Elucidating the nature of the proton radioactivity and branching ratio on the first proton emitter discovered ^53mCo.

ABSTRACT: The observation of a weak proton-emission branch in the decay of the 3174-keV ^53mCo isomeric state marked the discovery of proton radioactivity in atomic nuclei in 1970. Here we show, based on the partial half-lives and the decay energies of the possible proton-emission branches, that the exceptionally high angular momentum barriers, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], play a key role in hindering the proton radioactivity from ^53mCo, making them very challenging to observe and calculate. Indeed, experiments had to wait decades for significant advances in accelerator facilities and multi-faceted state-of-the-art decay stations to gain full access to all observables. Combining data taken with the TASISpec decay station at the Accelerator Laboratory of the Unive

SUBMITTER: Sarmiento LG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10520006 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature