$^{113}$Cd $\beta$-decay spectrum and $g_{\rm A}$ quenching using spectral moments

Abstract

We present an alternative analysis of the $^{113}$Cd $\beta$-decay electron energy spectrum in terms of spectral moments $\mu_n$, corresponding to the averaged values of $n^{\rm th}$ powers of the $\beta$ particle energy. The zeroth moment $\mu_0$ is related to the decay rate, while higher moments $\mu_n$ are related to the spectrum shape. The here advocated spectral-moment method (SMM) allows for a complementary understanding of previous results, obtained using the so-called spectrum-shape method (SSM) and its revised version, in terms of two free parameters: $r=g_{\rm A}/g_{\rm V}$ (the ratio of axial-vector to vector couplings) and $s$ (the small vector-like relativistic nuclear matrix element, $s$-NME). We present numerical results for three different nuclear models with the conserved vector current hypothesis (CVC) assumption of $g_{\rm V}=1$. We show that most of the spectral information can be captured by the first few moments which are simple quadratic forms (conic sections) in the $(r,\,s)$ plane: an ellipse for $n=0$ and hyperbolae for $n\geq 1$, all being nearly degenerate as a result of cancellations among nuclear matrix elements. The intersections of these curves, as obtained by equating theoretical and experimental values of $\mu_n$, identify the favored values of $(r,\,s)$ at a glance, without performing detailed fits. In particular, we find that values around $r\sim 1$ and $s\sim 1.6$ are consistently favored in each nuclear model, confirming the evidence for $g_{\rm A}$ quenching in $^{113}$Cd, and shedding light on the role of the $s$-NME. We briefly discuss future applications of the SMM to other forbidden $\beta$-decay spectra sensitive to $g_{\rm A}$.