When it comes to some aspects of the strong force that binds nucleons
together in atoms, nature has long worn a poker face. But in recent
experiments focusing on nuclear decay processes in neon, nature may
at last be showing her hand, and it looks like she's showing a pair.
Researchers at
the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) believe that they have detected
the emission of paired protons from an excited state of neon-18, an
isotope which they formed by firing fluorine atoms at a hydrogen-rich
target. Although theorists in decades past predicted such decays, no
prior experiment had managed to detect the phenomenon. If confirmed,
the process could provide new insights into the strong force that both
holds nuclei together and shackles the emitted protons into a single
helium-2 nucleus. It's possible that nature is bluffing once again,
and that the protons are leaving the neon nuclei separately but simultaneously
through an effect known as democratic emission (see
Physics News Graphics). The researchers (Alfredo Galindo-Uribarri,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, uribarri@mail.phy.ornl.gov,
865-574-6124), however, are hopeful that they can validate the elusive
paired-proton decay with a new detector due to come online at ORNL within
a year. (J. Gómez
del Campo et al, Physical Review Letters, 1 January 2001.)
