Helicity and Nuclear Beta Decay Correlations

We present simple derivations of nuclear beta-decay correlations with an emphasis on the special role of helicity. This topic provides a good opportunity to teach students about helicity and chirality in particle physics with exercises that use simple aspects of quantum mechanics. In addition, this paper serves as an introduction to nuclear beta-decay correlations from both a theoretical and experimental perspective. This article can be used to introduce students to ongoing experiments searching for hints of new physics in the low-energy precision frontier. (C) 2017 American Association of Physics Teachers.