Measurement of the half-life of $^{100}$Sn

The $\beta$-decay half-life of $^{100}$Sn has been measured at NSCL to be $0.55^{+0.70}_{-0.31}$~s [1]. The new half-life was deduced from a maximum likelihood analysis of decay chain events following 14 $^{100}$Sn implantation events. The precision of the present result is comparable with that previously reported [2] and the two independent determinations yield an adopted half-life value of $0.86^{+0.37}_{-0.20}$~s for the ground state of $^{100}$Sn. The $\beta$-decay properties of $^{100}$Sn are critical to address the quenching of Gamow-Teller strength in heavy nuclei and the termination of the rapid proton capture process via the Sn-Sb-Te cycle in powerful x-ray bursts. The impact of the present $^{100}$Sn half-life result and future opportunities in the study of heavy, $N \sim Z$ nuclei will be discussed. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation grants PHY-06-06007 and PHY-02-16783.\\[4pt] [1] D.~Bazin {\it et al.}, Phys.\ Rev.\ Lett. {\bf 101}, 252501 (2008).\\[0pt] [2] K.~S\"{u}mmerer {\it et al.}, Nucl.\ Phys.\ {\bf A616}, 341 (1997).