Half-life of the electron-capture decay of 97Ru: Precision measurement shows no temperature dependence

TL;DR

This study precisely measured the half-life of 97Ru's electron-capture decay at different temperatures and found no temperature dependence, challenging previous claims of such effects in similar decays.

Contribution

The paper provides highly precise measurements showing that the half-life of 97Ru does not depend on temperature, contrasting with prior claims for other isotopes.

Findings

Half-life of 97Ru is consistent at 19K and room temperature within 0.1%.

Measured half-lives: 2.8370(14)d at room temperature, 2.8382(14)d at 19K.

Other beta-emitters 103Ru and 105Rh also show no temperature dependence.

Abstract

We have measured the half-life of the electron-capture (ec) decay of 97Ru in a metallic environment, both at low temperature (19K), and also at room temperature. We find the half-lives at both temperatures to be the same within 0.1%. This demonstrates that a recent claim that the ec decay half-life for 7Be changes by $0.9% +/- 0.2% under similar circumstances certainly cannot be generalized to other ec decays. Our results for the half-life of 97Ru, 2.8370(14)d at room temperature and 2.8382(14)d at 19K, are consistent with, but much more precise than, previous room-temperature measurements. In addition, we have also measured the half-lives of the beta-emitters 103Ru and 105Rh at both temperatures, and found them also to be unchanged.