First observation of P-odd asymmetry of α-particle emission in the B10(n,α)Li7 nuclear reaction

Abstract

We present measurements of P-odd asymmetry of emission of α-particles in the B10(n,α)Li7 nuclear reaction, which are carried out using beams of polarized cold neutrons at Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI, Gatchina, Russia) and Institut Max von Laue – Paul Langevin (ILL, Grenoble, France) nuclear reactors. The α-particle detector is an ionization chamber with insensitive gaseous layer. We measured the P-odd asymmetry coefficient to be equal to αP-oddB10,α=−(11.2±3.4)⋅10−8.