Ground-state β-feeding determination using total-absorption spectrometers

The determination of the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="m1"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> intensity probability between the ground states of parent and daughter nuclei has traditionally been a difficult task with standard <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="m2"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> -spectroscopy approaches due to the lack of the associated <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="m3"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> emission. In the last years, the total absorption <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="m4"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> -ray spectroscopy technique has successfully proven its ability to deal with this problem by means of different procedures. This article discusses the potential of these methods, and a new approach for segmented total-absorption <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="m5"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>γ</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> -ray spectrometers is also introduced. An overview of applications is presented based on past, present, and future <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="m6"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math> -decay experiments.