Three-Body Barrier Dynamics of Double-Alpha Decay in Heavy Nuclei

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Tang, Shulin, Wan, Tao, Qian, Yibin, Qi, Chong, Wyss, Ramon A., Liotta, Roberto J., Bai, Dong, Zhou, Bo, Ren, Zhongzhou
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Tang, Shulin
Wan, Tao
Qian, Yibin
Qi, Chong
Wyss, Ramon A.
Liotta, Roberto J.
Bai, Dong
Zhou, Bo
Ren, Zhongzhou
author_facet Tang, Shulin
Wan, Tao
Qian, Yibin
Qi, Chong
Wyss, Ramon A.
Liotta, Roberto J.
Bai, Dong
Zhou, Bo
Ren, Zhongzhou
contents The simultaneous emission of two $α$ particles--double-$α$ decay--represents a long-predicted but unobserved mode of nuclear radioactivity. Here we formulate this process as a genuine three-body problem within the hyperspherical coordinate framework and evaluate decay probabilities by numerically solving the corresponding hyperradial Schrödinger equation, combined with large-scale random sampling of the potential parameters; the latter treatment ensures that the present results are more convincing. Inspired by this, we demonstrate that the penetrability ratio between simultaneous and sequential $α$ emission exhibits a strikingly linear dependence on $ZQ_{αα}^{-1/2}$, extending the barrier penetration dynamics into the correlated few-body regime. The nuclei $^{108}$Xe, $^{218}$Ra, $^{224}$Pu, $^{222}$U, $^{216}$Rn, and $^{220}$Th are suggested as the most promising candidates for the observation of double-$α$ decay, with predicted half-lives potentially accessible within present detection limits. Our results provide a unified framework for multi-$α$ decay and open a pathway to probing nuclear clustering and few-body correlations in heavy nuclei.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_09480
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Three-Body Barrier Dynamics of Double-Alpha Decay in Heavy Nuclei
Tang, Shulin
Wan, Tao
Qian, Yibin
Qi, Chong
Wyss, Ramon A.
Liotta, Roberto J.
Bai, Dong
Zhou, Bo
Ren, Zhongzhou
Nuclear Theory
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Nuclear Experiment
The simultaneous emission of two $α$ particles--double-$α$ decay--represents a long-predicted but unobserved mode of nuclear radioactivity. Here we formulate this process as a genuine three-body problem within the hyperspherical coordinate framework and evaluate decay probabilities by numerically solving the corresponding hyperradial Schrödinger equation, combined with large-scale random sampling of the potential parameters; the latter treatment ensures that the present results are more convincing. Inspired by this, we demonstrate that the penetrability ratio between simultaneous and sequential $α$ emission exhibits a strikingly linear dependence on $ZQ_{αα}^{-1/2}$, extending the barrier penetration dynamics into the correlated few-body regime. The nuclei $^{108}$Xe, $^{218}$Ra, $^{224}$Pu, $^{222}$U, $^{216}$Rn, and $^{220}$Th are suggested as the most promising candidates for the observation of double-$α$ decay, with predicted half-lives potentially accessible within present detection limits. Our results provide a unified framework for multi-$α$ decay and open a pathway to probing nuclear clustering and few-body correlations in heavy nuclei.
title Three-Body Barrier Dynamics of Double-Alpha Decay in Heavy Nuclei
topic Nuclear Theory
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Nuclear Experiment
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09480