Non-Exponential Decay of Nuclei -- A Search for a Fundamental Quantum Effect in Nuclei

Journal Article · Tue Aug 26 04:00:00 EDT 2003 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1619722· OSTI ID:20632586

Scates, W W; Wells, D P; Harmon, J F; Spaulding, R J ^[1]

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1. Idaho State University, Idaho Accelerator Center, Campus Box 8263, Pocatello, ID 83209 (United States)

Modern tests of grand unification theories have spent considerable experimental effort in pursuit of rare decays. A common feature of these experiments is that they involve extremely rare decay processes and probe regions of the systems' decay curves which are very short in time compared to their expected mean lifetimes. A potential complication to interpretation of such experiments is the approximate nature of the exponential decay law for quasi-stationary states. Using the decay of the isomeric nuclear state 207mPb in the short time limit, we search for predicted deviations from the exponential decay law. These experiments address the short-time electromagnetic decays of nuclei with half-lives on the order of a few seconds, and explore the as-yet untapped electromagnetic sector for short-time (t{sub min}/t{sub (1/2)} {approx_equal} 10{sup -5}) violations of the exponential decay law. Isomeric states are photo-populated via ({gamma}, n) reactions with bremsstrahlung beams.

• OSTI ID: 20632586
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 680; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BEAMS
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
HALF-LIFE
LEAD 207
NUCLEAR DECAY
PHOTON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS
QUANTUM MECHANICS