"Neutron Beta-Decay and the Value of Vud"

B. Plaster, Caltech

Abstract:

The goal of a world-wide program of precision measurements of neutron
beta-decay observables, such as the neutron lifetime and the various
decay correlation coefficients, is a high-precision test of the
underlying electroweak theory.  In this talk I will discuss the status
of progress towards an extraction of Vud from neutron beta-decay
observables, with a focus on the status of a new experiment at LANL
designed to perform the first-ever measurement of the electron-asymmetry 
(an input parameter to an extraction of Vud) with spin-polarized ultracold
neutrons.