Chart of nuclides

To enable a quick overview, a section of the Karlsruhe Chart of Nuclides [47] is shown in Fig. 1-15, p. 24, and Fig. 1-16, p. 26. In this chart each experimentally observed nuclide Is represented by a square containing the most important decay properties (half-life, mode of decay, energy of emitted radiation, etc.). 

The following examples show the general layout used in the chart. 

Formation of the daughter nuclide in the ground state is favored. 

Cross section for (n, y) reactions with thermal neutrons in barn. 

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Figure 11.1 is a chart of nuclides with N as the ordinate and Z as the abscissa. In this representation, isotones appear along horizontal Unes and isotopes along the same vertical line. The opposite sort of representation is known as a Segre chart. ... 

All elements with Z > 83 (Bi) are unstable and belong to chains of radioactive decay, or decay series. Three decay series include all radioactive elements in the Z > 83 part of the chart of nuclides—namely, 4n, 4n + 2, and 4n + 3 (because the decay takes place by a emission with mass decrease of four units, or by jS emission with a negligible mass decrease, all nuclides within a series differ by... 

Figure 11,1 Chart of nuclides. stable, unstable. Reproduced with modihcations from Rankama (1954). 

Figure 11.2 Enlarged portions of Segre chart of nuclides, showing s-process (upper chain) and r-process (lower chain). White boxes stable nuclides diagonally ruled boxes unstable nuclides crosshatched boxes highly unstable nuclides.

Up to this point, we have assumed that all nuclei are spherical in shape. That is not true. There are regions of large stable nuclear deformation in the chart of nuclides, that is, the rare earths (150 < A < 180) and the actinides (220 < A < 260). We shall discuss these cases in more detail later in this chapter when we discuss the electric moments of nuclei. 

Since the discovery of the first spontaneously fissioning isomer, a number of other examples have been found. The positions of these nuclei in the chart of nuclides are... 

Figure 12.14 Section of the chart of nuclides showing the s-process path. (From C. E. Rolfs and W. S. Rodney, Cauldrons in the Cosmos, Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1988.)...

Figure 1. Chart of nuclides from carbon to sodium, illustrating vai ious processes for production of radionuclides (10)...

In this section, we present results dealing with the discovery of elements 107 to 112 using cold fusion reactions based on lead and bismuth targets. A detailed presentation and discussion of the decay properties of elements 107 to 109 and of elements 110 to 112 was given in previous reviews [15,20,21], Presently known nuclei are shown in the partial chart of nuclides in Figure 2. 

Today, one century after Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy postulated that in the radioactive decay one chemical element transmutes into a new one, we know of 112 chemical elements. The discoveries of elements 114 and 116 are currently waiting to be confirmed and experimentalists are embarking to discover new and heavier elements. Now where are superheavy elements located on a physicist s chart of nuclides and on the Periodic Table of the Elements - the most basic chart in chemistry ... 

Figure 2.2. Isotopes, isotones, isobars (and isodiaspheres) in the chart of nuclides.

Detailed study of the chart of nuclides makes evident that for certain values of P and N a relatively large number of stable nuchdes exist. These numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 (126, only for N). The preference of these magic numbers is explained by the shell structure of the atomic nuclei (shell model). It is assumed that in the nuclei the energy levels of protons and of neutrons are arranged into shells, similar to the energy levels of electrons in the atoms. Magic proton numbers correspond to filled proton shells and magic neutron numbers to filled neutron shells. Because in the shell model each nucleon is considered to be an independent particle, this model is often called the independent particle model. 

Thus, besides a decay, fi decay and y transition, a fourth type of decay is known since 1982. In the meantime, further examples of proton decay have been discovered, all on the extreme proton-rich side of the chart of nuclides. In this region, proton emis-siori (p decay) competes with emission of positrons decay), and because in most cases decay is favoured, p decay is observed relatively seldom. 

Seelraann-Eggebert et al. Chart of Nuclides, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Gersbach und Sohn Verlag, Munchen 1981 ... 

The author is thankful to Prof. D.C. Hoffman for help in describing the experimental part and to D.M. Lee for the figures of the chart of nuclides and the Periodic Table. 

The chart of nuclides summari2es 34 isotopes of iodine from Jo i42j isotope, is stable. 

Some primordial radionuclides are still with us because their half-lives are near or exceed 1 billion years or because they are shorter-lived progeny of these long-lived radionuclides. All other radionuclides are formed by reaction of a nucleus with atomic or subatomic particles or radiation. Reactions with high-energy cosmic rays form some radionuclides in nature. Others are man-made, mostly in accelerators, nuclear reactors, and nuclear explosions. The hundreds of such radionuclides are shown in the Chart of Nuclides (Farrington et al. 1996) on both sides of the stable elements and at masses heavier than the stable elements. 

Seelmann-Eggebert, W., Pfennig, G., Miinzel, H. Chart of Nuclides, 4th edition 1974, Milnchen Gersbach Verlag 1974... 

In addition to 3 decay and y-ray emission, the elements near and beyond Pb in the chart of nuclides are unstable with respect to breakup, such as emission of a particles or heavier nuclei. The a, P, and y emissions preserve the 4n + x chains, but emission of heavy ions might not, and fission certainly will not preserve the chains. 

Isotopes investigated in low-energy fission are indicated on the chart of nuclides. Circles Mass distributions measured for excitation energies less than 10 MeV above the fission barrier and those from SF. Crosses Data obtained using the Coulomb fission by using the relativistic radioactive beams (Schmidt et al. 2000)... 

Upper end of the chart of nuclides showing nuclear half-lives. Theoretical shell correction energies (Smolanczuk 1997) are underlain in blue color. The shading indicates the height of the shell correction energy in steps of 1 MeV. The decay modes are as follows a decay (yellow), decay (red), spontaneous fission (green) (Courtesy M. Schadel)... 

The Chart of Nuclides summarizes 33 radioactive isotopes of iodine (Pfennig et al. 2006). Four of these isotopes, namely and are currently applied in the field of life science,... 

The virtues of collinear-beam spectroscopy for nuclear systematics are best demonstrated by the chart of nuclides (Figure 9) on which the investigated longer chains of unstable isotopes are marked by solid frames. The majority of the results were obtained from collinear-beam measurements, while the rest is shared by a number of more specialized techniques (see, e.g.. Refs. 127-128). In a few cases the measurements cover nearly all known isotopes, and examples of nuclear physics results will be given in Section 5.4. 

To show the impact of laser spectroscopy on nuclear physics we discuss selected results from the aspect of information about the nuclear structure. Owing to collinear-beam spectroscopy it has now been possible to study a number of interesting regions all over the chart of nuclides. 

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