Experimental test of the time stability of the half-life of alpha-decay Po-214 nuclei

TL;DR

This study conducted long-term underground experiments to test whether the half-life of Po-214 alpha decay remains constant over time, finding no significant variation within measurement limits.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive experimental assessment of the long-term stability of Po-214's half-life over periods exceeding 1,000 days.

Findings

No more than 0.2% annual variation detected

Limits on deviation from exponential decay established

Half-life stability confirmed over multi-year periods

Abstract

A method and results of an experimental test of the time stability of the half-life of alpha-decay Po-214 nuclei are presented. Two underground installations aimed at monitoring the time stability have been constructed. Time of measurement exceeds 1038 days for one set up and 562 days for the other. It was found that amplitude of possible annual variation of Po-214 half-life does not exceed 0.2% of the mean value. The limit on the deviation of the decay curve from exponent at 0.034\times T_{1/2}<t< 0.1\times T_{1/2} range has been found.