Abstract
THE Pauli exclusion principle was formulated to explain the regularities of both the Periodic Table and atomic spectra1, and has a crucial role in our understanding of the structure and properties of atoms and nuclei. Despite its enormous success the absolute validity of this principle is still open to question and some recent theoretical analyses have suggested that small violations are possible. This has inspired several experimental tests of its validity. Here we consider the possibility of a β-decay process that would violate the Pauli exclusion principle and use existing data from an underground laboratory to place a severe limit on the decay probability, and on possible violations of the Pauli exclusion principle.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Pauli, W. Z. Phys. 31, 765–783 (1925).
Ignatiev, A. Yu. & Kuzmin, V. A. Yardenaya Fiz. 46, 786–790 (1987).
Ignatiev, A. Yu. & Kuzmin, V. A. Soviet J. nucl. Phys. 46, 444–446 (1987).
Greenberg, O. W. & Mohaptra, R. N. Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 2507–2510 (1987).
Green, H. S. Phys. Rev. 90, 270–273 (1953).
Govorkov, A. B. Phys. Lett. A137, 7–10 (1989).
Greenberg, O. W. & Mohapatra, R. N. Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 712–714 (1989).
Greenberg, O. W. Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 705–708 (1990).
Mohapatra, R. N. Physics Preprint 90–120 (Univ. of Maryland, 1990).
Mohopatra, R. N. Bull. Am. phys. Soc. 35, 981 (1990).
Okun, L. B. Festi-Val-Festschrift for Val Telegdi (ed. Winter, K.) 201–211 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1988).
Okun, L. B. Comments nucl. Particle Phys. 19, 99–115 (1989).
Greenberg, O. W. & Mohapatra, R. N. Phys. Rev. D39, 2032–2038 (1989).
Novikov, V. M. et al. Phys. Lett. B240, 227–231 (1990).
Ramberg, E. & Snow, G. A. Phys. Lett. B238, 438–441 (1990).
Kekez, D., Ljubičić, A., Kaučić, S. & Logan, B. A. Z. Phys. (in the press).
Badino, G. et al. Nuovo Cim. C7, 573–590 (1984).
Aglietta, M. et al. Nuovo Cim. C9, 185–195 (1986).
Aglietta, M. et al. Proc. Int. Symp. on Weak and Electromagnetic Interactions in Nuclei (ed. Klapdor, H. V.) 741–744 (Springer, Berlin, 1986).
Aglietta, M. et al. Nucl. Phys. B14, 204–209 (1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kekez, D., Ljubic̆ić, A. & Logan, B. An upper limit to violations of the Pauli exclusion principle. Nature 348, 224 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/348224a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/348224a0
This article is cited by
-
Directly proving the bosonic nature of photons
Nature Photonics (2021)
-
An Improved Limit on Pauli-Exclusion-Principle Forbidden Atomic Transitions
Foundations of Physics (2012)
-
Experimental test of the Pauli Exclusion Principle
Foundations of Physics (2010)
-
Exclusion principle still intact
Nature (1990)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.