The variations of experimental α decay energy (left) and half-lives (right) against the neutron number for Rn, Ra and Th isotopes. (IMAGE)

Nuclear Science and Techniques

The variations of experimental α decay energy (left) and half-lives (right) against the neutron number for Rn, Ra and Th isotopes.

Caption

The red ball, blue star and black square represent the corresponding results of Rn, Ra and Th isotopes, respectively.

In the shell model, the neutron number N=126 is regarded as a neutron magic number. Macroscopic nuclear data indicate that both the decay energy and half-lives all show a magic change when N=126.

Credit

Xiao-Hua Li

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