• Open Access

Can Extreme Electromagnetic Fields Accelerate the α Decay of Nuclei?

Adriana Pálffy and Sergey V. Popruzhenko
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 212505 – Published 28 May 2020
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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.

  • Received 16 September 2019
  • Revised 7 March 2020
  • Accepted 29 April 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.212505

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalNuclear PhysicsParticles & Fields

Authors & Affiliations

Adriana Pálffy1 and Sergey V. Popruzhenko2,3

  • 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov Str. 38, 119991 Moscow, Russia
  • 3Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 124, Iss. 21 — 29 May 2020

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