Hartree-Fock calculations of the ratio of bound-state to continuum beta decay of /sup 187/Re, the chronometric partner of /sup 187/Os

Journal Article · Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1987 · Phys. Rev. A; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.35.1981· OSTI ID:6137540

Chen, Z; Rosenberg, L; Spruch, L

Since the ..beta.. decay of /sup 187/Re is first-forbidden unique, the ratio rho of bound-state to continuum ..beta.. decay of /sup 187/Re reduces to a problem in atomic physics. A knowledge of rho is required if one is to connect the experimentally determined value of the rate of continuum decay to a value of the half-life T/sub 1/2/ for the ..beta.. decay of /sup 187/Re. The value of T/sub 1/2/ plays a significant role in the use of the geochemically determined ratio of /sup 187/Os to /sup 187/Re in the estimation of the age of our galaxy. Our results for rho, based on the Hartree-Fock-Dirac single-configuration and the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock approximations strengthen the conclusion of Williams, Fowler, and Koonin (Astrophys. J. 281, 363 (1984)) based on a modified Thomas-Fermi model, that rho is only of the order of 1%. We also include a few values of the rate for a process first considered by Perrone (Ph.D. thesis, Rice University (1971)), the bound-state ..beta.. decay of a bare /sup 187/Re nucleus. (Since the mass of the /sup 187/Re nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its daughter nucleus /sup 187/Os and of an electron, continuum decay of a bare /sup 187/Re nucleus is forbidden; neutral /sup 187/Re can ..beta.. decay only because of the greater binding energy of the electrons of /sup 187/Os than of /sup 187/Re.)

• Research Organization: Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003
• OSTI ID: 6137540
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. A; (United States), Vol. 35:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
RHENIUM 187
BETA-MINUS DECAY
AGE ESTIMATION
BOUND STATE
GALACTIC EVOLUTION
HARTREE-FOCK METHOD
LIFETIME
THOMAS-FERMI MODEL
ATOMIC MODELS
BETA DECAY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
DECAY
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RHENIUM ISOTOPES
STABLE ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
653005* - Nuclear Theory- Radioactive Decay