High-precision half-life determination for Na21 using a 4π gas-proportional counter

A high-precision half-life measurement for the superallowed ${\ensuremath{\beta}}^{+}$ transition between the isospin $T=1/2$ mirror nuclei $^{21}\mathrm{Na}$ and $^{21}\mathrm{Ne}$ has been performed at the TRIUMF-ISAC radioactive ion beam facility yielding ${T}_{1/2}=22.4506(33)$ s, a result that is a factor of 4 more precise than the previous world-average half-life for $^{21}\mathrm{Na}$ and represents the single most precisely determined half-life for a transition between mirror nuclei to date. The contribution to the uncertainty in the $^{21}\mathrm{Na} \mathcal{F}{t}^{\mathrm{mirror}}$ value due to the half-life is now reduced to the level of the nuclear-structure-dependent theoretical corrections, leaving the branching ratio as the dominant experimental uncertainty.