Radial excitations and their potential impact on Fermi $\beta$-decay rates

Abstract

We investigate the contribution of radial excitations to Fermi $\beta$-decay matrix element. To this end, exact no-core shell model calculations are performed for the mirror $\beta$ decay of tritium, where full convergence can be achieved on an ordinary computer. The differences between the isospin-mixing correction values obtained in the full and in a restricted model spaces are matched to the radial overlap correction term, analogous to that required in the shell-model approach, where the configuration space is extremely limited. We examine this complementary correction term using a nonorthogonal harmonic-oscillator basis, generated by slightly differentiating the oscillator frequencies between the initial and final nuclei, while all desirable properties, including translational invariance, are still preserved. For $N_{\rm max}\le8$, we find that the radial excitation contribution is negative, with a typical magnitude of approximately 10\,\% to 20\,\% of the radial diagonal contribution. This effect becomes more pronounced as the model space increases. Therefore, the $\delta_{C2}$ values obtained in the shell model approach, where radial excitations are not explicitly included, are likely overestimated. Based on experimental $ft$ data and the corrective terms adopted in the survey by Hardy and Towner [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 102}, 045501 (2020)], we show that the incorporation of radial excitations for the superallowed $0^+\rightarrow0^+$ nuclear $\beta$ decay tends however to worsen agreement with the Standard Model.