Radioactivity

Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of

radiation, Becquerel -1896, Curie,
Experiments suggested that radioactivity was the
result of the decay or disintegration of unstable
nuclei -25% stable & rest are unstable in nature.
Three types of radiation are emitted
Alpha particles, few of the unstable nuclei (Rutherford)
The particles are 4He nuclei
Beta particles, most of the unstable nuclei
The particles are either electrons or positrons
A positron is the antiparticle of the electron
It is similar to the electron except its charge is +e
Gamma rays (Villard)
The rays are high energy photons
 Distinguishing Types of Radiation

The gamma particles carry

no charge
The alpha particles are
deflected upward
The beta particles are
deflected downward
A positron would be
deflected upward
 Penetrating Ability of Particles
Alpha particles, Barely penetrate a piece of paper
Beta particles, Can penetrate a few mm of aluminum
Gamma rays, Can penetrate several cm of lead
 The Decay Constant
The number of particles that decay in a given time
is proportional to the total number of nuclei in a
radioactive sample,

N - N t

is called the decay constant and determines the rate

at which the material will decay
The decay rate or activity, R, of a sample is
defined as the number of decays per second
(probability of decay of a nucleus per unit time)
N
R N
t
 Decay Curve
The decay curve follows the equation
N N 0 e - t
The half-life is defined as the time it
takes for half of any given number of
radioactive nuclei to decay
ln 2 0.693
T1 2

The mean-life is defined as the
average lime time of each nucleus
before it undergoes decay.
1
T 1.44T1/ 2

 Units of radioactivity
The unit of activity, R, is the Curie, Ci
1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 decays/second

The SI unit of activity is the Becquerel, Bq

1 Bq = 1 decay / second
Therefore, 1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 Bq

The most commonly used units of activity

are the mCi and the Ci
Not on syllabus till here!
1. Beta Decay
 Introduction
Beta Decay: Transitions between two neighboring isobars

Takes place through 3 modes: b-, b+ & EC (Electron Capture)

b- : n p + e-
b + : p n + e+
EC : p + e- n
A nucleon inside the nucleus is transformed into another
Beta particles do not pre-exist inside nuclei, but are created at
the time of decay.
Beta particles have all the properties same as orbital electrons
except their origin & the continuous energy spectrum.
 Energetics of beta decay
b - Decay: X Z +1 Y
A A
+b -
Z N N -1

M ( A, Z ) M ( A, Z + 1)

Qb - [ M ( A, Z ) - Zme ] - [ M ( A, Z + 1) - ( Z + 1)me ] - me c 2
[ M ( A, Z ) - M ( A, Z + 1)]c 2
If masses are expressed in energy units,

Qb - M ( A, Z ) - M ( A, Z + 1)
b +Decay: Z X A
N Y A
Z -1 N +1 + b +

M ( A, Z ) M ( A, Z - 1)

Qb + [ M ( A, Z ) - Zme ] - [ M ( A, Z - 1) - ( Z - 1)me ] - me c 2
[ M ( A, Z ) - M ( A, Z - 1) - 2me ]c 2
If masses are expressed in energy units,

Qb + M ( A, Z ) - M ( A, Z - 1) - 2me
 -
Electron Capture: Z X A
N + e Y A
Z -1 N +1

M ( A, Z ) M ( A, Z - 1)

QEC [ M ( A, Z ) - Zme + me ] - [ M ( A, Z - 1) - ( Z - 1)me ]c 2 - Be

[ M ( A, Z ) - M ( A, Z - 1)]c 2 - Be

If masses are expressed in energy units,

QEC M ( A, Z ) - M ( A, Z - 1) - Be
Plot of KE of betas vs No. of beta particles
(origin of continuous beta spectrum)
 Neutrino hypothesis

Problem of conservation of energy.

Problem of conservation of total angular
momentum.
Need for presence of a new unobserved particle
neutrino in beta decay products (W. Pauli in 1930).
This shares the decay energy with beta particle in
beta decay, Em = Eb + En
Its spin is 1
2
 Properties of neutrino

The neutrino must be electrically neutral.

Mass of the neutrino should be zero or negligibly
small.
Intrinsic spin of neutrino must be 1
2
Neutrino must obey F-D statistics as it is a fermion.
The spin vector of neutrino is antiparallel to its
linear momentum while for the antineutrino the two
vectors are parallel.
 Beta decay after neutrino hypothesis

~ ~
b-: n p + e- + n 55Cs137 56Ba*137 + e- + n

22 Ne*22 + e+ + n
b + : p n + e+ + n 11Na 10

57+ e- Fe*57 + n
EC: p + e- n + n 27Co 26
 Decay Scheme
A decay scheme is a graphical representation of
radioactive decay
Depicts the parent/daughter relationship
Branching fractions and energy levels are shown

137
Cs 93.5% 0.514 MeV b -
55 137m
Ba
6.5% 56
0.662 MeV
1.176 MeV b -
137
56
Ba

T1/2 = 30 yrs, Em = 0.514 MeV, 1.176 MeV

T1/2 = 3.6 yrs, Em = 0.76 MeV
T1/2 = 2.6 yrs, Em = 0.540 MeV, E = 1.274 MeV
 Fermis theory of nuclear beta decay
Fermi in 1934, developed a theory for beta decay based
on Paulis neutrino hypothesis.
It successfully accounts for the observed continuous
nature of beta spectrum and life times of beta active
nuclei.
Also provides a way to classify beta decay transitions
with corresponding selection rules.
Assumptions:
a) Electron and neutrino are created by the transformation of a
neutron into a proton or vice versa in a nucleus.
b) Beta decay process is analogous to the emission of em
radiation by an atom. Electron-neutrino field is acting in
place of em field.
c) Electron-neutrino field is weak in contrast to the strong
nuclear interaction between nucleons as decay involves long
time ~ 10-3 s.
d) Energy released in the decay process is shared between beta
particle and neutrino. But nucleus due to its large mass
receives negligible amount of kinetic energy.
e) Neutrino is having zero mass, half spin and is a neutral
particle.
f) Beta and neutrino have to be treated relativistically over the
entire range of energy distribution.
g) As nucleons move with velocities of the order of c/10 in
nuclei, they should be treated non-relativistically.
 Since beta decay is a time dependent perturbation process, Fermi used
the results of Diracs time dependent perturbation theory to develop
theory for beta decay process.
Accordingly, the rate of transition from an initial state to a final state is
2
| H if |2 ( E ) .(1)

Where H if i* H f d is the matrix elements of the perturbing
interaction H causing the transition.
(E ) the density of final states, is the number of quantum states of the
final system per unit energy interval.
In the emission electromagnetic radiation, an excited atom in an initial
state makes a radiative transition to the final state which consists of the
atom in the ground state plus the emitted photon.
 Beta decay is analogous to this process and hence in beta decay parent
nucleus in an initial state makes transition to final state, which consists
of the product nucleus and electron-neutrino pair.

b is either electron or positron, n is either antineutrino or neutrino.

The wave functions of the initial and final states:

But the exact forms of nuclear wave functions are known whereas for
electron and neutrino, one can consider plane wave forms normalised
within a nuclear volume .
and
where Ks are wave vectors and rs are the radial distance of electron
and neutrino from the nucleon which is decaying.
 Plane wave form for beta particles is no longer true as it gets distorted
due to the coulomb interaction between beta and nucleus. Needs
correction.
In case of radiative transition em field is the perturbation which results
in the emission of photon but in beta decay the nature of perturbation is
not known.
Fermi assumed the electron-neutrino field as perturbation and its
quantum manifestation is the electron-neutrino pair.
He chose the simplest form of the electron-neutrino field H
(relativistically invariant) and the matrix element is

Where F(rn) depends on the wave functions of the emitted electron and
neutrino at the position of nth nucleon undergoing beta decay.
Hn is an operator connected with the beta decay of the nth nucleon.
 Taking the simplest form in which the transformation of only one
nucleon is involved, Hif
.. (2)

where g = 10-49 cm3 erg, a constant which determines the strength of

interaction, playing the same role as the electronic charge e in the case
of radiative transition.
Electron and neutrino wave functions can be expanded in Taylor series,
 For beta particles of energies ~ 1 MeV and R = 510-15m, we can show
that KR = 0.025 <<1. Hence higher order terms can be neglected.

This approximation corresponds only to allowed transitions. Then the

matrix element is
..(3)

where is the nuclear part of the matrix element, can be

determined through experiments.
It is no longer dependent on the energies & momenta of electron &
neutrino.
Such transitions are called allowed transitions
Density of states
The number of states of b particles in the momentum interval pb and
pb+dpb is

Similarly for neutrinos, in the momentum interval pn and pn +dpn is

Then the total number of states available for b and n in the above
momentum range within the nuclear volume is
 Therefore, the density of final states is
..(4)
Since neutrino is massless particle, its momentum cannot be measured.
But it can be expressed in terms of known quantities as below.
Fermi-Kurie plot
 Reasons for deviations
Forbidden transitions, but this theory is for allowed
transitions. It has to be modified for forbidden
transitions.
A complex beta spectrum due to transitions to two or
more states of daughter nucleus.

Fermi-Kurie plot provided a firm evidence for the

validity of Fermis theory of beta decay.
ft values & classification of beta decay
Classification of beta transitions and their
selection rules
 Classification of beta transitions as allowed or forbidden is
similar to that in the case of radiative transitions in the atoms,
being governed by the value of the matrix element Hif for the
transitions.
Hif includes time dependent perturbing potential, which depends
on band n.
The transition probability with only the first term in the
expansion of the wavefunctions correspond to allowed
transitions as the emitted particles do not carry away any orbital
angular momentum (L = 0).
Successive terms in the expansion fall off by a factor kR=2R/,
for disintegration energies of the order 1MeV, (kR) ~ 0.1, (kR)2
~ 0.01, so on.
If the matrix element with first term (which corresponds
allowed transitions) in the expansion of wavefunctions happens
to be zero, then we have to consider the next term. This
corresponds to first forbidden transitions.
 Again if the matrix element with second term becomes zero,
then we have to consider the third term. This corresponds to
second forbidden transitions.
For successive higher order terms in expansion, we get the third,
fourth etc. forbidden transitions, the probability in each case is
lower by a factor 1/10 than in the previous term.
The orbital angular momentum carried away by the emitted
particles are 1, 2, 3, . units of for the first, second, third
.. forbidden transitions respectively.
The nuclear state is characterized by the total angular
momentum I = L + S and parity .
When transition takes from an initial state Ii to a final state If, the
change in nuclear spin I will be I = If - Ii = L + S

If = Ii +I
 Classification of b decay transitions

Iii
Ii= If +L+S i f (-1) L
Eb
Iff
L = lb+ ln
S s b + sn 0
1 or

L = n = 0, 1, 2, defines the degree of forbiddenness

Allowed Forbidden

When L = n = 0 and if = +1 When L n > 0 and if = +1 or -1

No Parity Change Parity may or may not change
 Classification of allowed transitions
a) Fermi allowed transitions

0+
Eb I= lb+ ln + sb + sn = 0 L 0 S 0
0+

if = +1
I = 0 & = 0

8O14 N*14 + e+ + n
7 I i = 0 + I f = 0 +
 Classification of allowed transitions

b) Gamow-Teller allowed transitions

0+
Eb I= lb+ ln + sb + sn = 1 if = +1
1+
I I i- I f 0, 1
L 0 S 1 or
I = 0, 1 & = 0
He 6 Li6 + e- + ~
n I = 0 + I = 1 +
2 3 i f
Classification of allowed transitions
Mixed Fermi & G-T allowed transitions
There are some transitions in which Ii = If 0, which follow
both Fermi and Gamow-Tellar selection rules; I = 0 & = 0

1H3 2He 3 + e- + ~n Ii= 1/2+ If = 1/2+

S35 Cl35 + e- + ~
n Ii= 1/2+ If = 1/2+
16 17

These transitions are permitted by both Fermi and G-T selection

rules.
Allowed transitions: favoured (super allowed) & unfavoured.
Favoured: All allowed transitions between mirror nuclei.
H3 He3 + e- + ~
n
1 2
Unfavoured: Allowed transitions not between mirror nuclei.
 Classification of forbidden transitions

Forbidden transitions are usually less probable than the

allowed transitions as these involve the change in the orbital
angular momentum of the nucleus.

Based on the amount of orbital angular momentum carried off

by the emitted particles, L = lb+ ln = 1, 2, 3, . , the forbidden
transitions are classified as first, second, third ..etc
forbidden transitions respectively.

Probability of emission decreases for higher order forbidden

transitions.
First forbidden transitions:
Fermi selection rule: L= 1 & = yes
I= lb+ ln + sb + sn = 1, where L = 1 & S= 0
I = 0, 1 (except 0 to 0), = yes
~
Ex- 36Kr87 37 Rb87 + e- +n (5/2+ to 3/2-)

G-T selection rule: L= 1, S =1 & = yes

I= lb+ ln + sb + sn = 2, where L = 1 & S= 1

I = 0, 1, 2 (except 0 to 0, to , 0 to 1), = yes

Kr ~
85 Rb85 + e- + n
Ex- 36 37 (9/2+ to 5/2-)
Second forbidden transitions:
Fermi selection rule: L= 2 & = no
I= lb+ ln + sb + sn = 2, where L = 2 & S= 0
I = 0, 1, 2 (except 0 to 1, 1 to 0), = no
Ex- 55Cs135 56Ba135 + e- + n ~ (7/2+ to 3/2+)

G-T selection rule: L= 2 & = no

I= lb+ ln + sb + sn = 3, where L = 2 & S= 1
I = 0, 1, 2, 3 (except 0 to 0, 0 to 2, 2 to 0 = no

~
10 B10 + e- + n
Ex- 4 Be 5 (0+ to 3+)