Parity mixing in nuclei as a test of theories of the weak interaction

Abstract

Studies various manifestations of parity mixing in nuclei in the hope of discriminating between weak interaction theories. It is difficult to reconcile the observed circular polarization of the photon in the reaction n+p to d+ gamma with any of the theories considered here. On the other hand, the observed asymmetry of the 110 keV photon of ¹⁹F with respect to the spin direction of the initial state and the circular polarization of the 396 keV photon of ¹⁷⁵Lu are consistent with many of the theories, but rule out those which have a strong Delta T=1 part of the weak Hamiltonian. As an important byproduct of our calculations they present evidence that the effective single-particle potential method of calculating parity mixtures is very good approximation to the more accurate two-nucleon potential method.