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New experimental limits on the α decays of lead isotopes

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Abstract.

For the first time ancient Roman lead was used to grow a crystal of PbWO4 , and this crystal has subsequently been used as a cryogenic particle detector. The new device provides independent readout of heat and scintillation light and is able to discriminate between \( \beta/\gamma\) interactions and alpha interactions down to few keV. Stringent limits on the \( \alpha\) decays of the lead isotopes are presented. In particular a limit of \( T_{1/2}>1.4\cdot 10^{20}\) y at a 90% C.L. was evaluated for the \( \alpha\) decay of 204Pb to 200Hg .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA

    J. W. Beeman

  2. Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, I 00185, Roma, Italy

    F. Bellini, L. Cardani & G. Piperno

  3. INFN, Sezione di Roma, I 00185, Roma, Italy

    F. Bellini, L. Cardani, F. Orio, G. Piperno, C. Tomei & M. Vignati

  4. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli studi dell’Aquila, I 67100, L’Aquila, Italy

    N. Casali

  5. INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, I 67010, L’Aquila, Italy

    N. Casali, S. S. Nagorny & S. Nisi

  6. INFN, Sezione di Genova, I 16146, Genova, Italy

    S. Di Domizio

  7. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, I 20126, Milano, Italy

    E. Fiorini, L. Gironi & E. Previtali

  8. INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, I 20126, Milano, Italy

    E. Fiorini, L. Gironi, L. Pattavina, G. Pessina, S. Pirro, E. Previtali & C. Rusconi

  9. Institute for Nuclear Research, MSP, 03680, Kyiv, Ukraine

    S. S. Nagorny

Authors
  1. J. W. Beeman
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  2. F. Bellini
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  3. L. Cardani
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  4. N. Casali
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  5. S. Di Domizio
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  6. E. Fiorini
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  7. L. Gironi
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  8. S. S. Nagorny
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  9. S. Nisi
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  10. F. Orio
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  11. L. Pattavina
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  12. G. Pessina
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  13. G. Piperno
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  14. S. Pirro
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  15. E. Previtali
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  16. C. Rusconi
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  17. C. Tomei
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  18. M. Vignati
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. Pattavina.

Additional information

Communicated by R. Krücken

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Beeman, J.W., Bellini, F., Cardani, L. et al. New experimental limits on the α decays of lead isotopes. Eur. Phys. J. A 49, 50 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2013-13050-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2013-13050-7

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