Alpha Decay Rates in Metalsat Kelvin and MillikelvinTemperatures.pptVIP

Alpha Decay Rates in Metalsat Kelvin and MillikelvinTemperatures N.J.Stone Oxford and University of Tennessee with J.R.Stone, M.Lindroos, P.Richards, M. Veskovic and D.A.Williams Trento Workshop on Atomic Effects in Nuclear Excitation and Decay, June 2009 * Evaluation only. Created with Aspose.Slides for .NET 3.5 Client Profile . Copyright 2004-2011 Aspose Pty Ltd. The Case of the Disappearing Alpha Activity. Astounding statement appeared in High-Z electron screening (effects on reaction cross-sections) Kettner, Becker, Strieder and Claus Rolfs J Phys G 32 489 [2006] Concerning alpha decay half-lives: In general one expects a shorter half-life due to the acceleration mechanism …. for example, if the decay of 210Po [138 d] takes place in a metal at 4 K .... the half-life is shortened to 0.5 d. Dramatic consequences - if true! Basic ideas: - extra screening of nuclear charge in metals leads to adjustment of Coulomb potential and reduction of barrier height - Height change U = Z(alpha)Z(daughter)U(d+d)T-1/2 U(d+d) ~ 300 eV at 290 K from their reaction studies at low E(p) - for Zs 2, 80 and cooling to 4K this gives U ~ 400 keV effectively increases alpha energies by ~ 400 keV - Eureka! Evaluation only. Created with Aspose.Slides for .NET 3.5 Client Profile . Copyright 2004-2011 Aspose Pty Ltd. Comments on the foundations of the proposal: Basic electrostatics of screening dodgy - or just wrong - [N.T. Zinner Nucl. Phys. A781, 81, 2007] Figure from Kettner et al., JPhysG 32 489 (2006) Zinners point is that, rather than reducing the alpha barrier height, screening reduces BOTH the alpha energy AND the barrier peak, leaving the height, as seen by the alpha particle, unchanged. Temperature dependence crucial - based on measurements of nuclear resonance shift vs temperature. On this basis the Drude model for electrons in a metal was adopted - a classical gas with mean E ~ kT! Figure from Zinne