Alpha-decay in the complex energy shell model

Alpha emission from a nucleus is a fundamental decay process in which the alpha particle formed inside the nucleus tunnels out through the potential barrier. The renewed interest in the alpha-decay problem is stimulated by the recent experimental data above the Tin-100 that demonstrate the presence of very fast alpha decays [1-4].

A unified treatment of the alpha-decay from the complex shell model framework is possible using the Arima equation with the complete Berggren representation. On one hand, the formation process involves the structure calculation of a many-body overlap between the mother nucleus and the product’s decay. On the other hand, the penetration process needs to appeal to a resonant state. In general terms, processes relate to different aspects of nuclear physics: The former belongs to nuclear structure and the latter to nuclear reaction.

In this talk we will introduce the formalism of the alpha-decay in the complex energy shell model, and we will show the calculated alpha-decay half-lives and structural properties of the nuclei Titanium-44, Polonium-212 and the recently observed Tellurium-104.