Hunting for Physics beyond the Standard Model in Beta Decays

Abstract:  Over the past few years, a series of new studies of the Standard Model (SM) corrections to the beta decay of mesons, nucleon and nuclei carried out by me and my collaborators has led to the observation of several significant anomalies in beta decays, in particular the apparent violation of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix unitarity. They have attracted world-wide attentions and turned beta decays into one of the most promising avenues for the search of physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). However, the current significance level of the observed anomalies is not yet sufficient to declare a discovery, and the major limiting factor is the precision level of the SM theory inputs. In this talk I will outline a 5-year research proposal designed to systematically calculate the most important SM inputs to various beta decay processes, including the radiative corrections, isospin breaking corrections and nuclear structure corrections, to an unprecedented precision level. The success of the proposed research could increase the significance level of the existing beta decay anomalies beyond 5 standard deviations and lead to one of the earliest confirmed observations of BSM physics, of which impact to the fundamental science is far-reaching.