Approximate beta decay distribution

My beta decay distribution is an approximation. The approximation is in the Coulomb correction -- for which I used the gamow factor. My algorithm was based on equations in A. deShalit and H. Feshbach, "Theoretical Nuclear Physics", John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York, 1974 pp776-778, eq 2.9 and 2.13. This approximaton does not give exactly the correct shape for a beta decay spectrum. My calculation gives (up to a factor of 2 at some beta energies) too many beta-'s at higher energies -- when compared to a more exact calculation . This means my counting rate estimates will be slightly overestimated. Some example calculations are shown below. These calculations are the right size to overlay figure 2.2 in deShalit and Feshbach if you print this postscript version. These calculations are for a residual nuclear with Z=80.

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If you are interested, here is a simple fortran program to calculate these distributions.

For a ¹⁰⁶Ru source, the distribution looks like this:

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John Sullivan
comments to: sullivan@lanl.gov
updated 22-Jan-1999