Benchmarking Xe neutrinoless Decay Matrix Element Calculations With the Ba( , ) Reaction
B.M. Rebeiro (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa)
; S. Triambak (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa)
; P.E. Garrett (Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa)
; B.A. Brown (Department of Physics and Astronomy, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA); G.C. Ball (TRIUMF, Vancouver, Canada); et al - Show all 21 authors
We used a high-resolution magnetic spectrograph to study neutron pair-correlated states in $^{136}$Ba, produced via the reaction. In conjunction with state-of-the-art shell model calculations, these data benchmark part of the dominant Gamow-Teller component of the nuclear matrix element (NME) for $^{136}$Xe neutrinoless double beta () decay. We demonstrate for the first time an evaluation of part of a decay NME by use of an experimental observable, presenting a new avenue of approach for more accurate calculations of decay matrix elements.