An Improved Method of Lifetime Measurement of Nuclei in Radioactive Decay Chain

TL;DR

This paper introduces an enhanced statistical approach for measuring the mean lifetime of nuclei in decay chains, especially when the mother-daughter relationship is uncertain, using interval time distributions and Monte Carlo validation.

Contribution

It proposes a novel method that estimates nuclear lifetimes without requiring precise mother-daughter decay relationship, improving accuracy in complex decay chains.

Findings

Method successfully extracts lifetime parameters from simulated data.

The approach handles uncertain mother-daughter relationships effectively.

Validation confirms the method's robustness and potential for experimental use.

Abstract

We present an improved statistical method for calculation of mean lifetime of nuclei in a decay chain with uncertain relation between mother and daughter nuclei. The method is based on formation of time distribution of intervals between mother and daughter nuclei, without trying to set the exact mother-daughter nuclei relationship. If there is a coincidence of mother and daughter nuclei decays, sum of these distributions has flat term on which an exponential term is superimposed. Parameters of this exponential function allow lifetime of daughter nucleus to be extracted. The method is tested on Monte Carlo simulation data.