\( \beta \)-decay

The allowed beta decay rate \( W \) between a specific set of initial and final states is given by $$ W_{i,f} = (f/K_{o}) \left[ g_{V}^{2} \; B_{i,f}(F_{\pm})+ g_{A}^{2}B_{i,f}(GT_{\pm})\right], $$ where \( f \) is dimensionless three-body phase-space factor which depends upon the beta-decay \( Q \) value, and \( K_{o} \) is a specific combination of fundamental constants $$ K_{o}=\frac{2\pi^{3}\hbar^{7}}{ m_{e}^{5} c^{4}}= 1.8844 \times 10^{-94}\mathrm{erg}^{2}\mathrm{cm}^{6}\mathrm{s}. $$ The \( \pm \) signrefer to \( \beta_{\pm} \) decay of nucleus \( (A_{i},Z_{i}) \) into nucleus \( (A_{i},Z_{i} \mp 1) \). The weak-interaction vector (\( V \)) and axial-vector (\( A \)) coupling constants for the decay of neutron into a proton are denoted by \( g_{V} \) and \( g_{A} \), respectively.