2012/10/20 by Ramaswamy S. Raghavan, Djordje Minic, Raghavan, Ramaswamy S. +5
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1210.5639
16 pages latex, 1 pdf figure. Contribution to the Virginia Tech Symposium on the Life and Science of Dr. Raju Raghavan
arxiv created 2012/10/20 · arxiv updated 2012/10/23
We discuss a direct test of the relation of time and energy in the very long-lived decay of tritium (H3) (meanlife τ~ 18 yrs) with the width Γ~ 10-24 eV [set by the time-energy uncertainty (TEU)], using the newfound possibility of resonance reactions H3 ↔ He3 with ΔE/E ~ 5x10-29. The TEU is a keystone of quantum mechanics, but probed for the first time in this extreme time-energy regime. Forestalling an apparent deviation from the TEU, we discuss the ramifications and a possible generalization of the TEU as ΔE Δt > (ℏ/2)[1+(Δt/T)n] where Δt = τis the time of measurement (the lifetime of the state), T=L/c the time for light to cross the Universe ~ 3x1018 s, and n a parameter subject to future measurements. (by R. S. Raghavan.)