Beta-decay stable isobars

Beta-decay stable isobars are the set of nuclides which cannot undergo beta decay, that is, the transformation of a neutron to a proton or a proton to a neutron within the nucleus. A subset of these nuclides are also stable with regard to double beta decay or theoretically higher simultaneous beta decay, as they have the lowest energy of all isobars with the same mass number.

This set of nuclides is also known as the line of beta stability, a term already in common use in 1965. This line lies along the bottom of the nuclear valley of stability.

Introduction

The line of beta stability can be defined mathematically by finding the nuclide with the greatest binding energy for a given mass number, by a model such as the classical semi-empirical mass formula developed by C. F. Weizsäcker. These nuclides are local maxima in terms of binding energy for a given mass number.

All odd mass numbers have only one beta decay stable nuclide.

Among even mass number, five (124, 130, 136, 150, 154) have three beta-stable nuclides. None have more than three; all others have either one or two.

• From 2 to 34, all have only one.
• From 36 to 72, only eight (36, 40, 46, 50, 54, 58, 64, 70) have two, and the remaining 11 have one.
• From 74 to 122, three (88, 90, 118) have one, and the remaining 22 have two.
• From 124 to 154, only one (140) has one, five have three, and the remaining 10 have two.
• From 156 to 262, only eighteen have one, and the remaining 36 have two, though there may also exist some undiscovered ones.

All primordial nuclides are beta decay stable, with the exception of ⁴⁰K, ⁵⁰V, ⁸⁷Rb, ¹¹³Cd, ¹¹⁵In, ¹³⁸La, ¹⁷⁶Lu, and ¹⁸⁷Re. In addition, ¹²³Te and ^180mTa have not been observed to decay, but are believed to undergo beta decay with extremely long half-lives (over 10¹⁵ years). Theoretically, ¹²³Te can only undergo electron capture to ¹²³Sb, whereas ^180mTa can decay in both directions, to ¹⁸⁰Hf or ¹⁸⁰W. Among non-primordial nuclides, there are some other cases of theoretically possible but never-observed beta decay, notably including ²²²Rn and ²⁴⁷Cm (the most stable isotopes of their elements considering all decay modes). Finally, ⁴⁸Ca and ⁹⁶Zr have not been observed to undergo beta decay (theoretically possible for both) which is extremely suppressed, but double beta decay is known for both. Similar suppression of single beta decay occurs also for ¹⁴⁸Gd, a rather short-lived alpha emitter.

All elements up to and including nobelium, except technetium, promethium, and mendelevium, are known to have at least one beta-stable isotope. It is known that technetium and promethium have no beta-stable isotopes; current measurement uncertainties are not enough to say whether mendelevium has them or not.

List of known beta-decay stable isobars

346 nuclides (including Fm whose discovery is unconfirmed) have been definitively identified as beta-stable. Theoretically predicted or experimentally observed double beta decay is shown by arrows, i.e. arrows point toward the lightest-mass isobar. This is sometimes dominated by alpha decay or spontaneous fission, especially for the heavy elements. Observed decay modes are listed as α for alpha decay, SF for spontaneous fission, and n for neutron emission in the special case of He. For mass 5 there are no bound isobars at all; mass 8 has bound isobars, but the beta-stable Be is unbound.

Two beta-decay stable nuclides exist for odd neutron numbers 1 (²H and ³He), 3 (⁵He and ⁶Li – the former has an extremely short half-life), 5 (⁹Be and ¹⁰B), 7 (¹³C and ¹⁴N), 55 (⁹⁷Mo and ⁹⁹Ru), and 85 (¹⁴⁵Nd and ¹⁴⁷Sm); the first four cases involve very light nuclides where odd-odd nuclides are more stable than their surrounding even-even isobars, and the last two surround the proton numbers 43 and 61 which have no beta-stable isotopes. Also, two beta-decay stable nuclides exist for odd proton numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 17, 19, 29, 31, 35, 47, 51, 63, 77, 81, and 95; the first four cases involve very light nuclides where odd-odd nuclides are more stable than their surrounding even-even isobars, and the other numbers surround the neutron numbers 19, 21, 35, 39, 45, 61, 71, 89, 115, 123, 147 which have no beta-stable isotopes. (For N = 21 the long-lived primordial ⁴⁰K exists, and for N = 71 there is ¹²³Te whose electron capture has not yet been observed, but neither are beta-stable.)

All even proton numbers 2 ≤ Z ≤ 102 have at least two beta-decay stable nuclides, with exactly two for Z = 4 (⁸Be and ⁹Be – the former having an extremely short half-life) and 6 (¹²C and ¹³C). Also, the only even neutron numbers with only one beta-decay stable nuclide are 0 (¹H) and 2 (⁴He); at least two beta-decay stable nuclides exist for even neutron numbers in the range 4 ≤ N ≤ 160, with exactly two for N = 4 (⁷Li and ⁸Be), 6 (¹¹B and ¹²C), 8 (¹⁵N and ¹⁶O), 66 (¹¹⁴Cd and ¹¹⁶Sn, noting also primordial but not beta-stable ¹¹⁵In), 120 (¹⁹⁸Pt and ²⁰⁰Hg), and 128 (²¹²Po and ²¹⁴Rn – both very unstable to alpha decay). Seven beta-decay stable nuclides exist for the magic N = 82 and five for N = 20, 50, 58, 74, 78, 88, and 90.

For A ≤ 209, the only beta-decay stable nuclides that are not primordial nuclides are ⁵He, ⁸Be, ¹⁴⁶Sm, ¹⁵⁰Gd, and ¹⁵⁴Dy. (¹⁴⁶Sm has a half-life long enough that it should barely survive as a primordial nuclide, but it has never been experimentally confirmed as such.) All beta-decay stable nuclides with A ≥ 209 are known to undergo alpha decay, though for some, spontaneous fission is the dominant decay mode. Cluster decay is sometimes also possible, but in all known cases it is a minor branch compared to alpha decay or spontaneous fission. Alpha decay is energetically possible for all beta-stable nuclides with A ≥ 165 with the single exception of ²⁰⁴Hg, but in most cases the Q-value is small enough that such decay has never been seen.

With the exception of ²⁶²No, no nuclides with A > 260 are currently known to be beta-stable. Moreover, the known beta-stable nuclei for individual masses A = 222, A = 256, and A ≥ 258 (corresponding to proton numbers Z = 86 and Z ≥ 98, or to neutron numbers N = 136 and N ≥ 158) may not represent the complete set.

The general patterns of beta-stability are expected to continue into the region of superheavy elements, though the exact location of the center of the valley of stability is model dependent. It is widely believed that an island of stability exists along the beta-stability line for isotopes of elements around copernicium that are stabilized by shell closures in the region; such isotopes would decay primarily through alpha decay or spontaneous fission. Beyond the island of stability, various models that correctly predict many known beta-stable isotopes also predict anomalies in the beta-stability line that are unobserved in any known nuclides, such as the existence of two beta-stable nuclides with the same odd mass number. This is a consequence of the fact that a semi-empirical mass formula must consider shell correction and nuclear deformation, which become far more pronounced for heavy nuclides.

The beta-stable fully ionized nuclei (with all electrons stripped) are somewhat different. Firstly, if a proton-rich nuclide can only decay by electron capture (because the energy difference between the parent and daughter is less than 1.022 MeV, the amount of decay energy needed for positron emission), then full ionization makes decay impossible. This happens for example for ⁷Be. Moreover, sometimes the energy difference is such that while β^− decay violates conservation of energy for a neutral atom, bound-state β^− decay (in which the decay electron remains bound to the daughter in an atomic orbital) is possible for the corresponding bare nucleus. Within the range , this means that ¹⁶³Dy, ¹⁹³Ir, ²⁰⁵Tl, ²¹⁵At, and ²⁴³Am among beta-stable neutral nuclides cease to be beta-stable as bare nuclides, and are replaced by their daughters ¹⁶³Ho, ¹⁹³Pt, ²⁰⁵Pb, ²¹⁵Rn, and ²⁴³Cm (bound-state β^− decay has been observed for ¹⁶³Dy, ²⁰⁵Tl and is predicted for ¹⁹³Ir, ²¹⁵At, ²⁴³Am).

Beta decay toward minimum mass

Beta decay generally causes nuclides to decay toward the isobar with the lowest mass (which is often, but not always, the one with highest binding energy) with the same mass number. Those with lower atomic number and higher neutron number than the minimum-mass isobar undergo beta-minus decay, while those with higher atomic number and lower neutron number undergo beta-plus decay or electron capture.

However, there are a few odd-odd nuclides between two beta-stable even-even isobars, that predominantly decay to the higher-mass of the two beta-stable isobars. For example, ⁴⁰K could either undergo electron capture or positron emission to ⁴⁰Ar, or undergo beta minus decay to ⁴⁰Ca: both possible products are beta-stable. The former process would produce the lighter of the two beta-stable isobars, yet the latter is more common.

• Isotope masses from:

Notes

Explanatory notes

Lists of beta-decay stable nuclides

References

External links

• Decay-Chains https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/NdsEnsdf/masschain.html
• (Russian) Beta-decay stable nuclides up to Z = 118 (data for Z ≥ 102 are predictions)