First observation of P-odd asymmetry of α-particle emission in the B10(n,α)Li7 nuclear reaction

Abstract We present measurements of P-odd asymmetry of emission of α -particles in the B 10 ( n , α ) L i 7 nuclear reaction, which are carried out using beams of polarized cold neutrons at Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI, Gatchina, Russia) and Institut Max von Laue – Paul Langevin (ILL, Grenoble, France) nuclear reactors. The α -particle detector is an ionization chamber with insensitive gaseous layer. We measured the P-odd asymmetry coefficient to be equal to α P - o d d B 10 , α = − ( 11.2 ± 3.4 ) ⋅ 10 − 8 .