TRIMS: Validating Tritium Molecular Effects for Neutrino Mass Experiments

The Tritium Recoil-Ion Mass Spectrometer (TRIMS) experiment measures the branching ratio of molecular tritium (T2 and HT) beta decay to their bound states (3HeT+ and 3HeH+). This measurement will help validate the current molecular final-state theory utilized by neutrino mass experiments such as KATRIN and Project 8. TRIMS consists of a 60-kV acceleration chamber with magnetic guiding to silicon detectors at both anode and cathode ends. By measuring the kinetic energies and the time-of-flight differences between the decay product ions and beta particles, we are able to distinguish molecular ions from atomic ones. We will present our preliminary tritium data and analysis progress toward obtaining the branching ratio in question.