Beta (\(\beta^-\)) decay is the release of an electron by the change of a neutron to a proton. The neutron (charge = 0) is made up of one up quark (charge = \(\frac{2}{3}\)) and two down quarks ...

After emitting an alpha or beta particle, the nucleus will often still be ‘excited’ and will need to lose energy. It does this by emitting a high energy electromagnetic wave called a gamma ray.

The observation of neutrinoless double beta decay could have important implications for the study of matter and antimatter. In fact, it would confirm that neutrinos and their antiparticles (i.e ...