Systematics of proton decay of actinides

Abstract

The phenomenon of proton emission from nuclear ground states limits the possibilities of the creation of more exotic proton rich nuclei that are usually produced by fusion-evaporation nuclear reactions. In the energy domain of radioactivity, proton can be considered as a point charge having highest probability of being present in the parent nucleus. Conclaves
et al.¹ studied the two-proton radioactivity of nuclei of mass number A<70 using the effective liquid drop model. Delion et al.² reviewed the theories of proton emission to analyse the properties of nuclear matter. Maglione et al.³ analysed the proton emission from the some deformed nuclei. We have studied proton decay in almost all actinide nuclei. We have calculated the energy released during the proton decay (Q_P), penetration factor (P), and half-lives of proton decay. Proton decay half-lives are also longer than that of other decay modes such as alpha decay and spontaneous fission. To check the Geiger-Nuttal law for proton decay in actinide nuclei, we have plotted the logarithmic proton decay half-lives versus 1/sqrt(Q). The competition of proton decay with different decay modes such as alpha decay and spontaneous fission are also studied. We have also highlighted possible proton emitters with the corresponding energies and half-lives in the actinide region.