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From: eklhad@ihnet.UUCP (K. A. Dahlke)
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Radioactivity and Temperature
Message-ID: <300@ihnet.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 23-Sep-85 09:36:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihnet.300
Posted: Mon Sep 23 09:36:14 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 24-Sep-85 03:30:10 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 25

<>
I was thinking about radioactivity, for no particular reason,
and I was wondering if the temperature has any affect on the half life
of an isotope.  I am no expert in *any* branch of physics,
but this doesn't keep me from forming hypotheses.
It seems that temperature affects the interatomic collisions etc,
and would not affect the "temperature" of the individual nuclei
(whatever that may mean).  I would guess temperature has little or
no affect on radioactive decay rates.
Does anyone have any theoretical or experimental results to pass along.

But let's not stop there.  What about:
an electric field,
a magnetic field,
an electromagnetic field (something that produces nuclear vibrations,
not just electron transitions), etc.
The question is not completely without practical applications.
If there were a way to substantially reduce the half life of certain isotopes,
it might simplify the nuclear reactor waste problem.
All right, so I'm dreaming again.

Is there anything that affects radioactive decay rates?
-- 
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		Karl Dahlke    ihnp4!ihnet!eklhad


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