A new technique for precise measurement of the half-life of the Fermi β-decay of 26mAl

Two recent publications presenting very different approaches to applying the isospin symmetry-breaking and radiative corrections to the transition rates for superallowed β-decays between 0+ states have highlighted the need for precise measurements of the transition rates of these decays, especially for low-Z nuclei. A new measurement of the half-life of the Fermi β-decay of 26mAl has been made by counting annihilation γ-rays from its decay following the reaction 27Al(γ,n). The measured half-life is 6.345±0.014 s.