On Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 10:24 AM, David Roberson <[email protected]> wrote:
Robin, are you aware of any direct correlation between the energy emitted > by a particle and its decay rate? This is a well-established finding. Alpha decays in nature are between 4 and 9 MeV (approx.). The more energy, the shorter the decay, and the less energy, the longer the decay. The decay rates are logarithmic in the energy, going from 10e-3 s at 9 MeV to 4.4e17 s at 4 MeV for thorium isotopes. If you have a copy of Krane's "Introductory Nuclear Physics" (I highly recommend it), this phenomenon is discussed starting on p. 251 (I'm having trouble finding a comparable discussion on the Internet). Eric
