Measurement of the Half-Life of the T = 1 2 Mirror Decay of Ne 19 and its Implication on Physics Beyond the Standard Model

The 1+/2 -> 1+/2 superallowed mixed mirror decay of Ne-19 to F-19 is excellently suited for high precision studies of the weak interaction. However, there is some disagreement on the value of the half-life. In a new measurement we have determined this quantity to be T-1/2 = 17.2832 +/- 0.0051((stat)) +/- 0.0066((syst)) s, which differs from the previous world average by 3 standard deviations. The impact of this measurement on limits for physics beyond the standard model such as the presence of tensor currents is discussed.