Can extreme electromagnetic fields accelerate the $\alpha$ decay of nuclei?

Abstract

The possibility to control the $\alpha$ decay channel of atomic nuclei with electromagnetic fields of extreme intensities envisaged for the near future at multi-petawatt 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 $\alpha$ decay precluster model, we show that no experimentally detectable modification of the $\alpha$ 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.

5 pages

References in corpus (4)

• Prolific pair production with high-power lasers
• $\alpha$ particle preformation in heavy nuclei and penetration probability
• Critical view of WKB decay widths
• Laser assisted decay of quasistationary states

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