RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE THEORY OF ALPHA DECAY

Abstract

We examine the extensive experimental data on partial half-lives for alpha-decay, and discuss some interpretations, with emphasis on the use of a simple three parameter cluster model. In this model, the alpha-particle moves in a potential well of fixed depth, in an orbit with a large value of a global quantum number. With the model parameters fixed at values consistent with those suggested by the underlying nucleon orbits, we obtain excellent agreement with the data, and reproduce the discontinuities associated with shell closure in a natural way.