Prospects for precision measurements in nuclear beta decay at the LHC era

Abstract

Precision measurements in nuclear beta decay offer a sensitive window to search for new physics beyond the standard electroweak model and allow also the determination of the fundamental weak vector coupling in processes involving the lightest quarks. Searches for new physics are also a strong motivation for experiments carried out at the high energy frontier reached at the most powerful particle colliders. It is instructive to confront results from the low energy and the high energy frontiers in order to look for possible complementarities and orient new avenues for experiments at low energies. We review here the status of constraints on new physics obtained from nuclear and neutron decays and compare them to those from other semi-leptonic processes and from the LHC. We stress the requirements of new precision experiments in beta decay in order to impact the search for new physics at the light of current and projected LHC results. We describe recent experimental results and ongoing developments in nuclear and neutron beta decay, with emphasis on their planned goals to improve present limits on exotic weak couplings.