The elusive 1st excited state in 229Th

ORAL

Abstract

Several different approaches have been proposed and implemented to find the 1st excited state in 229Th which from systematics and other considerations has been postulated to be located just a few eV above the ground state. One possibility is to populate states in 229Th and study the alpha-decays from the gs and isomer to 225Ra and observe the different alpha-decay half-lives and associated decay energies. Another intriguing possibility is to study the beta decay from 229Ac into 229Th and observe the beta-decays to both the isomer and the gs of Th229. We summarize briefly the current experimental status and review the different theoretical issues associated with interpreting the different approaches.

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Authors

  • Peter Moller

    Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544

  • Anna C. Hayes

    Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545