Abstract
The possibility to control the α decay channel of atomic nuclei with electromagnetic fields of extreme intensities envisaged for the near future at multipetawatt and exawatt laser facilities is investigated theoretically. Using both analytic arguments based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation and numerical calculations for the imaginary time method applied in the framework of the α decay precluster model, we show that no experimentally detectable modification of the α decay rate can be observed with super-intense lasers at any so-far-available wavelength. Comparing our predictions with those reported in several recent publications, where a considerable or even giant laser-induced enhancement of the decay rate has been claimed, we identify there the misuse of a standard approximation.
Highlights
Can Extreme Electromagnetic Fields Accelerate the α Decay of Nuclei?The possibility to control the α decay channel of atomic nuclei with electromagnetic fields of extreme intensities envisaged for the near future at multipetawatt and exawatt laser facilities is investigated theoretically
Using both analytic arguments based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation and numerical calculations for the imaginary time method applied in the framework of the α decay precluster model, we show that no experimentally detectable modification of the α decay rate can be observed with super-intense lasers at any so-far-available wavelength
Introduction.—The upcoming commissioning of new laser sources of few up to 10 petawatt (PW) power [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], and plans for more powerful subexawatt laser systems [6,8] have triggered theoretical revisions of phenomena induced or assisted by electromagnetic fields of extreme intensity
Summary
The possibility to control the α decay channel of atomic nuclei with electromagnetic fields of extreme intensities envisaged for the near future at multipetawatt and exawatt laser facilities is investigated theoretically. In order to significantly alter the α decay probability, an external electromagnetic field should be able to make a work comparable to the energy Qα of the escaping α particle on the spatial length determined by the width of the Coulomb barrier lα and during the time τα required for this particle to cross the barrier. We note that this notion of “time” does not truly describe a physical time, and requires a model-dependent definition. Such laser fields can considerably modify the spectra of the decay products, since
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