5 ms·

It means getting the nucleus to absorb a certain energy above its ground state. Since it is a quantum object, it can only absorb/emit energy in very specific a

It means getting the nucleus to absorb a certain energy above its ground state. Since it is a quantum object, it can only absorb/emit energy in very specific amounts at once (“quanta”). The details of how the nucleus manifests that extra energy are complicated, but you can imagine it as like, picking up a certain vibrational frequency.

euroderf 2y ago
With enough absorptions, can the nucleus tear itself apart (i.e. fission) ?
- the8472 2y ago
  Yes, that's one possibility[0]. Or the energy can be sufficient to alter the decay rates of other nuclear reactions (alpha/beta decay, etc.) compared to the base isotope. A weird example: Excited tantalum-180[1] is more stable than its base state. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photofission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photofission [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_tantalum#Tantalum-180m https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_tantalum#Tantalum-...
huytersd 2y ago
But then what happens? Does it expel an electron/release energy etc.?
- greenbit 2y ago
  Probably just emits another photon of the exact same wavelength a short time later. The time would be probabilistic, like 50% chance of emission in X amount of time.
  - graycat 2y ago
    Physics does not emphasize this, but the half life concept essentially assumes a Poisson process (Cinlar, Stochastic Processes) which has a Markov (past and future conditionally independent given the present, details from the Radon-Nikodym theorem, with a cute von Neumann polynomial proof, Rudin, Real and Complex Analysis) assumption. The half life concept seems to be standard over much of physics. That a Markov assumption could hold might suggest some new physics.
    - snarkconjecture 2y ago
      How so? Isn't the Markov property just a consequence of basic QM?
      - nathan_compton 2y ago
        Some people probing the boundaries of QM look for correlations in rapidly repeated measurements in hopes of finding some non-random quality.
        snarkconjecture 2y ago
        That sounds like the opposite of what graycat was suggesting.

euroderf 2y ago

With enough absorptions, can the nucleus tear itself apart (i.e. fission) ?

the8472 2y ago
Yes, that's one possibility[0]. Or the energy can be sufficient to alter the decay rates of other nuclear reactions (alpha/beta decay, etc.) compared to the base isotope. A weird example: Excited tantalum-180[1] is more stable than its base state. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photofission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photofission [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_tantalum#Tantalum-180m https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_tantalum#Tantalum-...

huytersd 2y ago

But then what happens? Does it expel an electron/release energy etc.?

greenbit 2y ago
Probably just emits another photon of the exact same wavelength a short time later. The time would be probabilistic, like 50% chance of emission in X amount of time.
- graycat 2y ago
  Physics does not emphasize this, but the half life concept essentially assumes a Poisson process (Cinlar, Stochastic Processes) which has a Markov (past and future conditionally independent given the present, details from the Radon-Nikodym theorem, with a cute von Neumann polynomial proof, Rudin, Real and Complex Analysis) assumption. The half life concept seems to be standard over much of physics. That a Markov assumption could hold might suggest some new physics.
  - snarkconjecture 2y ago
    How so? Isn't the Markov property just a consequence of basic QM?
    - nathan_compton 2y ago
      Some people probing the boundaries of QM look for correlations in rapidly repeated measurements in hopes of finding some non-random quality.
      - snarkconjecture 2y ago
        That sounds like the opposite of what graycat was suggesting.