A search for anomalously heavy isotopes of low Z nuclei

Miscellaneous · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:7161588

Hemmick, T K

Several recent theories suggest the possibility that undiscovered exotic forms of stable matter may exist in the universe. These would be hidden in nature as anomalous mass isotopes of ordinary nuclei. A search was performed for anomalous mass isotopes of hydrogen, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, oxygen and fluorine. No evidence for such isotopes was found for masses ranging from 100 to 10,000 amu. The sensitivity of our search was many orders of magnitude higher than theoretical calculations suggest should have been necessary. Although natural processes which lower concentrations of heavy isotopes do exist, we show that such processes cannot account for the dramatic differences between prediction and measurement. The implications of our results are discussed in the context of the recent theories to which it applies as well as any future theories which might predict anomalous stable forms of matter. Suggestions are made for ways to extend these results to other isotopes and higher masses.

• Research Organization: Rochester Univ., NY (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7161588
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ISOTOPES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
ASTROPHYSICS
BERYLLIUM
BORON
CALCULATION METHODS
CARBON
DATA ANALYSIS
FLUORINE
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN
LITHIUM
MATTER
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
OXYGEN
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
DATA
ELEMENTS
HALOGENS
INFORMATION
METALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
SEMIMETALS
653000* - Nuclear Theory
651100 - Nuclear Physics- Experimental Techniques- (1980-)
640302 - Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics- Atomic & Molecular Properties & Theory
640100 - Astrophysics & Cosmology