A microscopically derived formula for alpha-decay half-lives

TL;DR

This paper derives a fundamental formula for alpha-decay half-lives based on microscopic principles, replacing empirical laws and explaining the multiple linear segments observed in experimental data across a wide range of nuclei.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopically derived formula for alpha-decay half-lives that accounts for the multiple linear segments seen in experimental data, improving upon empirical models.

Findings

The formula explains the variation in half-lives across different nuclei.

It replaces the empirical Viola-Seaborg rule with a fundamental approach.

The model aligns well with experimental data for heavy and superheavy nuclei.

Abstract

Although Geiger-Nuttall (GN) law gives a single straight line, if we consider the experimental data of alpha particle emitters including heavy and super heavy nuclei with proton numbers as large as 118, instead of getting a single linear path we observe several linear segments with different slopes and intercepts. This problem is overcome when the experimental results in logarithm form are plotted as a function of Viola-Seaborg (VS) parameters with values of parameters set by hand. By using the fundamental principle of decay, we derive a formula of logarithm of half-lives in terms of well-defined parameters or coefficients and this replaces the empirical VS rule.