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Betadecay
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Innuclearphysics,betadecay(decay)isatypeofradioactive
decayinwhichaprotonistransformedintoaneutron,orvice
versa,insideanatomicnucleus.Thisprocessallowstheatomto
moveclosertotheoptimalratioofprotonsandneutrons.Asa
resultofthistransformation,thenucleusemitsadetectablebeta
particle,whichisanelectronorpositron.[1]
Betadecayismediatedbytheweakforce.Therearetwotypesof
betadecay,knownasbetaminusandbetaplus.Inbetaminus(
)decayaneutronislostandaprotonappearsandtheprocess
producesanelectronandelectronantineutrino,whileinbetaplus
(+)decayaprotonislostandaneutronappearsandtheprocess
producesapositronandelectronneutrino+decayisthusalso
knownaspositronemission.[2]
Anexampleofelectronemission(decay)isthedecayof
carbon14intonitrogen14:

decayinanatomicnucleus(the
accompanyingantineutrinoisomitted).
Theinsetshowsbetadecayofafree
neutron.Inbothprocesses,the

intermediateemissionofavirtualW
boson(whichthendecaystoelectronand
antineutrino)isnotshown.

14
14

6C 7N+e +e

Inthisformofdecay,theoriginalelementbecomesanewchemicalelementinaprocessknownasnuclear
transmutation.ThisnewelementhasanunchangedmassnumberA,butanatomicnumberZthatis
14

increasedbyone.Asinallnucleardecays,thedecayingelement(inthiscase 6C)isknownastheparent
14

nuclidewhiletheresultingelement(inthiscase 7N)isknownasthedaughternuclide.Theemitted
electronorpositronisknownasabetaparticle.
Anexampleofpositronemission(+decay)isthedecayofmagnesium23intosodium23:
23
23
+
12Mg 11Na+e +e

Incontrasttodecay,+decayisaccompaniedbytheemissionofanelectronneutrinoandapositron.+
decayalsoresultsinnucleartransmutation,withtheresultingelementhavinganatomicnumberthatis
decreasedbyone.
Electroncaptureissometimesincludedasatypeofbetadecay,becausethebasicnuclearprocess,mediated
bytheweakforce,isthesame.Inelectroncapture,aninneratomicelectroniscapturedbyaprotoninthe
nucleus,transformingitintoaneutron,andanelectronneutrinoisreleased.Anexampleofelectroncapture
isthedecayofkrypton81intobromine81:
81

81
Kr+e

36
35Br+e

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Electroncaptureisacompeting(simultaneous)decayprocessforallnucleithatcanundergo+decay.The
converse,however,isnottrue:electroncaptureistheonlytypeofdecaythatisallowedinprotonrich
nuclidesthatdonothavesufficientenergytoemitapositronandneutrino.[3]

Contents
decay
+decay
Electroncapture(Kcapture)
Competitionofbetadecaytypes
Helicity(polarization)ofneutrinos,electronsandpositronsemittedinbetadecay
Energyrelease
6.1 decay
6.2 +decay
6.3 Electroncapture
7 Nucleartransmutation
8 Doublebetadecay
9 Boundstatedecay
10 Forbiddentransitions
11 Fermitransitions
12 GamowTellertransitions
13 Betaemissionspectrum
13.1 Fermifunction
13.2 Kurieplot
14 History
14.1 Discoveryandcharacterizationofdecay
14.2 Neutrinosinbetadecay
14.3 Discoveryofothertypesofbetadecay
14.4 Nonconservationofparity
15 Seealso
16 References
17 Bibliography
18 Externallinks
1
2
3
4
5
6

decay

In decay,theweakinteractionconvertsanatomicnucleusintoanucleuswithatomicnumberincreased

byone,whileemittinganelectron(e )andanelectronantineutrino(e).
Thegenericequationis:

A
A

[1]
X
Z
Z+1X'+e +e
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whereAandZarethemass

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whereAandZarethemass
numberandatomicnumber
ofthedecayingnucleus,and
XandX'aretheinitialand
finalelements,respectively.
Anotherexampleiswhenthe
1

freeneutron(0n)decaysby
decayintoaproton(p):

np+e +e.

TheFeynmandiagramfor decay
ofaneutronintoaproton,electron,
andelectronantineutrinoviaan

intermediateW boson.

Abetaspectrum,showingatypical
divisionofenergybetweenelectron
andantineutrino

Atthefundamentallevel(as
depictedintheFeynmandiagramontheleft),thisiscausedbythe
conversionofthenegativelycharged( 13 e)downquarktothe

positivelycharged(+ 23 e)upquarkbyemissionofaW bosonthe

W bosonsubsequentlydecaysintoanelectronandanelectron
antineutrino:

du+e +e.
Thebetaspectrumisacontinuousspectrum:thetotaldecayenergyisdividedbetweentheelectronandthe
antineutrino.Inthefiguretotheright,thisisshown,bywayofexample,foranelectronof0.4MeVenergy.
Inthisexample,theantineutrinothengetstheremainder:0.76MeV,sincethetotaldecayenergyisassumed
tobe1.16MeV.

decaygenerallyoccursinneutronrichnuclei.[4]

+decay
+

In decay,or"positronemission",theweakinteractionconvertsanatomicnucleusintoanucleuswith
+

atomicnumberdecreasedbyone,whileemittingapositron(e )andanelectronneutrino(e).Thegeneric
equationis:

A
A
+
[1]
ZXZ1X+e +e
Thismaybeconsideredasthedecayofaprotoninsidethenucleustoaneutron
+

pn+e +e[1]
+

However, decaycannotoccurinanisolatedprotonbecauseitrequiresenergyduetothemassofthe
+

neutronbeinggreaterthanthemassoftheproton. decaycanonlyhappeninsidenucleiwhenthe
daughternucleushasagreaterbindingenergy(andthereforealowertotalenergy)thanthemothernucleus.
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Thedifferencebetweentheseenergiesgoesintothereactionofconvertingaprotonintoaneutron,a
positronandaneutrinoandintothekineticenergyoftheseparticles.Inanoppositeprocesstonegativebeta
decay,theweakinteractionconvertsaprotonintoaneutronbyconvertinganupquarkintoadownquarkby
+

havingitemitaW orabsorbaW .

Electroncapture(Kcapture)
+

Inallcaseswhere decayofanucleusisallowedenergetically,soiselectroncapture,theprocessinwhich
thesamenucleuscapturesanatomicelectronwiththeemissionofaneutrino:

A
A

ZX+e Z1X+e
Theemittedneutrinoismonoenergetic.Inprotonrichnucleiwheretheenergydifferencebetweeninitial
+

andfinalstatesislessthan2mec2, decayisnotenergeticallypossible,andelectroncaptureisthesole
decaymode.[3]
Ifthecapturedelectroncomesfromtheinnermostshelloftheatom,theKshell,whichhasthehighest
probabilitytointeractwiththenucleus,theprocessiscalledKcapture.[5]IfitcomesfromtheLshell,the
processiscalledLcapture,etc.

Competitionofbetadecaytypes
Threetypesofbetadecayincompetitionareillustratedbythesingleisotopecopper64(29protons,35
neutrons),whichhasahalflifeofabout12.7hours.Thisisotopehasoneunpairedprotonandoneunpaired
neutron,soeithertheprotonortheneutroncandecay.Thisparticularnuclide(thoughnotallnuclidesinthis
situation)isalmostequallylikelytodecaythroughprotondecaybypositronemission(18%)orelectron
capture(43%),asthroughneutrondecaybyelectronemission(39%).

Helicity(polarization)ofneutrinos,electronsandpositronsemitted
inbetadecay
Afterthediscoveryofparitynonconservation(seehistorybelow),itwasfoundthat,inbetadecay,
electronsareemittedmostlywithnegativehelicity,i.e.,theymove,naivelyspeaking,likelefthanded
screwsdrivenintoamaterial(theyhavenegativelongitudinalpolarization).[6]Conversely,positronshave
mostlypositivehelicity,i.e.,theymovelikerighthandedscrews.Neutrinos(emittedinpositrondecay)have
positivehelicity,whileantineutrinos(emittedinelectrondecay)havenegativehelicity.[7]
Thehighertheenergyoftheparticles,thehighertheirpolarization.

Energyrelease

Qistherefore

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The valueisdefinedasthetotalenergyreleasedinagivennucleardecay.Inbetadecay,

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TheQvalueisdefinedasthetotalenergyreleasedinagivennucleardecay.Inbetadecay,Qistherefore
alsothesumofthekineticenergiesoftheemittedbetaparticle,neutrino,andrecoilingnucleus.(Becauseof
thelargemassofthenucleuscomparedtothatofthebetaparticleandneutrino,thekineticenergyofthe
recoilingnucleuscangenerallybeneglected.)Betaparticlescanthereforebeemittedwithanykinetic
energyrangingfrom0toQ.[1]AtypicalQisaround1MeV,butcanrangefromafewkeVtoafewtensof
MeV.
Sincetherestmassoftheelectronis511keV,themostenergeticbetaparticlesareultrarelativistic,with
speedsveryclosetothespeedoflight.

decay
Considerthegenericequationforbetadecay

A
A

X
X+e
+e.
Z
Z+1
TheQvalueforthisdecayis
,

A
where
isthemassofthenucleusofthe ZXatom, isthemassoftheelectron,and
is
themassoftheelectronantineutrino.Inotherwords,thetotalenergyreleasedisthemassenergyofthe
initialnucleus,minusthemassenergyofthefinalnucleus,electron,andantineutrino.Themassofthe
nucleusmNisrelatedtothestandardatomicmassmby
.
Thatis,thetotalatomicmassisthemassofthenucleus,plusthemassoftheelectrons,minusthebinding
energyBiofeachelectron.Substitutingthisintoouroriginalequation,whileneglectingthenearlyzero
antineutrinomassanddifferenceinelectronbindingenergy,whichisverysmallforhighZatoms,wehave

Thisenergyiscarriedawayaskineticenergybytheelectronandneutrino.
BecausethereactionwillproceedonlywhentheQvalueispositive,decaycanoccurwhenthemassof
A
A
atom ZXisgreaterthanthemassofatomZ+1X.[8]

+decay
Theequationsfor+decayaresimilar,withthegenericequation

A
A
+
ZXZ1X+e +e
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giving
.
However,inthisequation,theelectronmassesdonotcancel,andweareleftwith

BecausethereactionwillproceedonlywhentheQvalueispositive,+decaycanoccurwhenthemassof
A
A
atom ZXexceedsthatofZ1Xbyatleasttwicethemassoftheelectron.[8]

Electroncapture
Theanalogouscalculationforelectroncapturemusttakeintoaccountthebindingenergyoftheelectrons.
Thisisbecausetheatomwillbeleftinanexcitedstateaftercapturingtheelectron,andthebindingenergy
ofthecapturedinnermostelectronissignificant.Usingthegenericequationforelectroncapture

A
A

X+e

Z
Z1X+e
wehave
,
whichsimplifiesto
,
whereBnisthebindingenergyofthecapturedelectron.
Becausethebindingenergyoftheelectronismuchlessthanthemassoftheelectron,nucleithatcan
undergo+decaycanalwaysalsoundergoelectroncapture,butthereverseisnottrue.[8]

Nucleartransmutation
Iftheprotonandneutronarepartofanatomicnucleus,thesedecayprocessestransmuteonechemical
elementintoanother.Forexample:
137

55Cs
22

11Na
22
+
11Na

137Ba + e + (betaminusdecay)
56
e

22Ne + e+ + (betaplusdecay)
10
e

22
e 10Ne + e

(electroncapture)

BetadecaydoesnotchangethenumberAofnucleonsinthenucleus,butchangesonlyitschargeZ.Thus
thesetofallnuclideswiththesameAcanbeintroducedtheseisobaricnuclidesmayturnintoeachother
viabetadecay.Amongthem,severalnuclides(atleastoneforanygivenmassnumberA)arebetastable,
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becausetheypresentlocalminimaofthemassexcess:ifsucha
nucleushas(A,Z)numbers,theneighbournuclei(A,Z1)and(
A,Z+1)havehighermassexcessandcanbetadecayinto
(A,Z),butnotviceversa.ForalloddmassnumbersA,thereis
onlyoneknownbetastableisobar.ForevenA,thereareupto
threedifferentbetastableisobarsexperimentallyknownfor
96

96

96

example,40Zr,42Mo,and44Ruareallbetastable.Thereare
about355knownbetadecaystablenuclidestotal.[9]

Usually,unstablenuclidesareclearlyeither"neutronrich"or
"protonrich",withtheformerundergoingbetadecayandthe
latterundergoingelectroncapture(ormorerarely,duetothe
higherenergyrequirements,positrondecay).However,inafew
casesofoddproton,oddneutronradionuclides,itmaybe
energeticallyfavorablefortheradionuclidetodecaytoaneven
proton,evenneutronisobareitherbyundergoingbetapositiveor
64

betanegativedecay.Anoftencitedexampleis29Cu,which
decaysbypositronemission/electroncapture61%ofthetimeto
64
64
[10]
28Ni,and39%ofthetimeby(negative)betadecayto30Zn.

Mostnaturallyoccurringisotopesoneartharebetastable.Thosethatarenothavehalflivesrangingfrom
underasecondtoperiodsoftimesignificantlygreaterthantheageoftheuniverse.Onecommonexample
40

ofalonglivedisotopeistheoddprotonoddneutronnuclide19K,whichundergoesallthreetypesofbeta

decay( , andelectroncapture)withahalflifeof1.277 109years.[11]

Doublebetadecay
Somenucleicanundergodoublebetadecay(decay)wherethechargeofthenucleuschangesbytwo
units.Doublebetadecayisdifficulttostudy,astheprocesshasanextremelylonghalflife.Innucleifor
whichbothdecayanddecayarepossible,therarerdecayprocessiseffectivelyimpossibleto
observe.However,innucleiwheredecayisforbiddenbutdecayisallowed,theprocesscanbeseen
andahalflifemeasured.[12]Thus,decayisusuallystudiedonlyforbetastablenuclei.Likesinglebeta
decay,doublebetadecaydoesnotchangeAthus,atleastoneofthenuclideswithsomegivenAhastobe
stablewithregardtobothsingleanddoublebetadecay.
"Ordinary"doublebetadecayresultsintheemissionoftwoelectronsandtwoantineutrinos.Ifneutrinosare
Majoranaparticles(i.e.,theyaretheirownantiparticles),thenadecayknownasneutrinolessdoublebeta
decaywilloccur.Mostneutrinophysicistsbelievethatneutrinolessdoublebetadecayhasneverbeen
observed.[12]

Boundstatedecay

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Averysmallminorityoffreeneutrondecays(aboutfourpermillion)aresocalled"twobodydecays",in
whichtheproton,electronandantineutrinoareproduced,buttheelectronfailstogainthe13.6eVenergy
necessarytoescapetheproton,andthereforesimplyremainsboundtoit,asaneutralhydrogenatom.[13]In
thistypeofbetadecay,inessencealloftheneutrondecayenergyiscarriedoffbytheantineutrino.
Forfullyionizedatoms(barenuclei),itispossibleinlikewisemannerforelectronstofailtoescapethe
atom,andtobeemittedfromthenucleusintolowlyingatomicboundstates(orbitals).Thiscannotoccur
forneutralatomswithlowlyingboundstateswhichalreadyfilledbyelectrons.
Thephenomenoninfullyionizedatomswasfirstobservedfor163Dy66+in1992byJungetal.ofthe
DarmstadtHeavyIonResearchgroup.Althoughneutral163Dyisastableisotope,thefullyionized163Dy66+
undergoesdecayintotheKandLshellswithahalflifeof47days.[14]
Anotherpossibilityisthatafullyionizedatomundergoesgreatlyaccelerateddecay,asobservedfor187Re
byBoschetal.,alsoatDarmstadt.Neutral187Redoesundergodecaywithahalflifeof42109years,but
forfullyionized187Re75+thisisshortenedbyafactorof109toonly32.9years.[15]Forcomparisonthe
variationofdecayratesofothernuclearprocessesduetochemicalenvironmentislessthan1%.

Forbiddentransitions
BetadecayscanbeclassifiedaccordingtotheLvalueoftheemittedradiation.WhenL>0,thedecayis
referredtoas"forbidden".NuclearselectionrulesrequirehighLvaluestobeaccompaniedbychangesin
nuclearspin(J)andparity().TheselectionrulesfortheLthforbiddentransitionsare:

where=1or1correspondstonoparitychangeorparitychange,respectively.Thespecialcaseofa
transitionbetweenisobaricanaloguestates,wherethestructureofthefinalstateisverysimilartothe
structureoftheinitialstate,isreferredtoas"superallowed"forbetadecay,andproceedsveryquickly.The
followingtableliststheJandvaluesforthefirstfewvaluesofL:
J

Forbiddenness

Superallowed

no

Allowed

0,1

no

Firstforbidden

0,1,2 yes

Secondforbidden 1,2,3 no
Thirdforbidden

2,3,4 yes

Fermitransitions
AFermitransitionisabetadecayinwhichthespinsoftheemittedelectron(positron)andantineutrino
(neutrino)coupletototalspin
,leadingtoanangularmomentumchange
betweenthe
initialandfinalstatesofthenucleus(assuminganallowedtransition
).Inthenonrelativistic
limit,thenuclearpartoftheoperatorforaFermitransitionisgivenby
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with
theweakvectorcouplingconstant,
overallprotonsandneutronsinthenucleus.

theisospinraisingandloweringoperators,and running

GamowTellertransitions
AGamowTellertransitionisabetadecayinwhichthespinsoftheemittedelectron(positron)andanti
neutrino(neutrino)coupletototalspin
,leadingtoanangularmomentumchange
betweentheinitialandfinalstatesofthenucleus(assuminganallowedtransition).Inthiscase,thenuclear
partoftheoperatorisgivenby

with
theweakaxialvectorcouplingconstant,and thespinPaulimatrices,whichcanproduceaspin
flipinthedecayingnucleon.

Betaemissionspectrum
Betadecaycanbeconsideredasaperturbationasdescribedin
quantummechanics,andthusFermi'sGoldenRulecanbeapplied.
ThisleadstoanexpressionforthekineticenergyspectrumN(T)of
emittedbetasasfollows:[16]

whereTisthekineticenergy,CLisashapefunctionthatdependson
theforbiddennessofthedecay(itisconstantforalloweddecays),
Betaspectrumof 210Bi.Emax=Q=
F(Z,T)istheFermiFunction(seebelow)withZthechargeofthe
1.16MeVisthemaximumenergy
finalstatenucleus,E=T+mc2isthetotalenergy,
p=(E/c)2(mc)2 isthemomentum,andQistheQvalueofthe
decay.ThekineticenergyoftheemittedneutrinoisgivenapproximatelybyQminusthekineticenergyof
thebeta.
Asanexample,thebetadecayspectrumof210Bi(originallycalledRaE)isshowntotheright.

Fermifunction
TheFermifunctionthatappearsinthebetaspectrumformulaaccountsfortheCoulombattraction/
repulsionbetweentheemittedbetaandthefinalstatenucleus.Approximatingtheassociatedwavefunctions
tobesphericallysymmetric,theFermifunctioncanbeanalyticallycalculatedtobe:[17]

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whereS=12Z2 (isthefinestructureconstant),=ZE/pc(+forelectrons,forpositrons),
=rN/(rNistheradiusofthefinalstatenucleus),andistheGammafunction.
Fornonrelativisticbetas(Qmec2),thisexpressioncanbeapproximatedby:[18]

Otherapproximationscanbefoundintheliterature.[19][20]

Kurieplot
AKurieplot(alsoknownasaFermiKurieplot)isagraphusedinstudyingbetadecaydevelopedby
FranzN.D.Kurie,inwhichthesquarerootofthenumberofbetaparticleswhosemomenta(orenergy)lie
withinacertainnarrowrange,dividedbytheFermifunction,isplottedagainstbetaparticleenergy.[21][22]It
isastraightlineforallowedtransitionsandsomeforbiddentransitions,inaccordwiththeFermibetadecay
theory.Theenergyaxis(xaxis)interceptofaKurieplotcorrespondstothemaximumenergyimpartedto
theelectron/positron(thedecay'sQvalue).WithaKurieplotonecanfindthelimitontheeffectivemassof
aneutrino.[23]

History
Discoveryandcharacterizationofdecay
Radioactivitywasdiscoveredin1896byHenriBecquerelinuranium,andsubsequentlyobservedbyMarie
andPierreCurieinthoriumandinthenewelementspoloniumandradium.In1899,ErnestRutherford
separatedradioactiveemissionsintotwotypes:alphaandbeta(nowbetaminus),basedonpenetrationof
objectsandabilitytocauseionization.Alpharayscouldbestoppedbythinsheetsofpaperoraluminium,
whereasbetarayscouldpenetrateseveralmillimetresofaluminium.(In1900,PaulVillardidentifiedastill
morepenetratingtypeofradiation,whichRutherfordidentifiedasafundamentallynewtypein1903,and
termedgammarays).
In1900,Becquerelmeasuredthemasstochargeratio(m/e)forbetaparticlesbythemethodof
J.J.Thomsonusedtostudycathoderaysandidentifytheelectron.Hefoundthatm/eforabetaparticleis
thesameasforThomson'selectron,andthereforesuggestedthatthebetaparticleisinfactanelectron.
In1901,RutherfordandFrederickSoddyshowedthatalphaandbetaradioactivityinvolvesthe
transmutationofatomsintoatomsofotherchemicalelements.In1913,aftertheproductsofmore
radioactivedecayswereknown,SoddyandKazimierzFajansindependentlyproposedtheirradioactive

displacementlaw,whichstatesthatbeta(i.e., )emissionfromoneelementproducesanotherelementone
placetotherightintheperiodictable,whilealphaemissionproducesanelementtwoplacestotheleft.

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Neutrinosinbetadecay
Historically,thestudyofbetadecayprovidedthefirstphysicalevidenceoftheneutrino.Measurementsof
thebetaparticle(electron)kineticenergyspectrumin1911byLiseMeitnerandOttoHahnandin1913by
JeanDanyszshowedmultiplelinesonadiffusebackground,offeringthefirsthintofacontinuous
spectrum.[24]In1914,JamesChadwickusedamagneticspectrometerwithoneofHansGeiger'snew
counterstomakeamoreaccuratemeasurementandshowedthatthespectrumwascontinuous.[24][25]This
wasinapparentcontradictiontothelawofconservationofenergy,sinceifbetadecayweresimplyelectron
emissionasassumedatthetime,thentheenergyoftheemittedelectronshouldequaltheenergydifference
betweentheinitialandfinalnuclearstatesandleadtoanarrowenergydistribution,asobservedforboth
alphaandgammadecay.[26]Forbetadecay,however,theobservedbroadcontinuousspectrumsuggested
thatenergyislostinthebetadecayprocess.
From19201927,CharlesDrummondEllis(alongwithJamesChadwickandcolleagues)furtherestablished
thatthebetadecayspectrumiscontinuous.In1933EllisandNevillMottobtainedstrongevidencethatthis
spectrumhasaneffectiveupperboundinenergy,whichwasasevereblowtoBohr'ssuggestionthat
conservationofenergymightbetrueonlyinastatisticalsense,andmightbeviolatedinanygiven
decay.[26]:27Nowtheproblemofhowtoaccountforthevariabilityofenergyinknownbetadecayproducts,
aswellasforconservationofmomentumandangularmomentumintheprocess,becameacute.
Asecondproblemrelatedtotheconservationofangularmomentum.Molecularbandspectrashowedthat
thenuclearspinofnitrogen14is1(i.e.equaltothereducedPlanckconstant),andmoregenerallythatthe
spinisintegralfornucleiofevenmassnumberandhalfintegralfornucleiofoddmassnumber,aslater
explainedbytheprotonneutronmodelofthenucleus.[26]Betadecayleavesthemassnumberunchanged,so
thatthechangeofnuclearspinmustbeaninteger.Howevertheelectronspinis1/2,sothatangular
momentumwouldnotbeconservedifbetadecayweresimplyelectronemission.
Inafamousletterwrittenin1930,WolfgangPaulisuggestedthat,inadditiontoelectronsandprotons,
atomicnucleialsocontainedanextremelylightneutralparticle,whichhecalledtheneutron.Hesuggested
thatthis"neutron"wasalsoemittedduringbetadecay(thusaccountingfortheknownmissingenergy,
momentum,andangularmomentum)andhadsimplynotyetbeenobserved.In1931,EnricoFermirenamed
Pauli's"neutron"toneutrinoand,in1934,hepublishedaverysuccessfulmodelofbetadecayinwhich
neutrinoswereproduced.Theneutrinointeractionwithmatterwassoweakthatdetectingitprovedasevere
experimentalchallenge,whichwasfinallymetin1956intheCowanReinesneutrinoexperiment.[27]
However,thepropertiesofneutrinoswere(withafewminormodifications)aspredictedbyPauliand
Fermi.

Discoveryofothertypesofbetadecay
In1934,FrdricandIrneJoliotCuriebombardedaluminiumwithalphaparticlestoeffectthenuclear
4

27

30

30

reaction2He+13Al15P+0n,andobservedthattheproductisotope15Pemitsapositronidenticalto
+

thosefoundincosmicraysbyCarlDavidAndersonin1932.Thiswasthefirstexampleof decay
30

(positronemission),whichtheytermedartificialradioactivitysince15Pisashortlivednuclidewhichdoes
notexistinnature.

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ThetheoryofelectroncapturewasfirstdiscussedbyGianCarloWickina1934paper,andthendeveloped
byHidekiYukawaandothers.Kelectroncapturewasfirstobservedin1937byLuisAlvarez,inthenuclide
48V.[28][29][30]Alvarezwentontostudyelectroncapturein67Gaandothernuclides.[28][31][32]

Nonconservationofparity
In1956,ChienShiungWuandcoworkersprovedintheWuexperimentthatparityisnotconservedinbeta
decay.[33][34]ThissurprisingfacthadbeenpostulatedshortlybeforeinanarticlebyTsungDaoLeeand
ChenNingYang.[35]

Seealso
Neutrino
Alphadecay
Betavoltaics
Particleradiation
Radionuclide
Tritiumillumination,aformoffluorescentlightingpoweredbybetadecay
Pandemoniumeffect
Totalabsorptionspectroscopy

References
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Externallinks
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