Abstract
IN two recent papers1 MØ11er has shown that on the present theory of β-decay for a heavy nucleus emitting positrons of low maximum energy, the ratio Fk/F of the probability of K-electron capture to that of positron emission may be large. On the other hand, experiments by Jacobsen2 for a light nucleus (radio-scandium, W0 = 1·1 – 0·1 MV., Z = 21) show that this ratio is < 1/10. We wish to point out that Jacobsen's result is in agreement with a modified form of the theory3, but that this form makes a definite prediction about the low energy end of β-spectra.
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References
Høller, Phys. Rev., 51, 84 (1937); Phys. Z. d. Sowjetunion, 11, 9 (1937).
Jacobsen, NATURE, 139, 879 (May 22, 1937).
Hoyle, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 33, 286 (1937).
Fermi, Z. Phys., 88, 171 (1934).
Darwin, Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 118, 674 (1928).
Mercier, NATURE, 139, 797 (May 8, 1937).
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HOYLE, F. Capture of Orbital Electrons. Nature 140, 235–236 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140235b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140235b0
