement techniques lead to different results. A possible new solution has now been proposed: ...

New research has enhanced scientists' understanding of how free neutrons decay into other particles. The work provides the first measurement of the energy spectrum of the photons that are released in ...

A new "bathtub" experiment has allowed physicists to measure the lifetime of a free neutron far more precisely than ever before. The breakthrough could help probe the fringes of the Standard Model of ...

A free neutron outside a nucleus is not stable. It undergoes beta decay at a probability. Over time, the number of free neutrons decreases exponentially at a time constant, which is called the neutron ...

Nuclear puzzle: In the nucleus, neutrons can be stable, but free neutrons decay after a short period. Exactly how short is in dispute because experiments on neutrons stored in bottles and neutrons in ...

How long does a free neutron really live before it decays? This simple question has annoyed physicists for decades. Moreover, when they searched for an answer, they found not one but two confusing ...