so i get that when there is an excess of neutrons, neutron is converted into a proton. An electron is produced to neutralise the +1 charge of proton. But why is an anti neutrino produced?
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5Possible duplicate of Neutron decay and electron anti neutrino $n\to p + e + \bar{\nu}_e$ – StephenG - Help Ukraine Apr 26 '19 at 01:07
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The neutrinos were postulated by Pauli in order to have the conservation of energy, momentum and angular momentum in beta decay. The conversion of a neutron to a proton, an electron and an (electron) antineutrino is an example of a beta decay.
In these reactions, we have the conservation of lepton number. We had zero electrons and neutrinos before the decay of the neutron (lepton number $0$) and after the decay we have one proton (lepton number $0$), one electron (lepton number $+1$) and one (electron) antineutrino (lepton number $-1$). So, we have called that particle an antineutrino, and it has a negative lepton number.
