Experiments on the spontaneous β-decay of free neutrons measure the kinetic energy of ejected protons and electrons as 0.782 MeV. Mainstream physical theories judge that an energy deficit exists in the physical system merely based on this kinetic energy value, and thus put forward the neutrino hypothesis to fill the supposed energy gap. This paper adopts high-precision particle constants published by PDG and NIST to carry out complete step-by-step calculations of Coulomb attraction and Coulomb separation work when protons and electrons are tightly bound. Using the mass-coupling strong force formula derived from the unified field theory, the work done by the short-range strong force between protons and electrons is calculated, proving that the energy contribution of the strong force is extremely low and negligible. The total energy required for permanent separation of the two particles is the sum of the Coulomb separation work of 0.393 MeV and the measured kinetic energy of decay products of 0.782 MeV, which equals 1.175 MeV. The energy balance of the whole system is self-consistent without any theoretical energy deficit, and the neutrino is only a theoretical supplementary hypothesis generated due to the omission of Coulomb potential energy terms. There is a small deviation between the calculated total energy and the total rest energy of two electrons (1.022 MeV). This discrepancy originates from inherent errors in microscopic particle measurement, kinetic energy fluctuations caused by different ejection speeds of decay particles, and the simplified ideal geometric model of fully attached particles, which does not affect the core argument of energy conservation.
Jiaqing Yan (Sun,) studied this question.