Alpha decay of 109I and its implications for the proton decay of 105Sb and the astrophysical rapid proton-capture process

C Mazzocchi; R Grzywacz; S N Liddick; K P Rykaczewski; H Schatz; J C Batchelder; C R Bingham; C J Gross; J H Hamilton; J K Hwang; S Ilyushkin; A Korgul; W Królas; K Li; R D Page; D Simpson; J A Winger

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.212501

Alpha decay of 109I and its implications for the proton decay of 105Sb and the astrophysical rapid proton-capture process

Phys Rev Lett. 2007 May 25;98(21):212501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.212501. Epub 2007 May 23.

Authors

C Mazzocchi¹, R Grzywacz, S N Liddick, K P Rykaczewski, H Schatz, J C Batchelder, C R Bingham, C J Gross, J H Hamilton, J K Hwang, S Ilyushkin, A Korgul, W Królas, K Li, R D Page, D Simpson, J A Winger

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.

PMID: 17677769
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.212501

Abstract

An alpha-decay branch of (1.4+/-0.4) x 10(-4) has been discovered in the decay of 109I, which predominantly decays via proton emission. The measured Q(alpha) value of 3918+/-21 keV allows the indirect determination of the Q value for proton emission from 105Sb of 356+/-22 keV, which is approximately of 130 keV more bound than previously reported. This result is relevant for the astrophysical rapid proton-capture process, which would terminate in the 105Sn(p,gamma)106Sb(p,gamma)107Te(alpha decay)103Sn cycle at the densities expected in explosive hydrogen burning scenarios, unless unusually strong pairing effects result in a 103Sn(p,gamma)104Sb(p,gamma)105Te(alpha decay)101Sn) cycle.